Clifford algebra

Meanings

1. A unital associative algebra which generalizes the algebra of quaternions but which is not necessarily a division algebra; it is generated by a set of γᵢ (with i ranging from, say, 1 to n) such that the square of each γᵢ is fixed to be either +1 or −1, depending on each i, and such that any product γᵢγⱼ anticommutes when its factors are distinct (i.e., when i ne j).

Etymology

Named after William Kingdon Clifford (1845–1879), an English mathematician and philosopher.