PIVOTTRANSFORMS

N.C.Thomas

Introduction

ThepivottransformisdescribedbyLawrenceEdwards(Reference1). Theideaisasfollows. Givena

threedimensionalhomogeneouslineartransformationT,anysurfaceSmayberegardedasanenvelopeof
planes.Thetransformationmovestheseplanes,andforanysuchplanethereisingeneralapointPabout
whichitismomentarilyturning,orwhichisinstantaneouslyinvariant. ThepointPisreferredtoasthe
pivotpointofthatplanewrtT.ThelocusofthepivotpointsforalltangentplanestoSisreferredtoasthe
pivottransform ofS. Inparticularthosetransformationswithtworealandandtwocomplexconjugate
eigenvalueshavebeenstudied.TheywerefirstappliedbyEdwardstodescribetheformofthegynaeceum
of,forexample,arose.Thesuccessachievedencouragedfurtherworkwhichyieldedembryolikeforms.

Inthispaperabriefsummaryofthebasicmathematicsisgiven,followedbyitsadaptationbytheauthorto
enablecolouredshadedpicturessimulatingphotographstobeconstructed,someofwhichaccompanythe
paper.

Preliminaries

Tisa4x4matrixspecifyingathreedimensionalprojectivetransformationinhomogeneouscoordinates.If
ithastworealandtwocomplexconjugateeigenvaluesthentheinvarianttetrahedronofthetransformation
degeneratesintoonewithtworealinvariantplanes,tworealinvariantpointsandtworealinvariantlines.
Theremaininginvariantsareimaginary.Iffurtherthetworealplanesareparallelandhorizontal,andoneof
thetwolinesisorthogonaltothem,thentheinvariantcurvesofthetransformation(referredtoas path
curves)areeithereggshapedorvortexshapedaccordingtothechoiceofeigenvalues.Figure1illustrates
thetetrahedronandatypicaleggpathcurve.

Figure1
TheseinvariantcurveswerefirsttreatedbyFelixKlein,andeachisalocusasfollows.GivenanypointP
(notaninvariantpoint)applicationofTyieldsanewpointP1whichisthetransformofP.ApplyingTtoP1
yieldsathirdpointP2andsoon,andthelocusofthePjisapathcurveofthesystem.Thepathcurveis,
strictlyspeaking,theinvariantcurvethroughPwhenthestepsizeisinfinitesimal.ForagivenTthereisa
uniquepathcurvethrougheverypointofspace.

WemayexpressTindiagonalformas

[ ]
ei
ei
2
3

where the j are the eigenvalues, but since 0 and 1 are complex conjugate we have shown them
accordinglyintermsoftheradialexpansionfactorandtherotationinducedbythetransformation.A
generalpointzj issuchthatz0 isthehorizontalhomogeneousxcoordinate,z1 thehorizontalcoordinate
orthogonaltoz0,z2theverticalcoordinatewhichiszerointhelowerinvariantplane,andz3thecoordinate
whichiszerointheupperinvariantplane.Weusethesymbolztoindicatethatrealpointshavecomplex
coordinateswhenweexpress T indiagonalform. Ifzj liesinthelowerinvariantplanethenz2=0. The
radialdistancerofsuchapointfromtheaxisiscalculatedusingthemoduli|zj|ofthecoordinatesi.e.

2 2
z z

2 2
z 0 z 1 0 1
r= =
z 3 z 3 z 3

TransformingzjbyTgives{z0ei ,z1ei ,0,3z3},andtheradialdistancer'isnow

z e
0
i 2
z 1 ei 2
=

z 02 z 12
=

r
3z 3 3z 3 3

sothatthetransformcausesafixedradialexpansion/3foreachangleturnedthrough.Thisofcourse
givesalogarithmicspiral,whichhasthegeneralequation

r =ae cot
andgoingfromr1tor2wehave
r2 2 1 cot
=e =
r1 3

where(21)isoursteppingangle.Hence

tan =
log

3
(0)
givingthecharacteristicangle forallpathcurvespiralsinthelowerinvariantplane;itistheconstant
anglebetweentheradiusvectorandtangentatapoint.Wegetasimilarresultintheupperinvariantplane,
replacing3with2asz3=0inthatplane.Wedenotetheconstantanglesofthespiralsas2and3.Foran
egg path curve the spirals in the two planes wind in opposite directions, and the path curve may be
constructedfromthesespiralsasshownbelow:

Figure2

TheplaneXYABshownrotatesabouttheverticalaxisXY. Itintersectsthetopspiralinpointsoneof
whichisshownasA.LikewiseBisanintersectionwiththespiralinthelowerinvariantplane.Thejoinsof
XBandYAmeetinapointPonthepathcurve.AstheplanerotatesAandBmoveroundtheirspiralsand
Pmovessoastodescribethepathcurve.

