Difficulty with EASY equivalence statement

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around proving an equivalence statement involving bounded linear operators S and T in a Hilbert space, specifically that S = T if and only if the inner products of Sx and Tx with respect to x are equal for all x in the Hilbert space.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the implications of the equality of operators and the conditions under which inner products yield equivalent results. There is discussion about the necessity of the Polarization Identity and whether certain assumptions about the operators and vectors are valid.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the problem, raising questions about the validity of assumptions and exploring potential counterexamples. Some guidance has been offered regarding the implications of the inner product equality, but no consensus has been reached on the necessity of specific conditions or the correctness of certain approaches.

Contextual Notes

There is a noted distinction between the behavior of operators in real versus complex Hilbert spaces, which affects the validity of certain counterexamples. The discussion also highlights the importance of clarifying the conditions under which the equivalences hold, particularly regarding the inclusion of the zero vector.

  • #31
Truly I was not joking.
All of what I was trying to speak about was what you mentioned in your #22nd post.

Oxymoron said:
So we have to prove \langle Sx\,|\,x \rangle = \langle Tx\,|\,x \rangle \Rightarrow \langle Sx\,|\,y \rangle = \langle Tx\,|\,y \rangle.

(\Rightarrow)
Suppose \langle Sx\,|\,x \rangle = \langle Tx\,|\,x \rangle. Then rearrangining gives \langle Sx\,|\,x \rangle - \langle Tx\,|\,x \rangle =0 which implies \langle (S-T)x\,|\,x \rangle = 0. Now let x=y(?). Then \langle (S-T)x\,|\,y \rangle = 0. and reverse the process to solve.

Is this what you mean?
Yes, here, your problem is All x,y in H, so x,y are arbitrary, you can replace x with y or vice versa (which also usually happens with some integral problems)
 
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  • #32
So what you quoted is correct?
 
  • #33
where do you think the mistake is ?
 
  • #34
There's a mistake? Well, I am not so sure you can just let x=y. Thats the only thing that worries me
 
  • #35
That idea is applied from integral calculations. Again, it is always possible since we are dealing with arbitrary *letters*. Proofs in Sets, Mappings etc also have a lot of similar cases.
 
  • #36
Again before I go to bed, I would like to only say that I was not saying that x=y, but just *because they are arbitrary, so we can replace the x with y or y with x*.

I am sure you can also say <Sy|x>=<Ty|x> , because S=T;
 
  • #37
I think you have the quantifiers wrong, Oxymoron, and that's the source of your problem:

<br /> \left( \forall x \in \mathcal{H}: Ax = 0 \right) \implies A = 0<br />

is the statement, and is trivial to prove. (What's the definition of equality for two operators?)
 
  • #38
Two operators are equal if and only if they do the same thing to an arbitrary element. That is

S=T \quad \Leftrightarrow \quad Sx = Tx
 
  • #39
Ok, so using the same ideas I can prove S=T \Rightarrow \langle Sx\,|\,x \rangle = \langle Tx\,|\,x \rangle like this:

Suppose S=T. Then by the equality of operators we have Sx = Tx. Then we have \langle Sx\,|\,x \rangle = \langle Tx\,|\,x \rangle and we are done.

How does this look?
 
Last edited:
  • #40
Yes, that looks like a good proof of that statement.

(But, as emieno was saying, you could skip the step saying that Sx=Tx)
 

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