A bilinear map is a map between vector spaces that is linear in each argument when the other is fixed. The nonlinear temperature advection can be written as the diagonal of a bilinear map, , when velocity depends linearly on temperature. Unlike a bilinear form, its output need not be a scalar.
A map between vector spaces is bilinear when it is linear in either argument with the other held fixed. A scalar-valued bilinear form is the case and is the scalar field. Checking bilinearity is one of the algebraic steps in verifying a real inner product; being a symmetric bilinear form and having positive squared norm impose further conditions.
Let be a symmetric bilinear map on a finite-dimensional real vector space. If is parallel to for every , then it has the displayed form for one covector . Write in a basis. Applying the condition to and excludes every component outside their span and gives . Set and extend by bilinearity. Dimension one follows by the same definition. The trace identity proves uniqueness without depending on the chosen basis.
A continuous bilinear map obeys . Expanding leaves the displayed linear term and remainder . For product norm , the remainder has norm at most , hence is . This proves the Fréchet derivative formula.
Let be nonzero finite-dimensional complex vector spaces, and let have injective restrictions when either nonzero factor is fixed. It induces a map from to , where , , and . Pullback of the degree-two generator is , since both factor restrictions are projective linear embeddings. Its th power is in integral cohomology. The target must therefore have complex dimension at least . Positivity of both factor dimensions is necessary; a zero factor can make the claimed inequality false.
For nonzero finite-dimensional complex vector spaces , suppose a bilinear map never vanishes on a pair of nonzero vectors. Equivalently, each map obtained by fixing one nonzero argument is injective. If its associated map on has image dimension , projectivization gives a map to whose positive degree-two class pulls back to . The nonzero top power in the product cohomology ring of complex projective space proves the bound. Multiplication of polynomials of bounded degree attains equality. Nonzero hypotheses matter: with a zero factor, slice conditions can be vacuous.
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A bilinear map is a mathematical function defined on two vector spaces (or modules) that is linear in each of its arguments when the other is held fixed.
Linear map of two variables.
More formally, given 3 vector spaces X, Y, Z over a single field, a bilinear map is a function from:that is linear on the first two arguments from X and Y, i.e.:Note that the definition only makes sense if all three vector spaces are over the same field, because linearity can mix up each of them.
The most important example by far is the dot product from , which is more specifically also a symmetric bilinear form.