AteachpointofthecurvesuchasPthereisanosculatingplanewhichhastriplecontactwiththecurvei.e.
issuchthatthecurveliesinitatP.Dually,givenanyplanethereisjustonepointinitatwhichapath
curveofthesystemhastriplecontact,andthispointisthe pivotpoint ofthatplanefortheparticular
transformationconcerned.

Tofindsuchapivotpoint,wenotethattheplaneintersectsthetopandbottomplanesinparallellineseach
ofwhichtouchesalogarithmicspiralinitsplane.
 Figure3

Thelinejoiningthepointsofcontactiscalledthepathline,andisevidentlythelineaboutwhichtheplane
ismomentarilyturning,asitstangentlinestothespiralsmovesoastoremaintangentialtotheinvariant
spirals.Thepathlinetouchesapathcurve,sothepathlineisitselfturningaboutitstangentpointtothat
curve. Thatpointisthepivotpointoftheplane,andisshownlyingontheverticalprofileoftheegg
surfaceconcerned(whichiswovenofallthetwistedpathcurvesthroughahorizontalcircle).

WenowderivethemostfundamentalresultforthisworkderivedbyEdwards,butbyfollowingaslightly
differentroutefromthatinReference1.Figure4showsaplane orthogonaltothepaperintersectingthe
invariantplanesinlinesorthogonaltothepointsAandB,andtheverticalaxisinthepointQ.
 Figure4

ThelengthsofthelinesXAandYBaredenotedbyr2andr3respectively.ThefractionalheightofQ(i.e.as
afractionoftheheightXY)isclearly

r3
h'=
r 3 r 2

Wewillnowrelatethistotheheighthofthepivotpoint. Thesituationinthetopinvariantplaneisas
follows:
 Figure5

TheplaneintersectstheinvariantplaneinalineAR,andaspiralofthepathcurvesystemtouchesARat
R.Theradiusvectorisatanangle2toAR,andthusXR=r2/sin2.Thelengthofarcofthelogarithmic
spiral(astandardresult)is
s=r sec 2

andthustherateofchangeofRalongthecurvewrtis

ds dr r
= sec 2 =r cot 2 sec 2 =
d d sin 2

notingthatr=r0e cotistheequationofthespiral,sodr/d =r.cot2.

Inthiscaser=XRsotherateofchangeofsis

r2
s '=
sin 2 2
InthelowerinvariantplanewehavealineBStouchingaspiralatS,andforSwehave
r3
t '= 2
sin 3

denotingthearclengthbyt.NowRSisthepathline,andRandSaremovinginoppositedirectionsintheir
planesattheaboverates,sotheheightofthepointonRSwhichisinstantaneouslyatresti.e.thepivot
pointisbysimpleproportion

h=
t'
=
2
r 3 sin 2
=
r2
r3
sin 2 2

t 's ' r 3 sin 2 2 r 2 sin 2 3 r3
sin 2 2 sin 2 3
r2

Nowfromthepreviousexpressionforh'wehave

r3 h'
= (1)
r2 1h '

sosubstitutingintheexpressionforhweget

h 'sin 2 2
h=
h 'sin 2 2 1h ' sin 2 3

Thisimportantequationenablesustorelatetheheightofapivotpointinaplanetotheheightofthe
interceptofthatplanewiththeaxis.ThusallplanesmeetingtheaxisinafixedpointQhavetheirpivot
pointsinafixedhorizontalplaneatafractionalheighth.Thisenablesustofindthehorizontalprofilesofa
pivotform.Notethat2and3areconstantforagiventransformT,sowemaywritetheaboveequationas

k2 h '
h= (2)
k 2 h 'k 1 1h '
or

k1 h
h'= (3)
k 1 hk 2 1h

Thedefinitionsofk1andk2inReference1aredifferentbuttheresultisidentical.

