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Orthogonal Transformation 📂Linear Algebra

Orthogonal Transformation

Definition

$n \times n$ The matrix transformation $T_{A}: \mathbb{R}^{n} \to \mathbb{R}^{n}$ corresponding to the orthogonal matrix $A$ is called an orthogonal transformation.

$$ \mathbf{y} = T_{A}(\mathbf{x}) = A \mathbf{x} \quad (A^{\mathsf{T}}A = I) $$

Explanation

An orthogonal matrix and an orthogonal transformation share the same mathematical essence, but referring to it as a transformation rather than a matrix indicates a viewpoint more focused on the function. An orthogonal transformation also satisfies the same properties satisfied by orthogonal matrices.

Properties

(a) An orthogonal transformation is a linear transformation.

(b) An orthogonal transformation preserves the inner product (angle). $$ \Braket{T_{A}\mathbf{x} , T_{A}\mathbf{y}} = \braket{\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}} $$

(c) An orthogonal transformation preserves the norm (length). $$ \left\| T_{A} \mathbf{x} \right\| = \left\| \mathbf{x} \right\| $$