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Encyclopedia > Scalar (mathematics)

In linear algebra, real numbers are called scalars and relate to vectors in a vector space through the operation of scalar multiplication, in which a vector can be multiplied by a number to produce another vector. Linear algebra is the branch of mathematics concerned with the study of vectors, vector spaces (also called linear spaces), linear maps (also called linear transformations), and systems of linear equations. ... In mathematics, the real numbers may be described informally as numbers that can be given by an infinite decimal representation, such as 2. ... In mathematics, a vector space (or linear space) is a collection of objects (called vectors) that, informally speaking, may be scaled and added. ... In mathematics, scalar multiplication is one of the basic operations defining a vector space in linear algebra (or more generally, a module in abstract algebra). ...

More generally, the scalars associated with a vector space may be complex numbers or elements from any algebraic field. In mathematics, a complex number is a number of the form where a and b are real numbers, and i is the imaginary unit, with the property i 2 = âˆ’1. ... In abstract algebra, a field is an algebraic structure in which the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division (except division by zero) may be performed, and the same rules hold which are familiar from the arithmetic of ordinary numbers. ...

Also, a scalar product operation (not to be confused with scalar multiplication) may be defined on a vector space, allowing two vectors to be multiplied to produce a scalar. A vector space equipped with a scalar product is called a inner product space. In mathematics, an inner product space is a vector space with additional structure, an inner product (also called a scalar product), which allows us to introduce geometrical notions such as angles and lengths of vectors. ... In mathematics, an inner product space is a vector space with additional structure, an inner product (also called a scalar product), which allows us to introduce geometrical notions such as angles and lengths of vectors. ...

The real component of a quaternion is also called its scalar part. In mathematics, the quaternions are a non-commutative extension of the complex numbers. ...

The term is also sometimes used informally to mean a vector, matrix, tensor, or other usually "compound" value that is actually reduced to a single component. Thus, for example, the product of a 1×n matrix and an n×1 matrix, which is formally a 1×1 matrix, is often said to be a scalar. In mathematics, a matrix (plural matrices) is a rectangular table of numbers or, more generally, a table consisting of abstract quantities that can be added and multiplied. ... In mathematics, a tensor is (in an informal sense) a generalized linear quantity or geometrical entity that can be expressed as a multi-dimensional array relative to a choice of basis; however, as an object in and of itself, a tensor is independent of any chosen frame of reference. ...

The term scalar matrix is used to denote a matrix of the form kI where k is a scalar and I is the identity matrix. In linear algebra, a diagonal matrix is a square matrix in which only the entries in the main diagonal are non-zero. ... In linear algebra, the identity matrix of size n is the n-by-n square matrix with ones on the main diagonal and zeros elsewhere. ...

The word scalar derives from the English word "scale" for a range of numbers, which in turn is derived from scala (Latin for "ladder"). According to a citation in the Oxford English Dictionary the first recorded usage of the term was by W. R. Hamilton in 1846, to refer to the real part of a quaternion: Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is generally regarded as the most comprehensive and scholarly dictionary of the English language. ... Sir William Rowan Hamilton (August 4, 1805 â€“ September 2, 1865) was an Irish mathematician, physicist, and astronomer who made important contributions to the development of optics, dynamics, and algebra. ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... In mathematics, the quaternions are a non-commutative extension of the complex numbers. ...

The algebraically real part may receive, according to the question in which it occurs, all values contained on the one scale of progression of numbers from negative to positive infinity; we shall call it therefore the scalar part.

## Definitions and properties

### Scalars of vector spaces

A vector space is defined as a set of vectors, a set of scalars, and a scalar multiplication operation that takes a scalar k and a vector v to another vector kv. For example, in a coordinate space, the scalar multiplication k(v1,v2,...,vn) yields (kv1,kv2,...,kvn). In a (linear) function space, kf is the function x $mapsto$ k(f(x)). In mathematics, a vector space (or linear space) is a collection of objects (called vectors) that, informally speaking, may be scaled and added. ... In mathematics, scalar multiplication is one of the basic operations defining a vector space in linear algebra (or more generally, a module in abstract algebra). ... In mathematics, specifically in linear algebra, the coordinate space, Fn, is the prototypical example of an n-dimensional vector space over a field F. Definition Let F denote an arbitrary field (such as the real numbers R or the complex numbers C). ... In mathematics, a function space is a set of functions of a given kind from a set X to a set Y. It is called a space because in many applications, it is a topological space or a vector space or both. ...

The scalars can be taken from any field, including the rational, algebraic, real, and complex numbers, as well as finite fields. In mathematics, a rational number is a number which can be expressed as a ratio of two integers. ... In mathematics, an algebraic number is any number that is a root of an algebraic equation, a non-zero polynomial with integer (or equivalently, rational) coefficients. ... In abstract algebra, a finite field or Galois field (so named in honor of Ã‰variste Galois) is a field that contains only finitely many elements. ...

