Let R \mathbb{R} R be the ordered field of real numbers , with the notation of that item, and let E E E be a real inner product space with inner product ⟨ ⋅ , ⋅ ⟩ \langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle ⟨ ⋅ , ⋅ ⟩ , norm ∣ ⋅ ∣ |\cdot| ∣ ⋅ ∣ and zero vector 0 E 0_{E} 0 E ; for x , y ∈ E x,y\in E x , y ∈ E , − x -x − x is the additive inverse of x x x and x − y = x + ( − y ) x-y=x+(-y) x − y = x + ( − y ) as in Elementary Identities in a Vector Space , and for λ ∈ R \lambda\in\mathbb{R} λ ∈ R , ∣ λ ∣ |\lambda| ∣ λ ∣ is its absolute value . Then for all x , y , z ∈ E x,y,z\in E x , y , z ∈ E and all λ ∈ R \lambda\in\mathbb{R} λ ∈ R the following hold.
1. (Bilinearity) (i) ⟨ x , y + z ⟩ = ⟨ x , y ⟩ + ⟨ x , z ⟩ \langle x,y+z\rangle=\langle x,y\rangle+\langle x,z\rangle ⟨ x , y + z ⟩ = ⟨ x , y ⟩ + ⟨ x , z ⟩ , ⟨ x , λ y ⟩ = λ ⟨ x , y ⟩ \langle x,\lambda y\rangle=\lambda\langle x,y\rangle ⟨ x , λ y ⟩ = λ ⟨ x , y ⟩ , ⟨ x − y , z ⟩ = ⟨ x , z ⟩ − ⟨ y , z ⟩ \langle x-y,z\rangle=\langle x,z\rangle-\langle y,z\rangle ⟨ x − y , z ⟩ = ⟨ x , z ⟩ − ⟨ y , z ⟩ , ⟨ x , y − z ⟩ = ⟨ x , y ⟩ − ⟨ x , z ⟩ \langle x,y-z\rangle=\langle x,y\rangle-\langle x,z\rangle ⟨ x , y − z ⟩ = ⟨ x , y ⟩ − ⟨ x , z ⟩ , and ⟨ − x , y ⟩ = ⟨ x , − y ⟩ = − ⟨ x , y ⟩ \langle -x,y\rangle=\langle x,-y\rangle=-\langle x,y\rangle ⟨ − x , y ⟩ = ⟨ x , − y ⟩ = − ⟨ x , y ⟩ .
2. (Zero vector) (ii) ⟨ x , 0 E ⟩ = ⟨ 0 E , x ⟩ = 0 \langle x,0_{E}\rangle=\langle 0_{E},x\rangle=0 ⟨ x , 0 E ⟩ = ⟨ 0 E , x ⟩ = 0 and ∣ 0 E ∣ = 0 |0_{E}|=0 ∣ 0 E ∣ = 0 .
3. (Vanishing) (iii) ∣ x ∣ = 0 |x|=0 ∣ x ∣ = 0 if and only if x = 0 E x=0_{E} x = 0 E ; consequently 0 < ∣ x ∣ 0<|x| 0 < ∣ x ∣ whenever x ≠ 0 E x\ne 0_{E} x = 0 E .
4. (Homogeneity) (iv) ∣ λ x ∣ = ∣ λ ∣ ∣ x ∣ |\lambda x|=|\lambda|\,|x| ∣ λ x ∣ = ∣ λ ∣ ∣ x ∣ ; in particular ∣ − x ∣ = ∣ x ∣ |-x|=|x| ∣ − x ∣ = ∣ x ∣ .
5. (Expansion) (v) ∣ x + y ∣ 2 = ∣ x ∣ 2 + 2 ⟨ x , y ⟩ + ∣ y ∣ 2 |x+y|^{2}=|x|^{2}+2\langle x,y\rangle+|y|^{2} ∣ x + y ∣ 2 = ∣ x ∣ 2 + 2 ⟨ x , y ⟩ + ∣ y ∣ 2 and ∣ x − y ∣ 2 = ∣ x ∣ 2 − 2 ⟨ x , y ⟩ + ∣ y ∣ 2 |x-y|^{2}=|x|^{2}-2\langle x,y\rangle+|y|^{2} ∣ x − y ∣ 2 = ∣ x ∣ 2 − 2 ⟨ x , y ⟩ + ∣ y ∣ 2 .
6. (Parallelogram law) (vi) ∣ x + y ∣ 2 + ∣ x − y ∣ 2 = 2 ∣ x ∣ 2 + 2 ∣ y ∣ 2 |x+y|^{2}+|x-y|^{2}=2|x|^{2}+2|y|^{2} ∣ x + y ∣ 2 + ∣ x − y ∣ 2 = 2∣ x ∣ 2 + 2∣ y ∣ 2 .
7. (Polarisation) (vii) 4 ⟨ x , y ⟩ = ∣ x + y ∣ 2 − ∣ x − y ∣ 2 4\langle x,y\rangle=|x+y|^{2}-|x-y|^{2} 4 ⟨ x , y ⟩ = ∣ x + y ∣ 2 − ∣ x − y ∣ 2 .