# Conveying inner product with words

1. Nov 20, 2013

### qubyte

I was wondering about the proper way to say, $\langle$A$|$B$\rangle$ .

I have recently heard, "The inner product of A with B." But I'm not sure if this is correct. Does anyone know the proper order in which to place A and B in the sentence?

As a simple example: Suppose you're speaking with someone on the phone. Then one way to convey the expression, $\frac{x^{2} + 2d}{5}$ , is "x squared plus two d all over five."
How would you do the same with $\langle$A$|$B$\rangle$ ?

If someone could also point me in the direction of some literature where this is exemplified, that would very kind.
I must have missed this some where along the line, and I can't seem to find a solid answer anywhere.

2. Nov 20, 2013

### TheOldHag

The inner product of A and B with A in the first slot. This order qualifier is necessary in the case of a complex vector space. For reals the order doesn't matter.

3. Nov 20, 2013

### qubyte

I appreciate the response. Anywhere I may be able to find an explicit example of this?

4. Nov 20, 2013

### AlephZero

Since western languages are read and written from left to right, I don't think "the inner product of A and B" is any more ambiguous than "A minus B," which nobody would interpret as meaning $B-A$.

Of course if you are in an environment where left-to-right writing is not a universal rule, you might need to be more careful.