### Scalars as vector components

According to a fundamental theorem of linear algebra, every vector space has a basis. It follows that every vector space over a scalar field K is isomorphic to a coordinate vector space where the coordinates are elements of K. For example, every real vector space of dimension n is isomorphic to n-dimensional real space Rn. In linear algebra, a basis is a set of vectors that, in a linear combination, can represent every vector in a given vector space, and such that no element of the set can be represented as a linear combination of the others. ... In mathematics, an isomorphism (in Greek isos = equal and morphe = shape) is a kind of mapping between objects, devised by Eilhard Mitscherlich, which shows a relation between two properties or operations. ... In mathematics, specifically in linear algebra, the coordinate space, Fn, is the prototypical example of an n-dimensional vector space over a field F. It can be defined as the product space of F over a finite index set. ... In mathematics, the dimension of a vector space V is the cardinality (i. ...

### Scalar product

A scalar product space is a vector space V with an additional scalar product (or inner product) operation which allows two vectors to be multiplied to produce a number. The result is usually defined to be a member of V's scalar field. Since the inner product of a vector and itself has to be non-negative, a scalar product space can be defined only over fields that support the notion of sign. This excludes finite fields, for instance. In mathematics, an inner product space is a vector space with additional structure, an inner product (also called a scalar product), which allows us to introduce geometrical notions such as angles and lengths of vectors. ... In mathematics, an inner product space is a vector space with additional structure, an inner product (also called a scalar product), which allows us to introduce geometrical notions such as angles and lengths of vectors. ... A negative number is a number that is less than zero, such as âˆ’3. ...

The existence of the scalar product makes it possible to carry geometric intuition over from Euclidean space by providing a well-defined notion of the angle between two vectors, and in particular a way of expressing when two vectors are orthogonal. Most scalar product spaces can also be considered normed vector spaces in a natural way. Around 300 BC, the Greek mathematician Euclid laid down the rules of what has now come to be called Euclidean geometry, which is the study of the relationships between angles and distances in space. ... An angle is the figure formed by two rays sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle. ... In mathematics, orthogonal is synonymous with perpendicular when used as a simple adjective that is not part of any longer phrase with a standard definition. ... In mathematics, with 2- or 3-dimensional vectors with real-valued entries, the idea of the length of a vector is intuitive and can easily be extended to any real vector space Rn. ...

### Scalars in normed vector spaces

Alternatively, a vector space V can be equipped with a norm function that assigns to every vector v in V a scalar ||v||. By definition, multiplying v by a scalar k also multiplies its norm by |k|. If ||v|| is interpreted as the length of v, this operation can be described as scaling the length of v by k. A vector space equipped with a norm is called a normed vector space (or normed linear space). In linear algebra, functional analysis and related areas of mathematics, a norm is a function which assigns a positive length or size to all vectors in a vector space, other than the zero vector. ... In mathematics, with 2- or 3-dimensional vectors with real-valued entries, the idea of the length of a vector is intuitive and can easily be extended to any real vector space Rn. ...

The norm is usually defined to be an element of V's scalar field K, which restricts the latter to fields that support the notion of sign. Moreover, if V has dimension 2 or more, K must be closed under square root, as well as the four arithmetic operations; thus the rational numbers Q are excluded, but the surd field is acceptable. For this reason, not every scalar product space is a normed vector space.

### Scalars in modules

When the requirement that the set of scalars form a field is relaxed so that it need only form a ring (so that, for example, the division of scalars need not be defined), the resulting more general algebraic structure is called a module. In mathematics, a ring is an algebraic structure in which addition and multiplication are defined and have properties listed below. ... In abstract algebra, the concept of a module over a ring is a generalization of the notion of vector space, where instead of requiring the scalars to lie in a field, the scalars may lie in an arbitrary ring. ...

In this case the "scalars" may be complicated objects. For instance, if R is a ring, the vectors of the product space Rn can be made into a module with the n×n matrices with entries from R as the scalars. Another example comes from manifold theory, where the space of sections of the tangent bundle forms a module over the algebra of real functions on the manifold. On a sphere, the sum of the angles of a triangle is not equal to 180Â°. A sphere is not a Euclidean space, but locally the laws of the Euclidean geometry are good approximations. ... In mathematics, the tangent bundle of a differentiable manifold M, denoted by T(M) or just TM, is the disjoint union of the tangent spaces to each point of M An element of T(M) is a pair (x,v) where x âˆˆ M and v âˆˆ Tx(M), the tangent space... Algebra is a branch of mathematics concerning the study of structure, relation and quantity. ...

### Scaling transformation

The scalar multiplication of vector spaces and modules is a special case of scaling, a kind of linear transformation. The term scaling can have several manings: Scaling can be defined as the determination of the interdependency of variables in a physical system. ... In mathematics, a linear transformation (also called linear map or linear operator) is a function between two vector spaces that preserves the operations of vector addition and scalar multiplication. ...

## Popular References

The a capella musical group, sQ!, based at Tufts University, stands for scalar quantities. sQ! is the oldest coed a capella group at Tufts. A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ...

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