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The dimension of this vector space, if it exists, [a] is called the degree of the extension. For example, the complex numbers C form a two-dimensional vector space over the real numbers R. Likewise, the real numbers R form a vector space over the rational numbers Q which has (uncountably) infinite dimension, if a Hamel basis exists. [b]
When the scalar field is the real numbers, the vector space is called a real vector space, and when the scalar field is the complex numbers, the vector space is called a complex vector space. [4] These two cases are the most common ones, but vector spaces with scalars in an arbitrary field F are also commonly considered.
In mathematics, an inner product space (or, rarely, a Hausdorff pre-Hilbert space [1] [2]) 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 a , b {\displaystyle \langle a,b\rangle } .
In modern mathematics, the presentation through vector spaces is generally preferred, since it is more synthetic, more general (not limited to the finite-dimensional case), and conceptually simpler, although more abstract. A vector space over a field F (often the field of the real numbers) is a set V equipped with two binary operations.
A vector space can be of finite dimension or infinite dimension depending on the maximum number of linearly independent vectors. The definition of linear dependence and the ability to determine whether a subset of vectors in a vector space is linearly dependent are central to determining the dimension of a vector space.
Every (real or complex) vector space admits a norm: If = is a Hamel basis for a vector space then the real-valued map that sends = (where all but finitely many of the scalars are ) to | | is a norm on . [9] There are also a large number of norms that exhibit additional properties that make them useful for specific problems.
If V is a vector space over a field K, a subset W of V is a linear subspace of V if it is a vector space over K for the operations of V.Equivalently, a linear subspace of V is a nonempty subset W such that, whenever w 1, w 2 are elements of W and α, β are elements of K, it follows that αw 1 + βw 2 is in W.
In particular, a nonzero invariant vector (i.e. a fixed point of T) spans an invariant subspace of dimension 1. As a consequence of the fundamental theorem of algebra, every linear operator on a nonzero finite-dimensional complex vector space has an eigenvector. Therefore, every such linear operator in at least two dimensions has a proper non ...