Proving that the orthogonal subspace is invariant

[Dixanadu]

Hi guys,

I couldn't fit it all into the title, so here's what I'm trying to do. Basically, I have a unitary representation V. There is a subspace of this, W, which is invariant if I act on it with any map D(g). How do I prove that the orthogonal subspace W^{\bot} is also an invariant subspace of V?

I know that an orthogonal matrix is one where its transpose is its own inverse, but I don't know how to apply that here. Can you guys help me out?

thanks!

 

[Office_Shredder]

There's only one way that you can apply it really - you should start by writing out explicitly what it is you need to prove, and then use the fact that you have a unitary transformation.