Derivations and Linear Connections on Clifford Vector Bundles

Abstract

The goal of this article is to introduce a concept of Clifford structures on vector bundles as natural extensions of the standard complex and quaternionic structures, and to determine the derivations and linear connections on smooth Clifford vector bundles compatible with their Clifford structures. The basic object used to get such descriptions is an involution on the space of derivations of a Clifford vector bundle explicitly defined in terms of the specific Clifford structure. That involution is actually derived from an operation called the Clifford conjugation relative to a Clifford structure, which is defined in a purely algebraic setting as an involution on the space of derivations of a Euclidean Clifford algebra. Its definition essentially relies on the use and a complete description of the geometric concept of tangent Clifford structures of a Euclidean Clifford algebra.