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In this article, vectors are represented in boldface to distinguish them from scalars. [nb 1] [1] A vector space over a field F is a non-empty set V together with a binary operation and a binary function that satisfy the eight axioms listed below. In this context, the elements of V are commonly called vectors, and the elements of F are called ...
A scalar is an element of a field which is used to define a vector space.In linear algebra, real numbers or generally elements of a field are called scalars and relate to vectors in an associated vector space through the operation of scalar multiplication (defined in the vector space), in which a vector can be multiplied by a scalar in the defined way to produce another vector.
In many situations, one needs fields which are a list of spacetime scalars: (φ 1, φ 2, ... φ N). For example, in weather prediction these may be temperature, pressure, humidity, etc. In particle physics, the color symmetry of the interaction of quarks is an example of an internal symmetry, that of the strong interaction.
The a + bi form of a complex number shows that C itself is a two-dimensional real vector space with coordinates (a,b). Similarly, the quaternions and the octonions are respectively four- and eight-dimensional real vector spaces, and C n is a 2n-dimensional real vector space. The vector space F n has a standard basis:
A scalar in physics and other areas of science is also a scalar in mathematics, as an element of a mathematical field used to define a vector space.For example, the magnitude (or length) of an electric field vector is calculated as the square root of its absolute square (the inner product of the electric field with itself); so, the inner product's result is an element of the mathematical field ...
It is common to call these tuples vectors, even in contexts where vector-space operations do not apply. More generally, when some data can be represented naturally by vectors, they are often called vectors even when addition and scalar multiplication of vectors are not valid operations on these data. [disputed – discuss] Here are some examples.
Mathematically, a scalar field on a region U is a real or complex-valued function or distribution on U. [1] [2] The region U may be a set in some Euclidean space, Minkowski space, or more generally a subset of a manifold, and it is typical in mathematics to impose further conditions on the field, such that it be continuous or often continuously differentiable to some order.
The position and current at any point in the wire are "true" vectors, but the magnetic field B is a pseudovector. [1] In physics and mathematics, a pseudovector (or axial vector) [2] is a quantity that behaves like a vector in many situations, but its direction does not conform when the object is rigidly transformed by rotation, translation ...