Wealsoneedtofindtheradialdistanceofthepivotpointfromtheaxis,andforthiswefirstrequiretwo
simpleresults.FromFigure5itisclearthat
r2
y=AR= (4)
tan 2

andsubstitutingin(1)forh'from(3)andsimplifyingweget
 k 1 hr 2 hr 2 sin 2 3
r 3= = (5)
k 2 1h 1h sin2 2

InFigure6wedepictARinthetopplaneasy2andBSinthebottomplaneasy3,notingtheyareonthe
parallellinesinwhichtheplanewearetransformingcutsthoseplanes.Seeninplanviewtheyareseparated
byadistancer2+r3.yisthecoordinateofthepivotpointPwhichissituatedatsomedistancedfromy3.
TheaxisisorthogonaltoX.Bysimpleproportionitisclearthat

d
=h ,thefractionalheightofP.
r 2 r 3

Figure6

Againusingsimilartriangleswefind
y 2 y 3 yy 3
=
r 2 r 3 d
d y y3
giving =h=
r 2 r 3 y 2 y 3
and hence y=y 2 hy 3 1h

Substitutingfory2from(4)andusingthesimilarresultfory3gives

r2h r 3 1h
y=
tan 2 tan 3

andnowsubstitutingforr3from(5)andsimplifyingweget
 sin 2 cos 2 sin 3 cos 3
y=r 2 h 2 (6)
sin 2

Clearlyx=r3d=r3(1h)hr2,andagainsubstitutingforr3from(5)gives

sin 2 3 sin 2 2
x=hr 2 (7)
sin 2 2

Finallycombining(6)and(7)usingPythagorasTheoremandwieldingsometrigonometrygives

sin 2 3
r =r 2 h =r 2 hk (8)
sin2 2

definingkaccordingly(whichincidentallyequalsthedefinitionofk1inReference1).Thissimpleresult
enablestheradialdistancerofthepivotpointfromtheaxistobecalculatedfromtheperpendiculardistance
r2fromtheaxistothelineinwhichthepivottingplaneinterceptsthetopinvariantplane.Equations(2),(3)
and(8)arewhatweneedtotransformanysurface,andareremarkablysimpleconsideringthecomplexityof
theprocessandthestrikingresultswewillobtainlater.

PivotTransformsofVortices

Weconfineourselvesheretothetransformsofaparticularspeciesofvortex. Weillustratedeggshaped
pathcurvesabovewherethelogarithmicspiralsintheinvariantplaneswoundinoppositesenses,butifthey
windinthesamesensethenthepathcurveisavortexform.Wetakethecasewheretheupperinvariant
planeisatinfinity.Theverticalprofileofsuchavortexisobtainedbysetting=0andimposingcartesian
coordinates which forces the top invariant plane to be at infinity. Then a cartesian point {x,y,z,1}
transformsto{x/3,y/3,2z/3,1}.Sincetheratioifxandyisconstantweindeedhaveavertical
profile.If2/3>1thenztendstowardsinfinityasthetransformationisrepeatedsincezn=z0(2/3)n,andif
/3>1thentheradiusrn=r0(/3)nincreasestowardsinfinityaswell.Thisgivesusthekindofvortexwe
wishtostudy.Ifisdefinedby(2/3)=/3thenweobtainfortheequationoftheprofile

{ }
n

2 2 n z 0 r
z = z 0 = z 0 = z 0 =
3 3 3 r0
r0
giving r = z =Wz
z 0

Weseethat isconstantforagiventransformation,andWisaparameterdeterminingthesizeofthe
vortex. Notethatthevaluesof and j wehavejustusedarenotthoseof T butareforadifferent
transformation defining the type of vortex we wish to study. In fact we do not invoke this second
transformationatall,onlythevortexasastaticsurface.

TofindtheconeofcontactwithitsvertexatG(seeFigure7)weusethefundamentalfactofprojective
geometry that thevortexmaybeconstructedfromits tangents byjoiningcorrespondingpoints of two
projectiverangesonthelinesOCandthehorizontallineOHthroughO. Theserangesarerelatedbya
multipliersuchthat
OH=OG

whereHisthepointonOHcorrespondingtoGintheprojectivity.Thentheradiusofthecircleinwhich
theconeintersectsthetopinvariantplaneis,bysimilartriangles,

GC eu
R =OH =OH
OG u

= W '
eu
u
OG =W '

u e
eu OC u

= W
eu u
u e
whereWisasizeparameterwhichabsorbsOCasOCisconstant.

