Euclidean Inner Products

Whenever we talk about an inner product, we reference it to dot products. If you

recall, a dot product between two vectors is given as:
u v = u1 v1 + u2 v2 + + un vn
We will talk about the properties of inner product and mention some formulas
used with inner products.
Properties of Inner Products
1. < u, v > = < v, u >
2. < u + v, w > = < u, w> + < v, w >
3. <cu, v > = c< u, v > for any scalar c
4. < u, u > > 0 AND < u, u > = 0 iff u = 0.*
*Note: The word iff is equivalent to the phrase if and only if. This is a property
that works two ways: (1) If < u, u > = 0, then u = 0 is one condition and (2) If u =
0, then < u, u > = 0 is the other condition.
Example: Verify that the following is an inner product on R3.
< u, v > = 2 u 1 v 1 + 3 u 2 v 2 + u 3 v 3
To show that the above expression is indeed an inner product, we must verify the
four properties of inner productions.
1. < u, v > = < v, u >
Let u = (a, b, d) and v = (f, g, h). Then:
Left-hand side (LHS): < u, v > = (a, b, d) (f, g, h) = 2af +3bg + dh.
Right-hand side (RHS):< v, u >= (f, g, h) (a, b, d) = 2fa + 3gb + hd.
No matter which way you do the inner product, the answer is still the
same. Therefore, property one holds.
2. < u + v, w > = < u, w> + < v, w >
Let u = (a, b, d), v = (f, g, h), and w = (r, s, t). Then
LHS: < u + v, w > = (a + f, b + g, d + h) (r, s, t)
= 2(a + f)r +3(b + g)s + (d + h)t
= 2ar + 2fr + 3bs + 3gs + dt + ht.
RHS: < u, w> + < v, w >= (a, b, d) (r, s, t) + (f, g, h) (r, s, t)
= (2ar + 3bs + dt) + (2fr + 3gs + + ht)
= 2ar + 2fr + 3bs + 3gs + dt + ht
The left-hand side equals the right hand side. Therefore, property two
holds.

3. <cu, v > = c< u, v >

Let u = (a, b, d) and v = (f, g, h). Then:
LHS: < cu, v > = (ca, cb, cd) (f, g, h)
= 2caf +3cbg + cdh.
RHS: c< u, v > = c[(a, b, d) (f, g, h)]
= c[2af +3bg + dh]
=2caf +3cbg + cdh
Again the LHS equals the RHS, therefore property three holds.
4. *Note: Because of the if and only if, we must prove this in parts.
a. < u, u > > 0
Let u = (a, b, d). Then < u, u > = a2 + b2 + d2. No matter if a, b,
and d are positive or negative, squaring them will make the result
positive, ie, greater than zero. So < u, u > > 0.
b. If < u, u > = 0, then u = 0.
The only way < u, u > can be zero if u is the zero vector, ie,
u = (0, 0, 0). Therefore u MUST be the zero vector.
c. If u = 0, then < u, u > = 0.
If u = (0, 0, 0), then < u, u > = (0, 0, 0) (0, 0, 0) = 0.
Therefore, property four holds.
Since all four properties hold, then we can conclude that the above expression is
indeed an inner product.
There are some other properties of dot products that can be extended to inner
products.
Norm(Magnitude) of a Vector
||v|| = < v , v >1/2

Angle Between Two Vectors

< u, v >
cos =
u v

Projection
< u, v >
proj v u =
v
< v, v > 2

Example: If ||u|| = 2, < u, v> = 3, and ||v|| = 1, then compute < u + v, u + v >.
In order to find this quantity, we must use the properties of inner products.
< u + v, u + v > = < u + v, u > + < u + v, v >
= (<u, u > + < v, u >) + (<u, v > + < v, v >)
= ||u||2 + 2< u, v > + ||v||2
Now, we plug in.
||u||2 + 2< u, v > + ||v||2
(2)2 + 2(3) + (1)2
4 + 6 + 1 = 11.