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Inner products on n-inner product spaces

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SOOCHOW JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS
Volume 28, No. 4, pp. 389-398, October 2002

INNER PRODUCTS ON n-INNER PRODUCT SPACES

BY

HENDRA GUNAWAN

Abstract. In this note, we show that in any n-inner product space with n ≥ 2 we
can explicitly derive an inner product or, more generally, an (n − k)-inner product
from the n-inner product, for each k ∈ {1, . . . , n − 1}. We also present some related
results on n-normed spaces.

1. Introduction

Let n be a nonnegative integer and X be a real vector space of dimension

d ≥ n (d may be infinite). A real-valued function h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i on X n+1 satisfying
the following five properties:
(I1) hx1 , x1 |x2 , . . . , xn i ≥ 0; hx1 , x1 |x2 , . . . , xn i = 0 if and only if x1 , x2 , . . . , xn
are linearly dependent;
(I2) hx1 , x1 |x2 , . . . , xn i = hxi1 , xi1 |xi2 , . . . , xin i for every permutation (i1 , . . . , in )
of (1, . . . , n);
(I3) hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i = hy, x|x2 , . . . , xn i;
(I4) hαx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i = αhx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i, α ∈ R;
(I5) hx + x0 , y|x2 , . . . , xn i = hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i + hx0 , y|x2 , . . . , xn i,
is called an n-inner product on X, and the pair (X, h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i) is called an
n-inner product space.
For n = 1, the expression hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i is to be understood as hx, yi, which
denotes nothing but an inner product on X. The concept of 2-inner product
spaces was first introduced by Diminnie, Gähler and White [2, 3, 7] in 1970’s,
Received March 26, 2001; revised August 13, 2002.
AMS Subject Classification. 46C50, 46B20, 46B99, 46A19.
Key words. n-inner product spaces, n-normed spaces, inner product spaces.

389
390 HENDRA GUNAWAN

while its generalization for n ≥ 2 was developed by Misiak [12] in 1989. Note here
that our definition of n-inner products is slightly simpler than, but equivalent to,
that in [12].
On an n-inner product space (X, h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i), one may observe that the
following function

kx1 , x2 , . . . , xn k := hx1 , x1 |x2 , . . . , xn i1/2 ,

defines an n-norm, which enjoys the following four properties:

(N1) kx1 , . . . , xn k ≥ 0; kx1 , . . . , xn k = 0 if and only if x1 , . . . , xn are linearly
dependent;
(N2) kx1 , . . . , xn k is invariant under permutation;
(N3) kαx1 , x2 , . . . , xn k = |α| kx1 , x2 , . . . , xn k, α ∈ R;
(N4) kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn k ≤ kx, x2 , . . . , xn k + ky, x2 , . . . , xn k.
Just as in an inner product space, we have the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality:

|hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i| ≤ kx, x2 , . . . , xn k ky, x2 , . . . , xn k,

and the equality holds if and only if x, y, x 2 , . . . , xn are linearly dependent (see
[9]). Furthermore, we have the polarization identity:

kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn k2 − kx − y, x2 , . . . , xn k2 = 4hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i,

and the parallelogram law:

kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn k2 + kx − y, x2 , . . . , xn k2 = 2(kx, x2 , . . . , xn k2 + ky, x2 , . . . , xn k2 ).

The latter gives a characterization of n-inner product spaces.

By the polarization identity and the property (I2), one may observe that

hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i = hx, y|xi2 , . . . , xin i,

for every permutation (i2 , . . . , in ) of (2, . . . , n). Moreover, one can also show that

hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i = 0,

when x or y is a linear combination of x 2 , . . . , xn , or when x2 , . . . , xn are linearly

dependent.
 INNER PRODUCTS ON n-INNER PRODUCT SPACES 391

Now, for example, if (X, h·, ·i) is an inner product space, then the following
function  
 hx, yi hx, x i · · · hx, x i 
 2 n 
 
 hx2 , yi hx2 , x2 i · · · hx2 , xn i 
hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i :=  . ,
 
.. .. .. ..

