1. **Problem Statement:** Understand the concepts of orthogonal and orthonormal vectors, orthogonal and orthonormal bases, orthogonal matrices, and their properties in linear algebra.
2. **Orthogonal Vectors:** Two vectors $\mathbf{u}$ and $\mathbf{v}$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$ are orthogonal if their dot product is zero: $$\mathbf{u} \cdot \mathbf{v} = 0.$$ This means they are perpendicular to each other.
3. **Orthogonal Set:** A set of vectors $\{\mathbf{u}_1, \mathbf{u}_2, \ldots, \mathbf{u}_p\}$ is orthogonal if every pair of distinct vectors in the set is orthogonal, i.e., $$\mathbf{u}_i \cdot \mathbf{u}_j = 0 \text{ for } i \neq j.$$ This ensures all vectors are mutually perpendicular.
4. **Orthonormal Set:** An orthonormal set is an orthogonal set where each vector is a unit vector (length 1). Formally, $$\mathbf{u}_i \cdot \mathbf{u}_i = 1 \text{ for all } i.$$ This means vectors are perpendicular and normalized.
5. **Orthogonal Basis:** A basis for a subspace $W$ of $\mathbb{R}^n$ is orthogonal if the basis vectors form an orthogonal set. This simplifies many computations like projections.
6. **Orthonormal Basis:** An orthonormal basis is an orthogonal basis where all basis vectors are unit vectors. This is very useful because it preserves lengths and angles.
7. **Orthogonal Matrix:** A square matrix $P$ is orthogonal if its inverse equals its transpose: $$P^{-1} = P^T,$$ which implies $$P^T P = I,$$ where $I$ is the identity matrix. The rows and columns of $P$ form orthonormal sets.
8. **Examples:**
- Vectors $\mathbf{u} = (1,2)$ and $\mathbf{v} = (6,-3)$ are orthogonal since $$1 \times 6 + 2 \times (-3) = 6 - 6 = 0.$$
- The set $\{(3,1,1), (-1,2,1), (-\frac{1}{2}, -2, \frac{7}{2})\}$ is orthogonal because all pairwise dot products are zero.
- The set $\{(\frac{\sqrt{3}}{11}, \frac{\sqrt{1}}{11}, \frac{\sqrt{1}}{11}), (-\frac{\sqrt{1}}{6}, \frac{\sqrt{2}}{6}, \frac{\sqrt{1}}{6}), (-\frac{\sqrt{1}}{66}, -\frac{\sqrt{4}}{66}, \frac{\sqrt{7}}{66})\}$ is orthonormal because vectors are orthogonal and each has length 1.
- The matrix $$P = \begin{bmatrix} \cos \theta & -\sin \theta \\ \sin \theta & \cos \theta \end{bmatrix}$$ is orthogonal since $$P^{-1} = P^T.$$
9. **Summary:** Orthogonal and orthonormal vectors simplify many linear algebra operations. Orthogonal matrices preserve vector lengths and angles, making them important in transformations and decompositions like QR factorization and singular value decomposition.
Orthogonal Orthonormal 90A02B
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