– An inner product space is a vector space $X$ with an inner product defined on $X$. A Hilbert space is a complete inner product space. An inner product on $X$ is a mapping of $X \times X$ into the scalar field $K$ of $X$; that is, with every pair of vectors $x$ and $y$ there is associated a scalar which is written $\langle x,y\rangle$. For all vectors $x, y, z$ and scalar $\alpha,$ we have
$ (\mathrm{IP}1)\quad \langle x+y,z\rangle = \langle x,z\rangle + \langle y,z\rangle $
$ (\mathrm{IP}2)\quad \langle \alpha x,y\rangle = \alpha \langle x,y\rangle $
$ (\mathrm{IP}3)\quad \langle x,y\rangle = \overline{\langle y,x\rangle} $
$ (\mathrm{IP}4)\quad \langle x,x\rangle \ge 0, \qquad \langle x,x\rangle = 0 \iff x = 0 $
An inner product on $X$ defines a norm on $X$ given by $$ \|x\| = \sqrt{\langle x,x\rangle} $$
and a metric on $X$ given by $$ d(x,y) = \|x-y\| = \sqrt{\langle x-y, x-y\rangle} $$
From (IP1) and (IP3), we obtain
$ \text{(a)}\quad \langle \alpha x + \beta y,z\rangle = \alpha \langle x,z\rangle + \beta \langle y,z\rangle $
$ \text{(b)}\quad \langle x,\alpha y\rangle = \overline{\alpha},\langle x,y\rangle $
$ \text{(c)}\quad \langle x,\alpha y + \beta z\rangle = \overline{\alpha},\langle x,y\rangle + \overline{\beta},\langle x,z\rangle $
– An inner product space satisfies the parallelogram equality $$ \|x+y\|^2 + \|x-y\|^2 = 2(\|x\|^2 + \|y\|^2) $$
– An element $x$ of an inner product space $X$ is said to be orthogonal to an element $y \in X$ if $$ \langle x,y\rangle = 0. $$
– We also say that $x$ and $y$ are orthogonal, and we write $x \perp y$. Similarly, for subsets $A, B \subset X$ we write $x \perp A$ if $x \perp a$ for all $a \in A$. $A \perp B$ if $a \perp b$ for all $a \in A$ and $b \in B$.
1. Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^n$. Hilbert space with inner product: $$ \langle x,y\rangle = \xi_1 \eta_1 + \ldots + \xi_n \eta_n $$ where $x = (\xi_i) = (\xi_1,\ldots,\xi_n); \quad y = (\eta_i) = (\eta_1,\ldots,\eta_n)$. Then $$\|x\| = \langle x,x\rangle^{1/2} = (\xi_1^2 + \ldots + \xi_n^2)^{1/2}$$ with Euclidean metric $$\mathrm{d}(x, y) = \| x - y \|| = \langle x-y, x-y \rangle^{1/2} = [(\xi_1 - \eta_1)^2 + \ldots +(\xi_n - \eta_n)^2]^{1/2}$$
2. Unitary space $\mathbb{C}^n$. Hilbert space with inner product: $$ \langle x,y\rangle = \sum_ {i=1}^n \xi_i \overline{\eta_i} $$ The norm is defined by $$ \|x\| = \left(\sum_{i=1}^n \xi_i \overline{\xi_i}\right)^{1/2} = \left(\sum_{i=1}^n |\xi_i|^2\right)^{1/2} $$
3. Space $L^2[a,b]$. Hilbert space with norm: $$ \|x\| = \left(\int_a^b x(t)^2\ \mathrm{d}t\right)^{1/2} $$ and can be obtained from the inner product defined by $$ \langle x,y\rangle = \int_a^b x(t)y(t)\mathrm{d}t $$ Consider complex-valued functions $\Rightarrow$ complex vector space $\Rightarrow$ inner product space: $$ \langle x,y\rangle = \int_a^b x(t)\overline{y(t)}\mathrm{d}t $$
4. Hilbert sequence space $\ell^2$. Hilbert space with inner product: $$ \langle x,y\rangle = \sum_{j=1}^{\infty} \xi_j \overline{\eta_j} $$ The norm is defined by $$ \|x\| = \langle x,x\rangle^{1/2} = \left(\sum_{j=1}^{\infty} |\xi_j|^2\right)^{1/2} $$
$\text{(a)}$ We have: $$ \|\langle x,y\rangle\| \le \|x\|\ \|y\| $$ The equality sign holds if and only if $\{x,y\}$ is a linearly dependent set.
$\text{(b)}$ The norm also satisfies: $$ \|x+y\| \le \|x\| + \|y\| $$ where the equality sign holds if and only if $y = 0$ or $x = cy$ $(c \in \mathbb{R},\ c \ge 0)$.
If in an inner product space, $x_n \to x$ and $y_n \to y$, then $\langle x_n,y_n\rangle \to \langle x,y\rangle$.
Proof. \begin{align} |\langle x_n,y_n\rangle - \langle x,y\rangle| &= |\langle x_n,y_n\rangle - \langle x_n,y\rangle + \langle x_n,y\rangle - \langle x,y\rangle| \\ & \le |\langle x_n,y_n - y\rangle| + |\langle x_n - x,y\rangle| \\ & \le \|x_n\|\|y_n - y\| + \|x_n - x\|\|y\| \to 0 \end{align}
An isomorphism $T$ of an inner product space $X$ onto an inner product space $\tilde X$ over the same field is a bijective linear operator $T:X \to \tilde X$ which preserves the inner product: $$ \langle Tx,Ty\rangle = \langle x,y\rangle \quad \text{for all } x,y \in X. $$
For any inner product space $X$ there exists a Hilbert space $H$ and an isomorphism $A$ from $X$ onto a dense subspace $W \subset H$. The space $H$ is unique except for isomorphisms.
– $H$ is unique except for isometries, that is, two completions $H$ and $\tilde H$ of $X$ are related by an isometry $T:H \to \tilde H$. Then, $T$ must be an isomorphism of the Hilbert space $H$ onto the Hilbert space $\tilde H$.
– A subspace $Y$ of an inner product space $H$ is defined to be a subspace of $H$, regarded as an inner product space.
$$ !!\quad Y \text{ need not to be a Hilbert space because } Y \text{ may not be complete.} $$
Let $Y$ be a subspace of a Hilbert space $H$. Then:
$\text{(a)} \quad$ $Y$ is complete if and only if $Y$ is closed in $H$.
$\text{(b)} \quad$ If $Y$ is finite dimensional, then $Y$ is complete.
$\text{(c)} \quad$ If $H$ is separable, so is $Y$. More generally, every subset of a separable inner product space is separable.
In a metric space $X$, the distance $\delta$ from an element $x \in X$ to a nonempty subset $M \subset X$ is defined to be: $$ \delta = \inf_{\tilde{y} \in M} d(x,\tilde y). $$
In a normed space this becomes: $$ \delta = \inf_{\tilde y \in M} \|x - \tilde y\|. $$
[1] Kreyszig, E. (1978). Introductory functional analysis with applications. John Wiley & Sons.
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