 . . . 

 
 hxn , yi hxn , x2 i · · · hxn , xn i 

defines an n-inner product, called the standard (or simple) n-inner product on X.
Its induced n-norm kx1 , x2 , . . . , xn k represents the volume of the n-dimensional
parallelepiped spanned by x1 , x2 , . . . , xn .
Historically, the concept of n-norms were introduced earlier by Gähler in
order to generalize the notion of length, area and volume in a real vector space
(see [4, 5, 6]). The objects studied here are n-dimensional parallelepipeds. The
concept of n-inner products is thus useful when one talks about the angle between
two n-dimensional parallelepipeds having the same (n − 1)-dimensional base.
In this note, we shall show that in any n-inner product space with n ≥ 2
we can derive an (n − k)-inner product from the n-inner product for each k ∈
{1, . . . , n−1}. In particular, in any n-inner product space, we can derive an inner
product from the n-inner product, so that one can talk about, for instance, the
angle between two vectors, as one might like to.
In addition, we shall present some related results on n-normed spaces. See
[5] and [11] for previous results on these spaces.

2. Main Results

To avoid confusion, we shall sometimes denote an n-inner product by

h·, ·|·, . . . , ·in and an n-norm by k·, . . . , ·kn .
Let (X, h·, ·|·, . . . , ·in ) be an n-inner product space with n ≥ 2. Fix a linearly
independent set {a1 , . . . , an } in X. With respect to {a1 , . . . , an }, define for each
k ∈ {1, . . . , n − 1} the function h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i n−k on X n−k+1 by
X
hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn−k i := hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik i.
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}

Then we have the following fact:

392 HENDRA GUNAWAN

Fact 2.1. For every k ∈ {1, . . . , n − 1}, the function h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i n−k defines
an (n − k)-inner product on X. In particular, when k = n − 1,
X
hx, yi := hx, y|ai2 , . . . , ain i, (1)
{i2 ,...,in }⊆{1,...,n}

defines an inner product on X.

Proof. It is not hard to see that the function h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i n−k satisfies the
five properties (I1)–(I5) of an (n − k)-inner product, except perhaps to estab-
lish the second part of (I1). To verify this property, suppose that x 1 , . . . , xn−k
are linearly dependent. Then hx1 , x1 |x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik i = 0 for every
{i1 , . . . , ik } ⊆ {1, . . . , n}, and hence hx1 , x1 |x2 , . . . , xn−k i = 0. Conversely, sup-
pose that hx1 , x1 |x2 , . . . , xn−k i = 0. Then hx1 , x1 |x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik i = 0
for every {i1 , . . . , ik } ⊆ {1, . . . , n}. Hence {x1 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik } are linearly
dependent for every {i1 , . . . , ik } ⊆ {1, . . . , n}. By elementary linear algebra,
this can only happen if x1 , . . . , xn−k are linearly dependent (or if x1 = 0 when
k = n − 1).

Corollary 2.2. Any n-inner product space is an (n − k)-inner product space

for every k = 1, . . . , n − 1. In particular, an n-inner product space is an inner
product space.

Corollary 2.3. Let k·, . . . , ·kn be the induced n-norm on X. Then, for each
k ∈ {1, . . . , n − 1}, the following function
1/2
2
X
kx1 , . . . , xn−k k := kx1 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k ,
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}

defines an (n − k)-norm that corresponds to h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i n−k on X. In particular,

1/2
kx, ai2 , . . . , ain k2
X
kxk := ,
{i2 ,...,in }⊆{1,...,n}

defines a norm that corresponds to the derived inner product h·, ·i on X.

Note that by using a derived inner product, one can develop the notion of
orthogonality and the Fourier series theory in an n-inner product space, just
 INNER PRODUCTS ON n-INNER PRODUCT SPACES 393

like in an inner product space (see [3] and [13] for previous results in this direc-
tion). With respect to the derived inner product h·, ·i defined by (1), one may
observe that the set {a1 , . . . , an } is orthogonal and that kai k = ka1 , . . . , an k
for every i = 1, . . . , n (see [8]). In particular, if X is n-dimensional, then
{a1 , . . . , an } forms an orthogonal basis for X and each x ∈ X can be written
Pn
as x = ka1 , . . . , an k−2 i=1 hx, ai iai .
Unlike in [13], we can now have an orthogonal set of m vectors with 1 ≤
m < n. In general, by using a derived inner product, we have a more relaxed
condition for orthogonality than that in [3] or [13].
Furthermore, one may also use the derived inner products and their induced
norm to study the convergence of sequences of vectors in an n-inner product
space. See some recent results in [10].

