Orthogonal basis

Last updated

In mathematics, particularly linear algebra, an orthogonal basis for an inner product space is a basis for whose vectors are mutually orthogonal. If the vectors of an orthogonal basis are normalized, the resulting basis is an orthonormal basis.

Contents

As coordinates

Any orthogonal basis can be used to define a system of orthogonal coordinates Orthogonal (not necessarily orthonormal) bases are important due to their appearance from curvilinear orthogonal coordinates in Euclidean spaces, as well as in Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian manifolds.

In functional analysis

In functional analysis, an orthogonal basis is any basis obtained from an orthonormal basis (or Hilbert basis) using multiplication by nonzero scalars.

Extensions

Symmetric bilinear form

The concept of an orthogonal basis is applicable to a vector space (over any field) equipped with a symmetric bilinear form where orthogonality of two vectors and means For an orthogonal basis

where is a quadratic form associated with (in an inner product space, ).

Hence for an orthogonal basis

where and are components of and in the basis.

Quadratic form

The concept of orthogonality may be extended to a vector space (over any field) equipped with a quadratic form . Starting from the observation that, when the characteristic of the underlying field is not 2, the associated symmetric bilinear form allows vectors and to be defined as being orthogonal with respect to when

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euclidean space</span> Fundamental space of geometry

Euclidean space is the fundamental space of geometry, intended to represent physical space. Originally, that is, in Euclid's Elements, it was the three-dimensional space of Euclidean geometry, but in modern mathematics there are Euclidean spaces of any positive integer dimension, including the three-dimensional space and the Euclidean plane. The qualifier "Euclidean" is used to distinguish Euclidean spaces from other spaces that were later considered in physics and modern mathematics.

In mathematics, a geometric algebra is an extension of elementary algebra to work with geometrical objects such as vectors. Geometric algebra is built out of two fundamental operations, addition and the geometric product. Multiplication of vectors results in higher-dimensional objects called multivectors. Compared to other formalisms for manipulating geometric objects, geometric algebra is noteworthy for supporting vector division and addition of objects of different dimensions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inner product space</span> Generalization of the dot product; used to define Hilbert spaces

In mathematics, an inner product space is a real vector space or a complex vector space with an operation called an inner product. The inner product of two vectors in the space is a scalar, often denoted with angle brackets such as in . Inner products allow formal definitions of intuitive geometric notions, such as lengths, angles, and orthogonality of vectors. Inner product spaces generalize Euclidean vector spaces, in which the inner product is the dot product or scalar product of Cartesian coordinates. Inner product spaces of infinite dimension are widely used in functional analysis. Inner product spaces over the field of complex numbers are sometimes referred to as unitary spaces. The first usage of the concept of a vector space with an inner product is due to Giuseppe Peano, in 1898.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clifford algebra</span> Algebra based on a vector space with a quadratic form

In mathematics, a Clifford algebra is an algebra generated by a vector space with a quadratic form, and is a unital associative algebra. As K-algebras, they generalize the real numbers, complex numbers, quaternions and several other hypercomplex number systems. The theory of Clifford algebras is intimately connected with the theory of quadratic forms and orthogonal transformations. Clifford algebras have important applications in a variety of fields including geometry, theoretical physics and digital image processing. They are named after the English mathematician William Kingdon Clifford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gram–Schmidt process</span> Orthonormalization of a set of vectors

In mathematics, particularly linear algebra and numerical analysis, the Gram–Schmidt process is a method for orthonormalizing a set of vectors in an inner product space, most commonly the Euclidean space Rn equipped with the standard inner product. The Gram–Schmidt process takes a finite, linearly independent set of vectors S = {v1, ..., vk} for kn and generates an orthogonal set S′ = {u1, ..., uk} that spans the same k-dimensional subspace of Rn as S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symmetric matrix</span> Matrix equal to its transpose

In linear algebra, a symmetric matrix is a square matrix that is equal to its transpose. Formally,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orthogonal group</span> Type of group in mathematics

In mathematics, the orthogonal group in dimension n, denoted O(n), is the group of distance-preserving transformations of a Euclidean space of dimension n that preserve a fixed point, where the group operation is given by composing transformations. The orthogonal group is sometimes called the general orthogonal group, by analogy with the general linear group. Equivalently, it is the group of n×n orthogonal matrices, where the group operation is given by matrix multiplication. The orthogonal group is an algebraic group and a Lie group. It is compact.

