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Hermitian Form
In mathematics, a sesquilinear form is a generalization of a bilinear form that, in turn, is a generalization of the concept of the dot product of Euclidean space. A bilinear form is linear in each of its arguments, but a sesquilinear form allows one of the arguments to be "twisted" in a semilinear manner, thus the name; which originates from the Latin numerical prefix ''sesqui-'' meaning "one and a half". The basic concept of the dot product – producing a scalar from a pair of vectors – can be generalized by allowing a broader range of scalar values and, perhaps simultaneously, by widening the definition of a vector. A motivating special case is a sesquilinear form on a complex vector space, . This is a map that is linear in one argument and "twists" the linearity of the other argument by complex conjugation (referred to as being antilinear in the other argument). This case arises naturally in mathematical physics applications. Another important case allows the scalars to co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ring (mathematics)
In mathematics, rings are algebraic structures that generalize fields: multiplication need not be commutative and multiplicative inverses need not exist. In other words, a ''ring'' is a set equipped with two binary operations satisfying properties analogous to those of addition and multiplication of integers. Ring elements may be numbers such as integers or complex numbers, but they may also be non-numerical objects such as polynomials, square matrices, functions, and power series. Formally, a ''ring'' is an abelian group whose operation is called ''addition'', with a second binary operation called ''multiplication'' that is associative, is distributive over the addition operation, and has a multiplicative identity element. (Some authors use the term " " with a missing i to refer to the more general structure that omits this last requirement; see .) Whether a ring is commutative (that is, whether the order in which two elements are multiplied might change the result) has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilinear Map
In mathematics, a bilinear map is a function combining elements of two vector spaces to yield an element of a third vector space, and is linear in each of its arguments. Matrix multiplication is an example. Definition Vector spaces Let V, W and X be three vector spaces over the same base field F. A bilinear map is a function B : V \times W \to X such that for all w \in W, the map B_w v \mapsto B(v, w) is a linear map from V to X, and for all v \in V, the map B_v w \mapsto B(v, w) is a linear map from W to X. In other words, when we hold the first entry of the bilinear map fixed while letting the second entry vary, the result is a linear operator, and similarly for when we hold the second entry fixed. Such a map B satisfies the following properties. * For any \lambda \in F, B(\lambda v,w) = B(v, \lambda w) = \lambda B(v, w). * The map B is additive in both components: if v_1, v_2 \in V and w_1, w_2 \in W, then B(v_1 + v_2, w) = B(v_1, w) + B(v_2, w) and B(v, w_1 + w_2) = B(v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linear Map
In mathematics, and more specifically in linear algebra, a linear map (also called a linear mapping, linear transformation, vector space homomorphism, or in some contexts linear function) is a Map (mathematics), mapping V \to W between two vector spaces that preserves the operations of vector addition and scalar multiplication. The same names and the same definition are also used for the more general case of module (mathematics), modules over a ring (mathematics), ring; see Module homomorphism. If a linear map is a bijection then it is called a . In the case where V = W, a linear map is called a (linear) ''endomorphism''. Sometimes the term refers to this case, but the term "linear operator" can have different meanings for different conventions: for example, it can be used to emphasize that V and W are Real number, real vector spaces (not necessarily with V = W), or it can be used to emphasize that V is a function space, which is a common convention in functional analysis. Some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antilinear Map
In mathematics, a function f : V \to W between two complex vector spaces is said to be antilinear or conjugate-linear if \begin f(x + y) &= f(x) + f(y) && \qquad \text \\ f(s x) &= \overline f(x) && \qquad \text \\ \end hold for all vectors x, y \in V and every complex number s, where \overline denotes the complex conjugate of s. Antilinear maps stand in contrast to linear maps, which are additive maps that are homogeneous rather than conjugate homogeneous. If the vector spaces are real then antilinearity is the same as linearity. Antilinear maps occur in quantum mechanics in the study of time reversal and in spinor calculus, where it is customary to replace the bars over the basis vectors and the components of geometric objects by dots put above the indices. Scalar-valued antilinear maps often arise when dealing with complex inner products and Hilbert spaces. Definitions and characterizations A function is called or if it is additive and conjugate homogeneous. An o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science. Classical physics, the collection of theories that existed before the advent of quantum mechanics, describes many aspects of nature at an ordinary (macroscopic) scale, but is not sufficient for describing them at small (atomic and subatomic) scales. Most theories in classical physics can be derived from quantum mechanics as an approximation valid at large (macroscopic) scale. Quantum mechanics differs from classical physics in that energy, momentum, angular momentum, and other quantities of a bound system are restricted to discrete values ( quantization); objects have characteristics of both particles and waves (wave–particle duality); and there are limits to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bra–ket Notation