2.1. Related results on n-normed spaces

Suppose now that (X, k·, . . . , ·kn ) is an n-normed space and, as before,
{a1 , . . . , an } is a linearly independent set in X. Then one may check that for
each k ∈ {1, . . . , n − 1}
1/2
2
X
kx1 , . . . , xn−k k := kx1 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k , (2)
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}

defines an (n − k)-norm on X (see [5] and [11] for similar results). In particular,
the triangle inequality can be verified as follows:

kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn−k k
 1/2
kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k2
X
=
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}
 X 
≤ kx, x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}
2 1/2
+ky, x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k
 1/2
2
X
≤ kx, x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}
394 HENDRA GUNAWAN

 1/2
2
X
+ ky, x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}
= kx, x2 , . . . , xn−k k + ky, x2 , . . . , xn−k k.

The first inequality follows from the triangle inequality for the n-norm, while the
second one follows from the triangle inequality for the l 2 -type norm.
In general, for 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞, one may observe that
 1/p
kx1 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik kp
X
kx1 , . . . , xn−k k := ,
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}

also defines an (n − k)-norm on X. Among these derived (n − k)-norms, however,

the case p = 2 is special in the following sense.

Fact 2.4. If the n-norm satisfies the parallelogram law

kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn k2 + kx − y, x2 , . . . , xn k2 = 2(kx, x2 , . . . , xn k2 + ky, x2 , . . . , xn k2 ),

then the derived (n − k)-norm given by (2) satisfies

kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn−k k2 + kx − y, x2 , . . . , xn−k k2
= 2(kx, x2 , . . . , xn−k k2 + ky, x2 , . . . , xn−k k2 ).

In particular, the derived norm satisfies

kx + yk2 + kx − yk2 = 2(kxk2 + kyk2 ).

Proof. There are two ways to prove it. The first one is by establishing the
parallelogram law directly. Indeed, by definition and hypothesis, we have

kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn−k k2 + kx − y, x2 , . . . , xn−k k2

kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k2
X
=
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}

+kx − y, x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k2
 
2 kx, x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k2 +ky, x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik k2
X
=
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,n}

= 2(kx, x2 , . . . , xn−k k2 + ky, x2 , . . . , xn−k k2 ),

 INNER PRODUCTS ON n-INNER PRODUCT SPACES 395

as desired.
The second way to prove it is by defining an n-inner product h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i n
on X by

1
hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i := (kx + y, x2 , . . . , xn k2 − kx − y, x2 , . . . , xn k2 ),
4

and deriving an (n − k)-inner product from it with respect to {a 1 , . . . , an }. One

will then realize that the derived (n − k)-norm is the induced (n − k)-norm from
the derived (n − k)-inner product, and hence the parallelogram law follows.

2.2. Finite-dimensional case

Suppose here that (X, h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i n ) is an n-inner product space of finite-
dimension d ≥ n. Then one can derive an (n − k)-inner product from the n-inner
product in a slightly different way. To be precise, take a linearly independent set
{a1 , . . . , am } in X, with n ≤ m ≤ d. With respect to {a 1 , . . . , am }, define for
each k ∈ {1, . . . , n − 1} the function h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i n−k on X n−k+1 by
X
hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn−k i := hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn−k , ai1 , . . . , aik i.
{i1 ,...,ik }⊆{1,...,m}

Then we have:

Fact 2.5. The function h·, ·|·, . . . , ·i n−k defines an (n−k)-inner product on X.

Proof. Similar to the proof of Fact 2.1.

As we shall see in the next section, we may obtain an interesting inner prod-
uct from the n-inner product by using a set of d, rather than just n, linearly
independent vectors in X (that is, by using a basis for X).

3. Examples

We shall here present some examples showing us what sort of inner products
can be derived through (1) when the n-inner product is simple, and how they are
related to the original inner product.
396 HENDRA GUNAWAN

Example 3.1. Let X = Rn be equipped with the standard n-inner product

 
 x·y x·x · · · x · xn 
 2
 
 x2 · y x 2 · x 2 · · · x2 · xn 
hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn i :=  . ..  , (3)

 .. .. ..
 . . . 
 
 xn · y x n · x 2 · · · x n · xn 
where x · y is the usual inner product on R n . Then one may observe that the
derived (n − k)-inner product with respect to an orthonormal basis {b 1 , . . . , bn }
coincides with the standard (n − k)-inner product on R n , that is,
 
 x·y x · x2 ··· x · xn−k 

 
 x2 · y x 2 · x2 · · · x2 · xn−k 
hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn−k i =  .
 
