Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2013
Vectors
A vector in n-dimensional space is specified by n components that give the projections of the vector onto the n unit vectors of the space: V = (v1, v2, v3, …, vn). Two vectors are equal if all of the components are equal. The components may be real or complex numbers. Vectors obey the following rules:
(r and s are any real or complex numbers). The inner product or (Hermitian) scalar product of two n-dimensional vectors U and V is
The magnitude, or length, of V is |V| = (V, V)1/2. It is a positive number. It is zero if and only if V = 0, and V = 0 if and only if vi = 0 for all i. A “normalized” vector has |V|= 1.
The scalar product, (U, V)/|V|, is the projection of U onto V, and the cosine of the angle, ø, between two vectors is
If cos ø = 1, U and V are parallel vectors. If cos ø = 0, U and V are orthogonal. The scalar product of two vectors is unchanged if both vectors are subjected to the same symmetry operation. For example, if U and V are subjected to a rotation R or operator PR,
Aset of m normalized, mutually orthogonal, n-dimensional vectors, U1, U2, …, Um, is an orthonormal set.
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