In
mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and their changes (cal ...
, a norm is a
function
Function or functionality may refer to:
Computing
* Function key
A function key is a key on a computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. Modern comp ...
from a
real
Real may refer to:
* Reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only Object of the mind, imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, ind ...
or
complex
The UCL Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences is one of the 11 constituent faculties of University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public university, Public rese ...

vector space
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). ...
to the nonnegative real numbers that behaves in certain ways like the distance from the
origin
Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Comics and manga
* , a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002
* , a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' comic book series
* , a major ''Judge Dred ...
: it
with scaling, obeys a form of the
, and is zero only at the origin. In particular, the
Euclidean distance
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). ...
of a vector from the origin is a norm, called the
Euclidean norm
Euclidean space is the fundamental space of classical geometry. Originally it was the three-dimensional space
Three-dimensional space (also: 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called pa ...
, or
2-norm, which may also be defined as the square root of the
inner product
In mathematics, an inner product space or a Hausdorff space, Hausdorff pre-Hilbert space is a vector space with a binary operation called an inner product. This operation associates each pair of vectors in the space with a Scalar (mathematics), ...
of a vector with itself.
A pseudonorm or seminorm satisfies the first two properties of a norm, but may be zero for other vectors than the origin.
A vector space with a specified norm is called a
normed vector space
In mathematics, a normed vector space or normed space is a vector space over the Real number, real or Complex number, complex numbers, on which a Norm (mathematics), norm is defined. A norm is the formalization and the generalization to real vec ...
. In a similar manner, a vector space with a seminorm is called a ''seminormed vector space''.
Definition
Given a
vector space
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). ...
over a
subfield of the complex numbers
a norm on
is a
real-valued function
Mass measured in grams is a function from this collection of weight to positive number">positive
Positive is a property of Positivity (disambiguation), positivity and may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Converging lens or positive lens, i ...
with the following properties, where
denotes the usual
absolute value
In , the absolute value or modulus of a , denoted , is the value of without regard to its . Namely, if is , and if is (in which case is positive), and . For example, the absolute value of 3 is 3, and the absolute value of − ...

of a scalar
:
#
SubadditivityIn mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ha ...
/
:
for all
#
Absolute homogeneity:
for all
and all scalars
#
Positive definitenessIn mathematics, positive definiteness is a property of any object to which a bilinear form or a sesquilinear form may be naturally associated, which is positive-definite bilinear form, positive-definite. See, in particular:
* Positive-definite bilin ...
/: for all
if
then
#* Because property (2) implies
some authors replace property (3) with the equivalent condition: for every
if and only if
A
seminorm In mathematics, particularly in functional analysis, a seminorm is a Norm (mathematics), vector space norm that need not be positive definite. Seminorms are intimately connected with convex sets: every seminorm is the Minkowski functional of some A ...
on
is a function
that has properties (1) and (2) so that in particular, every norm is also a seminorm (and thus also a
sublinear functional In linear algebra
Linear algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning linear equations such as:
:a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n=b,
linear maps such as:
:(x_1, \ldots, x_n) \mapsto a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n,
and their representations in vector spaces and th ...
). However, there exist seminorms that are not norms. Properties (1) and (2) imply that if
is a norm (or more generally, a seminorm) then
and that
also has the following property:
#
Nonnegativity: for all
Some authors include non-negativity as part of the definition of "norm", although this is not necessary.
Equivalent norms
Suppose that and are two norms (or seminorms) on a vector space
Then and are called equivalent, if there exist two real constants and with such that for every vector
The norms and are equivalent if and only if they induce the same topology on
Any two norms on a finite-dimensional space are equivalent but this does not extend to infinite-dimensional spaces.
Notation
If a norm
is given on a vector space , then the norm of a vector
is usually denoted by enclosing it within double vertical lines:
Such notation is also sometimes used if is only a seminorm. For the length of a vector in Euclidean space (which is an example of a norm, as
explained below), the notation
with single vertical lines is also widespread.
In
LaTeX
Latex is a stable dispersion (emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally Miscibility, immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of ...

and related markup languages, the double bar of norm notation is entered with the macro
\,
, which renders as
The double vertical line used to denote
parallel lines,
parallel operator
The parallel operator (also known as reduced sum, parallel sum or parallel addition) \, (pronounced "parallel", following the parallel lines notation from geometry) is a mathematical function which is used as a shorthand in electrical e ...
and
parallel addition is entered with
\parallel
and is rendered as
Although looking similar, these two macros must not be confused as
\,
denotes a
bracket
A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation
Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding ...

and
\parallel
denotes an operator. Therefore, their size and the spaces around them are not computed in the same way. Similarly, the single vertical bar is coded as
,
when used as a bracket, and as
\mid
when used as an operator.
In
Unicode
Unicode, formally the Unicode Standard, is an information technology standard
Standard may refer to:
Flags
* Colours, standards and guidons
* Standard (flag), a type of flag used for personal identification
Norm, convention or requireme ...

