<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >
This module describes the concept of inner products, which leads into our introduction of Hilbert spaces. Examples and properties of both of these concepts are discussed.

Definition: inner product

You may have run across inner products , also called dot products , on n before in some of your math or science courses. If not, we define the inner product as follows, given we have some x n and y n

standard inner product
The standard inner product is defined mathematically as:
x y y x y 0 y 1 y n 1 x 0 x 1 x n 1 i n 1 0 x i y i

Inner product in 2-d

If we have x 2 and y 2 , then we can write the inner product as

x y x y θ
where θ is the angle between x and y .

General plot of vectors and angle referred to in above equations.

Geometrically, the inner product tells us about the strength of x in the direction of y .

For example, if x 1 , then x y y θ

Got questions? Get instant answers now!
Plot of two vectors from above example.

The following characteristics are revealed by the inner product:

  • x y measures the length of the projection of y onto x .
  • x y is maximum (for given x , y ) when x and y are in the same direction ( θ 0 θ 1 ).
  • x y is zero when θ 0 θ 90° , i.e. x and y are orthogonal .

Inner product rules

In general, an inner product on a complex vector space is just a function (taking two vectors and returning a complexnumber) that satisfies certain rules:

  • Conjugate Symmetry: x y x y
  • Scaling: α x y α x y
  • Additivity: x y z x z y z
  • "Positivity": x x 0 x x 0
orthogonal
We say that x and y are orthogonal if: x y 0

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, Signals and systems. OpenStax CNX. Aug 14, 2014 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col10064/1.15
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'Signals and systems' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask