Composition algebras and outer automorphisms of algebraic groups via triality

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this note, we establish an equivalence of categories between the category of all eight-dimensional composition algebras with any given quadratic form n over a field k of characteristic not two, and a category arising from an action of the projective similarity group of n on certain pairs of automorphisms of the group scheme PGO+(n) defined over k. This extends results recently obtained in the same direction for symmetric composition algebras. We also derive known results on composition algebras from our equivalence.