The Role of Spin(9) in Octonionic Geometry

Starting from the 2001 Thomas Friedrich's work on Spin(9), we review some interactions between Spin(9) and geometries related to octonions. Several topics are discussed in this respect: explicit descriptions of the Spin(9) canonical 8-form and its analogies with quaternionic geometry as well as the role of Spin(9) both in the classical problems of vector fields on spheres and in the geometry of the octonionic Hopf fibration. Next, we deal with locally conformally parallel Spin(9) manifolds in the framework of intrinsic torsion. Finally, we discuss applications of Clifford systems and Clifford structures to Cayley-Rosenfeld planes and to three series of Grassmannians.Comment: 25 page

Spin(9) geometry of the octonionic Hopf fibration

We deal with Riemannian properties of the octonionic Hopf fibration S^{15}-->S^8, in terms of the structure given by its symmetry group Spin(9). In particular, we show that any vertical vector field has at least one zero, thus reproving the non-existence of S^1 subfibrations. We then discuss Spin(9)-structures from a conformal viewpoint and determine the structure of compact locally conformally parallel Spin(9)-manifolds. Eventually, we give a list of examples of locally conformally parallel Spin(9)-manifolds.Comment: Proofs and Examples revised, some references adde

The Octonions

The octonions are the largest of the four normed division algebras. While somewhat neglected due to their nonassociativity, they stand at the crossroads of many interesting fields of mathematics. Here we describe them and their relation to Clifford algebras and spinors, Bott periodicity, projective and Lorentzian geometry, Jordan algebras, and the exceptional Lie groups. We also touch upon their applications in quantum logic, special relativity and supersymmetry.Comment: 56 pages LaTeX, 11 Postscript Figures, some small correction

Octonionic Yang-Mills Instanton on Quaternionic Line Bundle of Spin(7) Holonomy

The total space of the spinor bundle on the four dimensional sphere S^4 is a quaternionic line bundle that admits a metric of Spin(7) holonomy. We consider octonionic Yang-Mills instanton on this eight dimensional gravitational instanton. This is a higher dimensional generalization of (anti-)self-dual instanton on the Eguchi-Hanson space. We propose an ansatz for Spin(7) Yang-Mills field and derive a system of non-linear ordinary differential equations. The solutions are classified according to the asymptotic behavior at infinity. We give a complete solution, when the gauge group is reduced to a product of SU(2) subalgebras in Spin(7). The existence of more general Spin(7) valued solutions can be seen by making an asymptotic expansion.Comment: A reference added; 22 pages,a final version to appear J.Geom.Phy

Unified Octonionic Representation of the 10-13 Dimensional Clifford Algebra

We give a one dimensional octonionic representation of the different Clifford algebra Cliff(5,5)\sim Cliff(9,1), Cliff(6,6)\sim Cliff(10,2) and lastly Cliff(7,6)\sim Cliff(10,3) which can be given by (8x8) real matrices taking into account some suitable manipulation rules.Comment: RevTex file, 19 pages, to be published in Int. J. of Mod. Phys.

Exceptional quantum geometry and particle physics II

We continue the study undertaken in [13] of the relevance of the exceptional Jordan algebra $J^8_3$ of hermitian $3\times 3$ octonionic matrices for the description of the internal space of the fundamental fermions of the Standard Model with 3 generations. By using the suggestion of [30] (properly justified here) that the Jordan algebra $J^8_2$ of hermitian $2\times 2$ octonionic matrices is relevant for the description of the internal space of the fundamental fermions of one generation, we show that, based on the same principles and the same framework as in [13], there is a way to describe the internal space of the 3 generations which avoids the introduction of new fundamental fermions and where there is no problem with respect to the electroweak symmetry.Comment: 18 page