Past exam of the algebra, analysis and differential equations II course of the University of Oxford / 2012 / 2 / b / Solution

In an orthonormal basis, every vector $w$ has the coordinate expansion $w={\sum }_i⟨w,e_i⟩e_i$. If $⟨Su,v⟩=⟨u,Rv⟩$ for all $u,v$, apply it to $u=e_i$, $v=e_j$ 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 $u,v$. This proves the equivalence.

The displayed formula specifies exactly one image for each basis vector, so it defines a unique linear transformation $S^{\ast }$ and proves the existence and uniqueness of the adjoint on an inner product space.

Conjugate symmetry givesBy uniqueness of the adjoint operator, $\boxed{(S^{\ast }{)}^{\ast }=S}$. Alsoso uniqueness gives $\boxed{(ST{)}^{\ast }=T^{\ast }{S}^{\ast }}$. The reversal of order follows directly from moving the two factors across the inner product one at a time.