, the representation of the "double vertical line" character is . The "double vertical line" symbol should not be confused with the "parallel to" symbol, , which is intended to denote parallel lines and parallel operators. The double vertical line should also not be confused with , aimed to denote
lateral clicks in linguistics.
The single vertical line , has a Unicode representation .
Examples
Every (real or complex) vector space admits a norm: If
is a
Hamel basis
In mathematics, a Set (mathematics), set of vectors in a vector space is called a basis if every element of may be written in a unique way as a finite linear combination of elements of . The coefficients of this linear combination are referred ...
for a vector space then the real-valued map that sends (where all but finitely many of the scalars are 0) to is a norm on . There are also a large number of norms that exhibit additional properties that make them useful for specific problems.
Absolute-value norm
The
absolute value
In , the absolute value or modulus of a , denoted , is the value of without regard to its . Namely, if is , and if is (in which case is positive), and . For example, the absolute value of 3 is 3, and the absolute value of − ...

is a norm on the
one-dimensional
In physics
Physics (from grc, φυσική (ἐπιστήμη), physikḗ (epistḗmē), knowledge of nature, from ''phýsis'' 'nature'), , is the natural science that studies matter, its Motion (physics), motion and behavior through S ...
vector spaces formed by the
real
Real may refer to:
* Reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only Object of the mind, imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, ind ...
or
complex number
In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that contains the real numbers and a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit, and satisfying the equation . Moreover, every complex number can be expressed in the for ...

s.
Any norm on a one-dimensional vector space is equivalent (up to scaling) to the absolute value norm, meaning that there is a norm-preserving
isomorphism
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and ...

of vector spaces where
is either
or and norm-preserving means that
This isomorphism is given by sending
to a vector of norm , which exists since such a vector is obtained by multiplying any nonzero vector by the inverse of its norm.
Euclidean norm
On the
-dimensional
Euclidean space
Euclidean space is the fundamental space of . Originally, it was the of , but in modern there are Euclidean spaces of any nonnegative integer , including the three-dimensional space and the ''Euclidean plane'' (dimension two). It was introduce ...
the intuitive notion of length of the vector
is captured by the formula
This is the Euclidean norm, which gives the ordinary distance from the origin to the point ''X''—a consequence of the
Pythagorean theorem
In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem, or Pythagoras' theorem, is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry among the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite ...

.
This operation may also be referred to as "SRSS", which is an acronym for the square root of the sum of squares.
The Euclidean norm is by far the most commonly used norm on
but there are other norms on this vector space as will be shown below.
However, all these norms are equivalent in the sense that they all define the same topology.
The
inner product
In mathematics, an inner product space or a Hausdorff space, Hausdorff pre-Hilbert space is a vector space with a binary operation called an inner product. This operation associates each pair of vectors in the space with a Scalar (mathematics), ...
of two vectors of a
Euclidean vector space
Euclidean space is the fundamental space of classical geometry. Originally, it was the three-dimensional space
Three-dimensional space (also: 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called p ...
is the
dot product
In mathematics, the dot product or scalar productThe term ''scalar product'' is often also used more generally to mean a symmetric bilinear form, for example for a pseudo-Euclidean space. is an algebraic operation that takes two equal-length seque ...
of their
coordinate vector
In linear algebra, a coordinate vector is a representation of a vector as an ordered list of numbers that describes the vector in terms of a particular ordered basis. Coordinates are always specified relative to an ordered basis. Bases and their a ...
s over an
orthonormal basisIn linear algebra, two vectors in an inner product space are orthonormal if they are orthogonal (or perpendicular along a line) unit vectors. A set of vectors form an orthonormal set if all vectors in the set are mutually orthogonal and all of u ...
.
Hence, the Euclidean norm can be written in a coordinate-free way as
The Euclidean norm is also called the
norm,
norm, 2-norm, or square norm; see
space.
It defines a
distance function
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no ge ...

called the Euclidean length,
distance, or
distance.
The set of vectors in
whose Euclidean norm is a given positive constant forms an
-sphere.
Euclidean norm of complex numbers
The Euclidean norm of a
complex number
In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that contains the real numbers and a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit, and satisfying the equation . Moreover, every complex number can be expressed in the for ...

is the
absolute value
In , the absolute value or modulus of a , denoted , is the value of without regard to its . Namely, if is , and if is (in which case is positive), and . For example, the absolute value of 3 is 3, and the absolute value of − ...
(also called the modulus) of it, if the
complex plane
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no ge ...
is identified with the
Euclidean plane
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no g ...
This identification of the complex number
as a vector in the Euclidean plane, makes the quantity
(as first suggested by Euler) the Euclidean norm associated with the complex number.
Quaternions and octonions
There are exactly four
Euclidean Hurwitz algebras over the
real number
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no g ...
s. These are the real numbers
the complex numbers
the
quaternion
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). ...

s
and lastly the
octonion
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no gene ...
s
where the dimensions of these spaces over the real numbers are
respectively.
The canonical norms on
and
are their
absolute value
In , the absolute value or modulus of a , denoted , is the value of without regard to its . Namely, if is , and if is (in which case is positive), and . For example, the absolute value of 3 is 3, and the absolute value of − ...

