The degree of an eight-dimensional real quadratic division algebra is 1, 3, or 5 (Q986499)

Let \(A\) be an 8-dimensional real quadratic division algebra. In this paper, the authors prove that such an algebra has degree, \(\deg(A)\), equal to 1, 3 or 5. The problem of classifying all 8-dimensional real quadratic division algebras is still open. The real division algebras of dimension 1 or 2 and the real quadratic division algebras of dimension 4 have been classified in [\textit{E. Dieterich}, J. Algebra Appl. 4, 517--538 (2005; Zbl 1147.17003), Math. Nachr. 194, 13--22 (1998; Zbl 0915.17002) and \textit{E. Dieterich} and \textit{J. Öhman}, J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 65, No. 2, 285--302 (2002; Zbl 1017.17004)]. The real quadratic finite-dimensional division algebras form a category, \(\mathcal{D}^{q}\), whose morphisms are non-zero linear maps \(f: A\rightarrow B\) which satisfy the condition \(f(xy) =f(x) f(y)\) for all \(x,y\in A\). For \(n\in \mathbb{N}-\{0\},\) the class of all \(n\)-dimensional objects in \(\mathcal{D}^{q}\) forms a full subcategory \(\mathcal{D}_{n}^{q}\) of \(\mathcal{ D}^{q}\) and the relation \(\mathcal{D}^{q}=\mathcal{D}_{1}^{q}\cup \mathcal{D} _{2}^{q}\cup \mathcal{D}_{4}^{q}\cup \mathcal{D}_{8}^{q}\) holds. If \(A\in \mathcal{D}_{8}^{q}\), from [\textit{E. Dieterich, K.-H. Fieseler} and \textit{L. Lindberg}, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 204, 133--154 (2006; Zbl 1113.17003)], \(\deg(A)\) is a natural number which is invariant under isomorphisms and \(1\leq ~\deg(A) \leq 5\). Applying topological arguments, in Section 2, the authors prove that \(\deg(A) \in \{1,3,5\}\) and \(\mathcal{D}_{8}^{q}= \mathcal{D}_{8}^{q^{1}}\cup \mathcal{D}_{8}^{q^{3}}\cup \mathcal{D} _{8}^{q^{5}}\) (disjoint union). In Section 3, they conclude that the problem of understanding the structure of the category \(\mathcal{D}_{8}^{q}\) is reduced to the problem of understanding the structure of the category of all 7-dimensional dissident algebras with degree 3 or 5.