I'm pretty sure that by
> \mathbb{R}^d is an associatve normed division algebra
the author is referring simply to a generalization of the euclidean structure.
> \mathbb{R}^d is an associatve normed division algebra
the author is referring simply to a generalization of the euclidean structure.
Literally speaking then, “... when R^d is an associative normed division algebra” just means “when d = 1, 2, or 4”, except of course that the idea is to use the multiplicative structure in the proof.