Vector spaceIn mathematics and physics, a vector space (also called a linear space) is a set whose elements, often called vectors, may be added together and multiplied ("scaled") by numbers called scalars. Scalars are often real numbers, but can be complex numbers or, more generally, elements of any field. The operations of vector addition and scalar multiplication must satisfy certain requirements, called vector axioms. The terms real vector space and complex vector space are often used to specify the nature of the scalars: real coordinate space or complex coordinate space.
Euclidean vectorIn mathematics, physics, and engineering, a Euclidean vector or simply a vector (sometimes called a geometric vector or spatial vector) is a geometric object that has magnitude (or length) and direction. Vectors can be added to other vectors according to vector algebra. A Euclidean vector is frequently represented by a directed line segment, or graphically as an arrow connecting an initial point A with a terminal point B, and denoted by . A vector is what is needed to "carry" the point A to the point B; the Latin word vector means "carrier".
Linear spanIn mathematics, the linear span (also called the linear hull or just span) of a set S of vectors (from a vector space), denoted span(S), is defined as the set of all linear combinations of the vectors in S. For example, two linearly independent vectors span a plane. The linear span can be characterized either as the intersection of all linear subspaces that contain S, or as the smallest subspace containing S. The linear span of a set of vectors is therefore a vector space itself. Spans can be generalized to matroids and modules.
Row and column vectorsIn linear algebra, a column vector with m elements is an matrix consisting of a single column of m entries, for example, Similarly, a row vector is a matrix for some n, consisting of a single row of n entries, (Throughout this article, boldface is used for both row and column vectors.) The transpose (indicated by T) of any row vector is a column vector, and the transpose of any column vector is a row vector: and The set of all row vectors with n entries in a given field (such as the real numbers) forms an n-dimensional vector space; similarly, the set of all column vectors with m entries forms an m-dimensional vector space.
Four-vectorIn special relativity, a four-vector (or 4-vector) is an object with four components, which transform in a specific way under Lorentz transformations. Specifically, a four-vector is an element of a four-dimensional vector space considered as a representation space of the standard representation of the Lorentz group, the (1/2,1/2) representation. It differs from a Euclidean vector in how its magnitude is determined.
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