Clifford matrices and a problem of hurwitz (Q4487063)

The problem of finding all triples of positive integers \([r,s,n]\) for which there is a normed bilinear map \(f: \mathbb{R}^r\times \mathbb{R}^s\to \mathbb{R}^n\), such that \(|f(x,y)|= |x||y|\), \(x\in \mathbb{R}^r\), \(y\in \mathbb{R}^s\), goes back to Hurwitz (1898). It is equivalent to finding, for fixed \(r,s\) the least integer \(n\) (denoted by \(r* s\)) for which there exists an identity \[ (x_1^2+\cdots+ x_r^2) (y_1^2+\cdots+ y_s^2)= z_1^2+\cdots+ z_n^2, \] \(z_i\) bilinear in the \(x_j\), \(y_k\) with real coefficients. This \(f\) is known in several cases, in particular for \(s\leq 9\). In this paper, the author determines it for large \(s\) in relation to \(r\). The explicit construction of the required \(f\) involves a very special matrix representation of the real Clifford algebra \(C_m\) and the minimality of their ranges is a consequence of the Hopf-Stiefel criterion (also called the binomial coefficient criterion) which implies that \(r\circ s\leq r* s\), where \(r\circ s\) denotes the least \(n\) for which the binomial coefficient \(\binom nt\) is even for all \(t\) with \(n-r< t< s\).