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Both vector addition and scalar multiplication are trivial. A basis for this vector space is the empty set, so that {0} is the 0-dimensional vector space over F. Every vector space over F contains a subspace isomorphic to this one. The zero vector space is conceptually different from the null space of a linear operator L, which is the kernel of L.
The simplest example of a vector space over a field F is the field F itself with its addition viewed as vector addition and its multiplication viewed as scalar multiplication. More generally, all n -tuples (sequences of length n ) ( a 1 , a 2 , … , a n ) {\displaystyle (a_{1},a_{2},\dots ,a_{n})} of elements a i of F form a vector space that ...
A scalar in physics and other areas of science is also a scalar in mathematics, as an element of a mathematical field used to define a vector space.For example, the magnitude (or length) of an electric field vector is calculated as the square root of its absolute square (the inner product of the electric field with itself); so, the inner product's result is an element of the mathematical field ...
In the natural sciences, a vector quantity (also known as a vector physical quantity, physical vector, or simply vector) is a vector-valued physical quantity. [9] [10] It is typically formulated as the product of a unit of measurement and a vector numerical value (), often a Euclidean vector with magnitude and direction.
In science, a field is a physical quantity, represented by a scalar, vector, or tensor, that has a value for each point in space and time. [1] [2] [3] An example of a scalar field is a weather map, with the surface temperature described by assigning a number to each point on the map.
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 } .
The Stern–Gerlach experiment was meant to test the Bohr–Sommerfeld hypothesis that the direction of the angular momentum of a silver atom is quantized. [14] The experiment was first performed with an electromagnet that allowed the non-uniform magnetic field to be turned on gradually from a null value. [1]
More generally, a vector space over a field also has the structure of a vector space over a subfield of that field. Linear operations, given in a linear space by definition, lead to such notions as straight lines (and planes, and other linear subspaces); parallel lines; ellipses (and ellipsoids).