# Vector Space and Dirac Notation

## Vector Space:

A vector space V is a collection of elements called vectors. It is a field F of elements called scalars and two operations, vector addition and scalar multiplication. A field is a set of scalars with the property that if a and b belong to F then a + b, a – b, ab, and a/b are also in F.

Addition: The addition operation takes any two vectors u and v in V and produces a third vector in V, written as u + v in V. The addition operation obeys the following conditions:

1. u + v is a vector in V (closure)

2. u + v = v + u (commutativity)

3. (u + v) + w = u + (v + w) (associativity)

4. There is a zero vector 0 in V such that for every u in V, (u + 0) = u (identity)

5. For every u in V, there is a vector in V denoted by -u such that u +(-u) = 0 (inverse)

Multiplication: The scalar multiplication that takes a scalar c in F, a vector v in V, and produces a new vector written as cv in V that satisfies the following conditions:

1. cv is in V (closure)

2. c(u + v) = cu + cv (distributivity)

3. (c + d)u = cu + du (distributivity)

4. c(du) = (cd)u (associativity)

5. 1(u) = u (identity)

## Dirac Notation:

In quantum mechanics, a different notation is called Dirac notation. It is used to represent quantum states.

In this notation, the inner product of two vectors u and v are denoted by `<u | v>`. The left part `<u |` is called bra and the right part `| v>` is called ket. Thus, in the Dirac notation also known as the bra-ket notation, an inner product is denoted by a `< >` (bracket).