In mathematics, there are two different notions of semi-inner-product. The first, and more common, is that of an inner product which is not required to be strictly positive. This article will deal with the second, called a L-semi-inner product or semi-inner product in the sense of Lumer, which is an inner product not required to be conjugate symmetric. It was formulated by Günter Lumer, for the purpose of extending Hilbert space type arguments to Banach spaces in functional analysis. Fundamental properties were later explored by Giles.
Definition We mention again that the definition presented here is different from that of the "semi-inner product" in standard functional analysis textbooks, where a "semi-inner product" satisfies all the properties of inner products (including conjugate symmetry) except that it is not required to be strictly positive. A semi-inner-product, L-semi-inner product, or a semi-inner product in the sense of Lumer for a linear vector space V {\displaystyle V} over the field C {\displaystyle \mathbb {C} } of complex numbers is a function from V × V {\displaystyle V\times V} to C , {\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ,} usually denoted by [ ⋅ , ⋅ ] {\displaystyle [\cdot ,\cdot ]} , such that for all f , g , h ∈ V : {\displaystyle f,g,h\in V:}
Nonnegative-definiteness: [ f , f ] ≥ 0 , {\displaystyle [f,f]\geq 0,}
Linearity in the 1st argument, meaning:
Additivity in the 1st argument: [ f + g , h ] = [ f , h ] + [ g , h ] , {\displaystyle [f+g,h]=[f,h]+[g,h],}
Homogeneity in the 1st argument: [ s f , g ] = s [ f , g ] for all s ∈ C , {\displaystyle [sf,g]=s[f,g]\quad {\text{ for all }}s\in \mathbb {C} ,}
Conjugate homogeneity in the 2nd argument: [ f , s g ] = s ¯ [ f , g ] for all s ∈ C , {\displaystyle [f,sg]={\overline {s}}[f,g]\quad {\text{ for all }}s\in \mathbb {C} ,}
Cauchy–Schwarz inequality: | [ f , g ] | ≤ [ f , f ] 1 / 2 [ g , g ] 1 / 2 . {\displaystyle |[f,g]|\leq [f,f]^{1/2}[g,g]^{1/2}.}
Difference from inner products A semi-inner-product is different from inner products in that it is in general not conjugate symmetric, that is,
[ f , g ] ≠ [ g , f ] ¯ {\displaystyle [f,g]\neq {\overline {[g,f]}}}
generally. This is equivalent to saying that
[ f , g + h ] ≠ [ f , g ] + [ f , h ] . {\displaystyle [f,g+h]\neq [f,g]+[f,h].\,}
In other words, semi-inner-products are generally nonlinear about its second variable.
Semi-inner-products for normed spaces If [ ⋅ , ⋅ ] {\displaystyle [\cdot ,\cdot ]} is a semi-inner-product for a linear vector space V {\displaystyle V} then ‖ f ‖ := [ f , f ] 1 / 2 , f ∈ V {\displaystyle \|f\|:=[f,f]^{1/2},\quad f\in V} defines a norm on V {\displaystyle V} . Conversely, if V {\displaystyle V} is a normed vector space with the norm ‖ ⋅ ‖ {\displaystyle \|\cdot \|} then there always exists a (not necessarily unique) semi-inner-product on V {\displaystyle V} that is consistent with the norm on V {\displaystyle V} in the sense that ‖ f ‖ = [ f , f ] 1 / 2 , for all f ∈ V . {\displaystyle \|f\|=[f,f]^{1/2},\ \ {\text{ for all }}f\in V.}
Examples The Euclidean space C n {\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ^{n}} with the ℓ p {\displaystyle \ell ^{p}} norm ( 1 ≤ p < + ∞ {\displaystyle 1\leq p<+\infty } )
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