Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 August 2019
In this paper, we define a Cayley–Dickson process for k-coalgebras proving some results that describe the properties of the final coalgebra, knowing the properties of the initial one. Namely, after applying the Cayley–Dickson process for k-coalgebras to a coassociative coalgebra, we obtain a coalternative one. Moreover, the first coalgebra is cocommutative if and only if the final coalgebra is coassociative. Finally we extend these results to a more general approach of D-coalgebras, where D is a k-coalgebra, presenting a class of examples of coalternative (non-coassociative) coalgebras obtained from group D-coalgebras.