Past exam of the linear algebra course of the University of Oxford / 2021 / 3 / b / i

For the given nondegenerate bilinear form, define the linear mapBy part (a), $\Phi$ is a linear isomorphism. The paper's bilinear orthogonal complement uses $U$ in the first argument; with this convention,Here $U^0$ is the annihilator of a vector subspace $U$. Since $\Phi$ is a linear isomorphism, its restriction gives a linear isomorphism $U^{\perp }\to U^0$.

For completeness, choose a basis $u_1,\dots ,u_k$ of $U$ and extend it to a basis $u_1,\dots ,u_n$ of $V$. In its dual basis $u_1^{\ast },\dots ,u_n^{\ast }$, a linear functional vanishes on $U$ exactly when its first $k$ coefficients are zero. ThereforeConsequentlyThe argument includes $U=0$ and $U=V$, and requires no symmetry assumption on the bilinear form.