cross product

The term “cross product” was coined by Josiah Willard Gibbs.

cross product (plural cross products)

1. (linear algebra) A vector product.

   The cross product can be derived like so: given a pair of vectors ${\displaystyle \xi }$ and ${\displaystyle \eta }$ , solve for a vector ${\displaystyle \zeta }$ which is perpendicular to both ${\displaystyle \xi }$ and ${\displaystyle \eta }$ , i.e., whose dot product with both ${\displaystyle \xi }$ and ${\displaystyle \eta }$ is zero.