Isometries of Clifford Algebras I

Publication date: 25 January 2017

Abstract: Let

V

be a finite dimensional vector space over a field

F

of characteristic different from 2, and let

Q

be a nondegenerate, symmetric, bilinear form on

V

. Let

C e l l (V, Q)

be the Clifford algebra determined by

V

and

Q

. The bilinear form

Q

extends in a natural way to a nondegenerate, symmetric, bilinear form

on

C e l l (V, Q)

. Let

G

be the group of isometries of

C e l l (V, Q)

relative to

, and let

L G

be the Lie algebra of infinitesimal isometries of

C e l l (V, Q)

relative to

. We derive some basic structural information about

L G

, and we compute

G

in the case that

F = R, V = R^{n}

and

Q

is positive definite on

R^{n}

. In a sequel to this paper we determine

L G

in the case that

F = R, V = R^{n}

and

Q

is nondegenerate on

R^{n}

.

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