In quantum mechanics, bra–ket notation, or Dirac notation, is used ubiquitously to denote quantum states. The notation uses angle brackets, and , and a vertical bar , to construct "bras" and "kets". A ket is of the form , v \rangle. Mathematically it denotes a vector, \boldsymbol v, in an abstract (complex) vector space V, and physically it represents a state of some quantum system. A bra is of the form \langle f, . Mathematically it denotes a linear form f:V \to \Complex, i.e. a linear map that maps each vector in V to a number in the complex plane \Complex. Letting the linear functional \langle f, act on a vector , v\rangle is written as \langle f , v\rangle \in \Complex. Assume that on V there exists an inner product (\cdot,\cdot) with antilinear first argument, which makes V an inner product space. Then with this inner product each vector \boldsymbol \phi \equiv , \phi\rangle can be identified with a corresponding linear form, by placing the vector in the anti-line ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Dirac
Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac (; 8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984) was an English theoretical physicist who is regarded as one of the most significant physicists of the 20th century. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a professor of physics at Florida State University and the University of Miami, and a 1933 Nobel Prize recipient. Dirac made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. Among other discoveries, he formulated the Dirac equation which describes the behaviour of fermions and predicted the existence of antimatter. Dirac shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with Erwin Schrödinger "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory". He also made significant contributions to the reconciliation of general relativity with quantum mechanics. Dirac was regarded by his friends and colleagues as unusual in character. In a 1926 letter to Paul Ehrenfest, Albert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antiautomorphism
In mathematics, an antihomomorphism is a type of function defined on sets with multiplication that reverses the order of multiplication. An antiautomorphism is a bijective antihomomorphism, i.e. an antiisomorphism, from a set to itself. From bijectivity it follows that antiautomorphisms have inverses, and that the inverse of an antiautomorphism is also an antiautomorphism. Definition Informally, an antihomomorphism is a map that switches the order of multiplication. Formally, an antihomomorphism between structures X and Y is a homomorphism \phi\colon X \to Y^, where Y^ equals Y as a set, but has its multiplication reversed to that defined on Y. Denoting the (generally non-commutative) multiplication on Y by \cdot, the multiplication on Y^, denoted by *, is defined by x*y := y \cdot x. The object Y^ is called the opposite object to Y (respectively, opposite group, opposite algebra, opposite category etc.). This definition is equivalent to that of a homomorphism \phi\colon X^ \t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complex Conjugate
In mathematics, the complex conjugate of a complex number is the number with an equal real part and an imaginary part equal in magnitude but opposite in sign. That is, (if a and b are real, then) the complex conjugate of a + bi is equal to a - bi. The complex conjugate of z is often denoted as \overline or z^*. In polar form, the conjugate of r e^ is r e^. This can be shown using Euler's formula. The product of a complex number and its conjugate is a real number: a^2 + b^2 (or r^2 in polar coordinates). If a root of a univariate polynomial with real coefficients is complex, then its complex conjugate is also a root. Notation The complex conjugate of a complex number z is written as \overline z or z^*. The first notation, a vinculum, avoids confusion with the notation for the conjugate transpose of a matrix, which can be thought of as a generalization of the complex conjugate. The second is preferred in physics, where dagger (†) is used for the conjugate tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hilbert Space
In mathematics, Hilbert spaces (named after David Hilbert) allow generalizing the methods of linear algebra and calculus from (finite-dimensional) Euclidean vector spaces to spaces that may be infinite-dimensional. Hilbert spaces arise naturally and frequently in mathematics and physics, typically as function spaces. Formally, a Hilbert space is a vector space equipped with an inner product that defines a distance function for which the space is a complete metric space. The earliest Hilbert spaces were studied from this point of view in the first decade of the 20th century by David Hilbert, Erhard Schmidt, and Frigyes Riesz. They are indispensable tools in the theories of partial differential equations, quantum mechanics, Fourier analysis (which includes applications to signal processing and heat transfer), and ergodic theory (which forms the mathematical underpinning of thermodynamics). John von Neumann coined the term ''Hilbert space'' for the abstract concept that under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which relates to the order of nature, or, in other words, to the regular succession of events." Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, with its main goal being to understand how the universe behaves. "Physics is one of the most fundamental of the sciences. Scientists of all disciplines use the ideas of physics, including chemists who study the structure of molecules, paleontologists who try to reconstruct how dinosaurs walked, and climatologists who study how human activities affect the atmosphere and oceans. Physics is also the foundation of all engineering and technology. No engineer could design a flat-screen TV, an interplanetary spacecraft, or even a better mousetrap without first understanding the basic laws of physic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