AtypicalprofileofsuchavortexplacedwithintheinvarianttetrahedronoftheeggtransformTisshown
below:

Figure7

Noticethatwehavetakentheaxisskewtothatoftheegg.ItsvertexisatOatafractionalheightcabove
thelowerplaneandaradiusdfromtheaxis.ThereisatangentconeinanypointGonitsaxis,thevortex
beingsuchthatitiscircular.Thepivotpointsofthetangentplanesofthisconearealsopivotpointsofthe
vortex. IfweseekthepivotpointsinaparticularprofileplanerelatedtoQthenjusttwoofthetangent
planesinGcontainQandyieldpivotpointsinthatplane. Thustoobtainthecompleteprofilewemust
moveGupfromOandfindthepivotpointsofthetwoplanesinQforeachpositionofG.Forotherprofile
planesweselectdifferentpositionsofQ.
IfwetaketheprofileplanethroughO,findingthecorrespondingheightofGfrom(3)bysettingh=c,then
weobtainembryolikeformsasshownbelow(followingReference1).

Figure8

Theparametersusedfortheseformswereassummarisedinthetablebelow(takenfromReference1),the
firstcolumnbeingforthesmallestform,andsoon:

X1,Y1 0.06,0 0.06,.38 0.25,0.5 0.5,0.55 0.75,0.5 0.94,.38

X2,Y2 0.3,0 0.3,0 0.3,0 0.3,0 0.3,0 0.3,0
c 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
Size 0.007 0.008 0.009 0.010 0.012 0.015
Vortex 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

X1,Y1arethecoordinatesoftheinterceptofthevortexaxiswiththetopinvariantplane.
X2,Y2arethehorizontalcoordinatesofO(d2=X22+Y22).
Thesizefactorisempirical.

Wehavenotsofardefinedtheparametergivenabove.Itcontrolstheoverallshapeofapathcurveandis
definedas
log log 2
= (9)
log log 3

If =1thenforaneggtheverticalprofileiselliptic.Ifisincreasedabove1theprofilebecomesmore
pointedatthetopandbluntatthebottom,likearealegg.Thethreedimensionalpathcurvesurfaceisthe
surfaceofrotationofsuchaprofile.If =thenthesurfacebecomesacone.Reciprocalvaluesofturn
theeggupsidedown. ThisisallfullyexplainedinReference1. If <0theninsteadwehavevortex
profilesvaryingfromconicaloneswhen =toflatspiralswhen =1.Henceavalueof0.3givesan
intermediatecasewiththevertexatthebottom,suchaswasillustratedabove.
Anotherfundamentalparametercontrolsthespirallingofapathcurve.Itisdefinedas

log 2 log 3
= (10)
2

When=thecurvedoesnotspiralatall,butremainsinaverticalplane.When =0thepathcurvesare
horizontalcircles(inthecasetreatedhere;inmoregeneralcasestheyarehorizontalspirals). Forother
valuesoftheyspiraltypicallyasshowninFigure1.Thesignofcontrolsthesense.

AnalysisofVortexCase

Thequestionthenarises,whatdothefullthreedimensionalversionsoftheseformslooklike?Toexplain
themethodofcalculationitisnecessarytoanalysethevortexcaseinmoredetail.Figure9belowshowsthe
situationinthetopinvariantplane(say).Thetopleftdiagramshowsthesituationin,andatlowerright
theelevationviewisshown.Thecircleinwhichthetangentconetothevortexintersectsisshownwith
centreC(x1,y1)andradiusR.ThelinejoiningthevertexGoftheconetoQintersectsinF(x3,y3).Thetwo
tangentplanesinGwhichhavepivotpointsintheprofileplaneintersectinlinesthroughFtangentialto
thecircle.ThepointinverticallyaboveOisshownasO'(x2,y2),andthesimilarprojectionofGisshown
asG.Xistheoriginin,andthexcoordinatesarehorizontalandtheyjarevertical.Theslopeofthe
tangentlineshownismintermsofthesecoordinates.ThefractionalheightofGaboveOwillbedenoted
byu.
 Figure9

Wewillnowderiveexpressionsforx3andy3.

