Pauli spin matrices — UPSC IFoS 2011 Physics PYQ

What are Pauli spin matrices ? Show that : (\vec{\sigma}\cdot\vec{A})(\vec{\sigma}\cdot\vec{B}) = \vec{A}\cdot\vec{B} + i\vec{\sigma}\cdot(\vec{A}\times\vec{B}) where \vec{\sigma} are the Pauli spin matrices and \vec{A} and \vec{B} are vector operators which commute with \vec{\sigma}, but do not necessarily commute with each other.