Hecke-Clifford Algebras and Spin Hecke Algebras I: The Classical Affine Type

Associated to the classical Weyl groups, we introduce the notion of degenerate spin affine Hecke algebras and affine Hecke-Clifford algebras. For these algebras, we establish the PBW properties, formulate the intertwiners and describe the centres. We further develop connections of these algebras with the usual degenerate (i.e., graded) affine Hecke algebras of Lusztig by introducing a notion of degenerate covering affine Hecke algebras.