Bysimpleproportionwehave

OG u O' G' O' H

= = =
OC e O'C x1 x 2
andthus
u ( x1 x 2 )
O' H =
e
Also
x3 FX a
= =
x 2 + O' H XG' e a u
giving

x3 =
[
a ex 2 + u( x1 x 2 ) ] (11)
e[ a e + u]
Again
HG' O' G' u
= =
y1 y 2 O' C e
giving

WG' = y 2 HG' = y 2
u ( y1 y 2 )
=
[
uy1 + (e u) y 2 ]
e e
Now
y3 FX a
= =
WG' XG' e a u
so
a [ ey 2 u y1 y 2 ]
y 3= (12)
e [ aeu ]

Wenowneedtofindthecoordinates(x,y)ofthepivotpoint.Notingthatm<0andx3<0inFigure9,we
have

y ''=y3 m x 3m x ''
x ''=m y ''
2
so y ''m y ''=y 3m x 3
y m x
i.e. y ''= 3 2 3
1m

Nowy"andx"arethecomponentsofthenormalXL=rfromXtothelineinwhichtheplanewhosepivot
pointPweseekmeets.Thussincewecanapply(8)torwecanalsoapplyittoitscomponents,sothatfor
Pwehave
kh y 3 mx 3
y=
1m
2 (13)
x=my

Thissolvesourprobleminprinciple,enablingthepivottransformofthevortextobecalculated.

PracticalResults

Initiallytheauthorbuiltawoodenmodelofonecase,butthiswasaverytimeconsumingapproachand
insteaditseemeddesirabletoconstructphotographsgraphicallyofwhatsuchmodelswouldlooklike.
Foreachpixelonthecomputerscreenthisrequiresustofindtheorientationofthetangentplanetothe
surface nearest to the viewer at that point, from which the illumination intensity may be calculated
dependinguponthedirectionofillumination.Whilethemathsforthatisnottrivial,thehardestpartwas
solvingthetranscendentalequationswhichariseforthepointsofintersectionofthelinesorthogonaltothe
screen with the pivot transform. A bisection approach was adopted, but that had to be made quite
sophisticatedastherootscanbeveryclosetogetherinsomecircumstances.Thisrequiredananalysisofthe
slopeofthecurveaspartofthebisectionalgorithm,togetherwithlogicaltestsforspecialcases.
ThederivationoftheformulaeusedtocalculatethetangentplanestothesurfaceisgiveninAnnex1,and
thebisectionequationsaregiveninAnnex2.Theappearanceofblemishesinsomepicturesisdiscussedin
Annex2.

Colouredprintsoftheresultsarecontainedintheseparatefilefigs.pdf,astabulatedbelow.

Figurenumber Description
Figure1 ThreedimensionalversionsofFigure8
Figure2 Firstthreeofabovecasesfromvariousviews
Figure3 Lastthreeofabovecasesfromvariousviews
Figure4 Effectofvaryingvortexwithc=0
Figure5 Caseswithvortexaxisintersectingbudaxis
Figure6 CaseswithvortexaxisthroughX
Figure7 Axisvertical&closetobudaxis;varying
Figure8 Caseswithvortexaxismeetingorthlinetoaxis
Figure9 Larged,axisat40&atazimuth160
Figure10 Effectofvaryingvortexaxisangletovertical
Figure11 Effextofvaryingd
Figure12 Effectofvaryingazimuthofvortexaxistilt
Figure13 Effectofvaryingvortexsize
Figure14 Effectofvaryingvortex
Figure15 Effectofvaryingbud
Figure16 EffectofvaryingfractionalheightofO
Figure17 Effectofvaryingbud

ThefirstthreeshowtheresultsfortheembryocaseofReference1.
Figures 10 to 16 show the results when varying one parameter at a time. All started from the base
parametersasfollows:

bud=1
bud=1
Vortex=0.5
FractionalheightofO=0.5
Vortexaxisvertical&veryclosetobudaxis.
Annexes

Theseareinseparatedocuments.

1. TangentPlanestoSurfaces.

2. BisectionMethod.

3. ConstructionofPivotTransforms.

References

1. "TheVortexofLife,LawrenceEdwards
FlorisPress,Edinburgh1993.

2. "AlgebraicProjectiveGeometrybySempleandKneebone
OxfordUniversityPress,Oxford1952.