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Definition. Pfaffian [math-000P]

Let AA be a skew-symmetric endomorphism of a vector space VV (hence AA can also be view as a tensor: AΛ2VA \in \Lambda^2 V ) and N=dimVN = \dim{V} is even, the Pfaffian of AA is the number Pf A\text{Pf}\ A defined as the constant factor in the tensor equality:

(Pf A)e1eN=1(N/2)!AAN/2 times(\text{Pf}\ {A}) e_1 \wedge \dots \wedge e_N = \frac{1}{(N/2)!} \underbrace{A \wedge \dots \wedge A}_{N/2\ times}

where {e1,,eN}\set{e_1,\dots,e_N} is an orthonormal basis of VV .

The sign of Pfaffian depends on the orientation of the orthonormal basis.