Algorithmic Computation of Multivector Inverses and Characteristic Polynomials in Non-degenerate Clifford Algebras

Abstract

The power of Clifford or, geometric, algebra lies in its ability to represent geometric operations in a concise and elegant manner. Clifford algebras provide the natural generalizations of complex, dual numbers and quaternions into non-commutative multivectors. The paper demonstrates an algorithm for the computation of inverses of such numbers in a non-degenerate Clifford algebra of an arbitrary dimension. The algorithm is a variation of the Faddeev-LeVerrier-Souriau algorithm and is implemented in the open-source Computer Algebra System Maxima. Symbolic and numerical examples in different Clifford algebras are presented.