.
.. .. .. ..

 . . . 

 
 xn−k · y xn−k · x2 · · · xn−k · xn−k 
In particular, the derived inner product hx, yi with respect to {b 1 , . . . , bn }, which
is given by

hx, yi = hx, y|b2 , b3 , . . . , bn i+hx, y|b1 , b3 , . . . , bn i+· · · +hx, y|b1 , b2 , . . . , bn−1 i, (4)

is precisely the usual inner product x · y.

This example tells us that, on Rn , we can define the standard n-inner product
by using the usual inner product as in (3) and, conversely, derive the usual inner
product from the standard n-inner product via (4).

Example 3.2. Let X = Rn be equipped with the standard n-inner product

as in the preceeding example. Then one may verify that the derived inner product
with respect to an arbitrary linearly independent set {a 1 , . . . , an } in X is given
by
hx, yi = ka1 , . . . , an k2 (A−1 x) · (A−1 y),
where A is the n × n matrix whose i-th column is the vector a i . Note that, for
every i, j ∈ {1, . . . , n}, we have

hai , aj i = ka1 , . . . , an k2 bi · bj ,

where {b1 , . . . , bn } is the standard basis for Rn . This means that {a1 , . . . , an } is
an orthogonal basis for (X, h·, ·i), as remarked previously in §2.
 INNER PRODUCTS ON n-INNER PRODUCT SPACES 397

Remark. By invoking Parseval’s identity (see, e.g., [1], p. 354), Examples

3.1 and 3.2 extend to any n-dimensional inner product space X.

Example 3.3. Suppose that X is an inner product space of dimension d ≥ n

and {e1 , . . . , en } is an orthonormal set in X. Equip X with the standard n-inner
product as in (3), with x · y being the inner product on X. Then one may observe
that the derived inner product with respect to {e 1 , . . . , en } is given by

hx, yi = P x · P y + n(Qx · Qy),

where P denotes the orthogonal projection on the subspace spanned by

{e1 , . . . , en } and Q = I − P is its complementary projection. Notice here that its
induced norm is equivalent to the original norm.
Although a little bit messy, it is also possible to obtain the expression for
the derived (n − k)-inner product for each k ∈ {1, . . . , n − 1}. For example, the
derived (n − 1)-inner product with respect to {e 1 , . . . , en } is given by

hx, y|x2 , . . . , xn−1 i

   
 x·y x · x2 ··· x · xn−1  x·y x · x2 ··· x · xn−1
   
 
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
   
. .
   

 . . .  n−1
 
 . . . 

X
=  xi · y x i · x 2 · · · xi · xn−1  +  Qxi · Qy Qxi · Qx2 · · · Qxi · Qxn−1  ,
   
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
   
 i=1 
. .
 

 . . . 


 . . . 

 xn−1 · y xn−1 · x2 · · · xn−1 · xn−1   xn−1 · y xn−1 · x2 · · · xn−1 · xn−1 
   

with x1 being identified as x.

Example 3.4. Let X = Rd be equipped with the standard n-inner product

as in (3), with x · y being the usual inner product on R d . Then one may par-
ticularly observe that the derived inner product with respect to an orthonormal
basis {b1 , . . . , bd } is given by

d−1
X
hx, yi = hx, y|bi2 , . . . , bin i = Cn−1 x · y,
{i2 ,...,in }⊆{1,...,d}

d−1 (d−1)!
where Cn−1 = (d−n)!(n−1)! . This derived inner product is better than the previous
one in the sense that it is only a multiple of the usual inner product.
 398 HENDRA GUNAWAN

Remark. By invoking Parseval’s identity, Example 3.4 may also be extended

to any finite d-dimensional inner product space X.

Acknowledgment

This work was carried out during the author’s visit to the School of
Mathematics, UNSW, Sydney, in 2000/2001. The author was sponsored by an
Australia-Indonesia Merdeka Fellowship funded by the Australian Government
through the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs and promoted
through Australia Education International. The author thanks the referees for
their useful suggestions.

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Department of Mathematics, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung 40132, Indonesia.

E-mail: [email protected]

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