In an orthonormal basis, every vector has the coordinate expansion . If for all , apply it to , and take complex conjugates:ConsequentlyConversely, this formula givesLinearity in the first argument and conjugate-linearity in the second extend the equality from basis vectors to all . This proves the equivalence.
The displayed formula specifies exactly one image for each basis vector, so it defines a unique linear transformation and proves the existence and uniqueness of the adjoint on an inner product space.
Conjugate symmetry givesBy uniqueness of the adjoint operator, . Alsoso uniqueness gives . The reversal of order follows directly from moving the two factors across the inner product one at a time.
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