In mathematics, particularly linear algebra, an orthonormal basis for an inner product space V with finite dimension is a basis for whose vectors are orthonormal, that is, they are all unit vectors and orthogonal to each other. For example, the standard basis for a Euclidean space is an orthonormal basis, where the relevant inner product is the dot product of vectors. The image of the standard basis under a rotation or reflection is also orthonormal, and every orthonormal basis for arises in this fashion.

In mathematics, a quadratic form is a polynomial with terms all of degree two. For example,

In mathematics, the Hodge star operator or Hodge star is a linear map defined on the exterior algebra of a finite-dimensional oriented vector space endowed with a nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form. Applying the operator to an element of the algebra produces the Hodge dual of the element. This map was introduced by W. V. D. Hodge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Projection (linear algebra)</span> Idempotent linear transformation from a vector space to itself

In linear algebra and functional analysis, a projection is a linear transformation from a vector space to itself such that . That is, whenever is applied twice to any vector, it gives the same result as if it were applied once. It leaves its image unchanged. This definition of "projection" formalizes and generalizes the idea of graphical projection. One can also consider the effect of a projection on a geometrical object by examining the effect of the projection on points in the object.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curvature of Riemannian manifolds</span>

In mathematics, specifically differential geometry, the infinitesimal geometry of Riemannian manifolds with dimension greater than 2 is too complicated to be described by a single number at a given point. Riemann introduced an abstract and rigorous way to define curvature for these manifolds, now known as the Riemann curvature tensor. Similar notions have found applications everywhere in differential geometry.

In linear algebra, the Gram matrix of a set of vectors in an inner product space is the Hermitian matrix of inner products, whose entries are given by the inner product . If the vectors are the columns of matrix then the Gram matrix is in the general case that the vector coordinates are complex numbers, which simplifies to for the case that the vector coordinates are real numbers.

In the mathematical fields of linear algebra and functional analysis, the orthogonal complement of a subspace W of a vector space V equipped with a bilinear form B is the set W of all vectors in V that are orthogonal to every vector in W. Informally, it is called the perp, short for perpendicular complement. It is a subspace of V.

In mathematics, a biorthogonal system is a pair of indexed families of vectors

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symmetric space</span> A (pseudo-)Riemannian manifold whose geodesics are reversible.

In mathematics, a symmetric space is a Riemannian manifold whose group of symmetries contains an inversion symmetry about every point. This can be studied with the tools of Riemannian geometry, leading to consequences in the theory of holonomy; or algebraically through Lie theory, which allowed Cartan to give a complete classification. Symmetric spaces commonly occur in differential geometry, representation theory and harmonic analysis.

In mathematics—more specifically, in differential geometry—the musical isomorphism is an isomorphism between the tangent bundle and the cotangent bundle of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold induced by its metric tensor. There are similar isomorphisms on symplectic manifolds. The term musical refers to the use of the symbols (flat) and (sharp).

In mathematics and theoretical physics, a pseudo-Euclidean space is a finite-dimensional real n-space together with a non-degenerate quadratic form q. Such a quadratic form can, given a suitable choice of basis (e1, …, en), be applied to a vector x = x1e1 + ⋯ + xnen, giving

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilbert space</span> Generalization of Euclidean space allowing infinite dimensions

In mathematics, Hilbert spaces allow generalizing the methods of linear algebra and calculus from (finite-dimensional) Euclidean vector spaces to spaces that may be infinite-dimensional. A Hilbert space is a vector space equipped with an inner product which defines a distance function for which it is a complete metric space. Hilbert spaces arise naturally and frequently in mathematics and physics, typically as function spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orthogonality (mathematics)</span>

In mathematics, orthogonality is the generalization of the geometric notion of perpendicularity to the linear algebra of bilinear forms.

References