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Scalar product
A scalar product is a binary operation that takes two equal-length sequences of numbers, and returns a single number.
Explanation
The name scalar product emphasizes that the result is a scalar; the alternative name dot product is derived from the centered dot " · " that is often used to designate this operation.
Example 1
The projection product of two Euclidean vectors a and b is
a · b = ||a|| ||b|| cos θ
where θ is the angle between the vectors, and ||a|| and ||b|| are the norms of the vectors and a and b.
HistoryThe expression scalar product first appeared in an 1878 publication by the English mathematician William Clifford. |