We investigate the mathematical structure of unit systems and the relations between them. Looking over the entire set of unit systems, we can find a mathematical structure that is called preorder(or quasi-order). For some pair of unit systems, there exists a relation of preorder such that one unit system is transferable to the other unit system. The transfer (or conversion) is possible only when all of the quantities distinguishable in the latter system are always distinguishable in the former system. By utilizing this structure, we can systematically compare the representations in different unit systems. Especially, the equivalence class of unit systems (EUS) plays an important role because the representations of physical quantities and equations are of the same form in unit systems belonging to an EUS. The dimension of quantities is uniquely defined in each EUS. The EUS’s form a partially ordered set. Using these mathematical structures, unit systems and EUS’s are systematically classified and organized as a hierarchical tree.
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Research Article|
May 03 2013
Mathematical structure of unit systems Available to Purchase
Masao Kitano
Masao Kitano
a)
Department of Electronic Science and Engineering,
Kyoto University
, Katsura, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan
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Masao Kitano
a)
Department of Electronic Science and Engineering,
Kyoto University
, Katsura, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan
a)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
J. Math. Phys. 54, 052901 (2013)
Article history
Received:
October 21 2012
Accepted:
April 08 2013
Citation
Masao Kitano; Mathematical structure of unit systems. J. Math. Phys. 1 May 2013; 54 (5): 052901. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4802876
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