# nLab Hermitian form

### Context

#### Linear algebra

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Introductions

Definitions

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Paths and cylinders

Homotopy groups

Basic facts

Theorems

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# Contents

## Definition

###### Definition

(Hermitian form and Hermitian space)

Let $V$ be a real vector space equipped with a complex structure $J\colon V \to V$. Then a Hermitian form on $V$ is

• a complex-valued real-bilinear form

$h \;\colon\; V \otimes V \longrightarrow \mathbb{C}$

such that this is symmetric sesquilinear, in that:

1. $h$ is complex-linear in the first argument;

2. $h(w,v) = \left(h(v,w) \right)^\ast$ for all $v,w \in V$

where $(-)^\ast$ denotes complex conjugation.

A Hermitian form is positive definite (often assumed by default) if for all $v \in V$

1. $h(v,v) \geq 0$

2. $h(v,v) = 0 \phantom{AA} \Leftrightarrow \phantom{AA} v = 0$.

A complex vector space $(V,J)$ equipped with a (positive definite) Hermitian form $h$ is called a (positive definite) Hermitian space.

## Properties

### Genera properties

###### Proposition

(basic properties of Hermitian forms)

Let $((V,J),h)$ be a positive definite Hermitian space (def. ). Then

1. the real part of the Hermitian form

$g(-,-) \;\coloneqq\; Re(h(-,-))$

is a Riemannian metric, hence a symmetric positive-definite real-bilinear form

$g \;\colon\; V \otimes V \to \mathbb{R}$
2. the imaginary part of the Hermitian form

$\omega(-,-) \;\coloneqq\; -Im(h(-,-))$

is a symplectic form, hence a non-degenerate skew-symmetric real-bilinear form

$\omega \;\colon\; V \wedge V \to \mathbb{R} \,.$

hence

$h = g - i \omega \,.$

The two components are related by

(1)$\omega(v,w) \;=\; g(J(v),w) \phantom{AAAAA} g(v,w) \;=\; \omega(v,J(v)) \,.$

Finally

$h(J(-),J(-)) = h(-,-)$

and so the Riemannian metrics $g$ on $V$ appearing from (and fully determining) Hermitian forms $h$ via $h = g - i \omega$ are precisely those for which

(2)$g(J(-),J(-)) = g(-,-) \,.$

These are called the Hermitian metrics.

###### Proof

The positive-definiteness of $g$ is immediate from that of $h$. The symmetry of $g$ follows from the symmetric sesquilinearity of $h$:

\begin{aligned} g(w,v) & \coloneqq Re(h(w,v)) \\ & = Re\left( h(v,w)^\ast\right) \\ & = Re(h(v,w)) \\ & = g(v,w) \,. \end{aligned}

That $h$ is invariant under $J$ follows from its sesquilinarity

\begin{aligned} h(J(v),J(w)) &= i h(v,J(w)) \\ & = i (h(J(w),v))^\ast \\ & = i (-i) (h(w,v))^\ast \\ & = h(v,w) \end{aligned}

and this immediately implies the corresponding invariance of $g$ and $\omega$.

Analogously it follows that $\omega$ is skew symmetric:

\begin{aligned} \omega(w,v) & \coloneqq -Im(h(w,v)) \\ & = -Im\left( h(v,w)^\ast\right) \\ & = Im(h(v,w)) \\ & = - \omega(v,w) \,, \end{aligned}

and the relation between the two components:

\begin{aligned} \omega(v,w) & = - Im(h(v,w)) \\ & = Re(i h(v,w)) \\ & = Re(h(J(v),w)) \\ & = g(J(v),w) \end{aligned}

as well as

\begin{aligned} g(v,w) & = Re(h(v,w) \\ & = Im(i h(v,w)) \\ & = Im(h(J(v),w)) \\ & = Im(h(J^2(v),J(w))) \\ & = - Im(h(v,J(w))) \\ & = \omega(v,J(w)) \,. \end{aligned}

### Relation to Kähler spaces

###### Proposition

(relation between Kähler vector spaces and Hermitian spaces)

Given a real vector space $V$ with a linear complex structure $J$, then the following are equivalent:

1. $\omega \in \wedge^2 V^\ast$ is a linear Kähler structure (def. );

2. $g \in V \otimes V \to \mathbb{R}$ is a Hermitian metric (2)

where $\omega$ and $g$ are related by (1)

$\omega(v,w) \;=\; g(J(v),w) \phantom{AAAAA} g(v,w) \;=\; \omega(v,J(v)) \,.$

## References

• C. T. C. Wall, On the axiomatic foundations of the theory of Hermitian forms, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. (1970), 67, 243

• Wikipedia, Hermitian form

Last revised on December 21, 2017 at 08:37:40. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.