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For a conjugate-linear operator the definition of adjoint needs to be adjusted in order to compensate for the complex conjugation. An adjoint operator of the conjugate-linear operator A on a complex Hilbert space H is an conjugate-linear operator A ∗ : H → H with the property:
In linear algebra, the adjugate or classical adjoint of a square matrix A, adj(A), is the transpose of its cofactor matrix. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] It is occasionally known as adjunct matrix , [ 3 ] [ 4 ] or "adjoint", [ 5 ] though that normally refers to a different concept, the adjoint operator which for a matrix is the conjugate transpose .
In practical terms, having an essentially self-adjoint operator is almost as good as having a self-adjoint operator, since we merely need to take the closure to obtain a self-adjoint operator. In physics, the term Hermitian refers to symmetric as well as self-adjoint operators alike. The subtle difference between the two is generally overlooked.
In mathematics, a Hermitian matrix (or self-adjoint matrix) is a complex square matrix that is equal to its own conjugate transpose—that is, the element in the i-th row and j-th column is equal to the complex conjugate of the element in the j-th row and i-th column, for all indices i and j: = ¯
Even more general is the concept of adjoint operator for operators on (possibly infinite-dimensional) complex Hilbert spaces. All this is subsumed by the *-operations of C*-algebras . One may also define a conjugation for quaternions and split-quaternions : the conjugate of a + b i + c j + d k {\textstyle a+bi+cj+dk} is a − b i − c j − d ...
The last property given above shows that if one views as a linear transformation from Hilbert space to , then the matrix corresponds to the adjoint operator of . The concept of adjoint operators between Hilbert spaces can thus be seen as a generalization of the conjugate transpose of matrices with respect to an orthonormal basis.
In mathematics, especially functional analysis, a normal operator on a complex Hilbert space H is a continuous linear operator N : H → H that commutes with its Hermitian adjoint N*, that is: NN* = N*N. [1] Normal operators are important because the spectral theorem holds for them. The class of normal operators is well understood.
The adjoint representation can also be defined for algebraic groups over any field. [clarification needed] The co-adjoint representation is the contragredient representation of the adjoint representation. Alexandre Kirillov observed that the orbit of any vector in a co-adjoint representation is a symplectic manifold.