functions, as discussed previously.
The canonical norm on
of
quaternion
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). ...

s is defined by
for every quaternion
in
This is the same as the Euclidean norm on
considered as the vector space
Similarly, the canonical norm on the
octonion
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no gene ...
s is just the Euclidean norm on
Finite-dimensional complex normed spaces
On an
-dimensional
complex space the most common norm is
In this case, the norm can be expressed as the
square root
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities ...

of the
inner product
In mathematics, an inner product space or a Hausdorff space, Hausdorff pre-Hilbert space is a vector space with a binary operation called an inner product. This operation associates each pair of vectors in the space with a Scalar (mathematics), ...
of the vector and itself:
where
is represented as a
column vector
In linear algebra
Linear algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning linear equations such as:
:a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n=b,
linear maps such as:
:(x_1, \ldots, x_n) \mapsto a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n,
and their representations in vector spaces and th ...
and
denotes its
conjugate transpose
In mathematics, the conjugate transpose (or Hermitian transpose) of an ''m''-by-''n'' matrix (mathematics), matrix \boldsymbol with complex number, complex entries is the ''n''-by-''m'' matrix obtained from \boldsymbol by taking the transpose and ...
.
This formula is valid for any
inner product space
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). I ...
, including Euclidean and complex spaces. For complex spaces, the inner product is equivalent to the
complex dot product
In mathematics, the dot product or scalar productThe term ''scalar product'' is often also used more generally to mean a symmetric bilinear form, for example for a pseudo-Euclidean space. is an algebraic operation that takes two equal-length seque ...
. Hence the formula in this case can also be written using the following notation:
Taxicab norm or Manhattan norm
The name relates to the distance a taxi has to drive in a rectangular
street grid
In urban planning
Urban planning, also known as regional planning, town planning, city planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, i ...
to get from the origin to the point .
The set of vectors whose 1-norm is a given constant forms the surface of a
cross polytope of dimension equivalent to that of the norm minus 1.
The Taxicab norm is also called the
norm. The distance derived from this norm is called the
Manhattan distance
A taxicab geometry is a form of geometry in which the usual distance function or Metric (mathematics), metric of Euclidean geometry is replaced by a new metric in which the distance between two points is the sum of the absolute differences of thei ...

or ''ℓ''
1 distance.
The 1-norm is simply the sum of the absolute values of the columns.
In contrast,
is not a norm because it may yield negative results.
''p''-norm
Let be a real number.
The -norm (also called
-norm) of vector
is
For , we get the
taxicab norm, for , we get the
Euclidean norm
Euclidean space is the fundamental space of classical geometry. Originally it was the three-dimensional space
Three-dimensional space (also: 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called pa ...
, and as approaches
the -norm approaches the
infinity norm or
maximum norm
frame, The perimeter of the square is the set of points in R2 where the sup norm equals a fixed positive constant.
In mathematical analysis, the uniform norm (or sup norm) assigns to real- or complex-valued bounded functions ''f'' defined on ...
:
The -norm is related to the
generalized mean
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ...
or power mean.
This definition is still of some interest for , but the resulting function does not define a norm, because it violates the
.
What is true for this case of , even in the measurable analog, is that the corresponding class is a vector space, and it is also true that the function
(without th root) defines a distance that makes into a complete metric
topological vector space
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ...
. These spaces are of great interest in
functional analysis
200px, One of the possible modes of vibration of an idealized circular drum head. These modes are eigenfunctions of a linear operator on a function space, a common construction in functional analysis.
Functional analysis is a branch of mathemat ...
,
probability theory
Probability theory is the branch of mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are containe ...
and
harmonic analysis
Harmonic analysis is a branch of mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathe ...
.
However, aside from trivial cases, this topological vector space is not locally convex, and has no continuous non-zero linear forms. Thus the topological dual space contains only the zero functional.
The partial derivative of the -norm is given by
The derivative with respect to , therefore, is
where denotes
Hadamard product and
is used for absolute value of each component of the vector.
For the special case of , this becomes
or
Maximum norm (special case of: infinity norm, uniform norm, or supremum norm)

If
is some vector such that
then:
The set of vectors whose infinity norm is a given constant, , forms the surface of a
hypercube
In geometry
Geometry (from the grc, γεωμετρία; ' "earth", ' "measurement") is, with , one of the oldest branches of . It is concerned with properties of space that are related with distance, shape, size, and relative position of ...

with edge length 2''c''.
Zero norm
In probability and functional analysis, the zero norm induces a complete metric topology for the space of
measurable function
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ...
s and for the
F-space
In functional analysis
200px, One of the possible modes of vibration of an idealized circular drum head. These modes are eigenfunctions of a linear operator on a function space, a common construction in functional analysis.
Functional analysi ...
of sequences with F–norm
Here we mean by ''F-norm'' some real-valued function
on an F-space with distance , such that
The ''F''-norm described above is not a norm in the usual sense because it lacks the required homogeneity property.
Hamming distance of a vector from zero
In
metric geometry
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ...
, the
discrete metric
Discrete in science is the opposite of continuous
Continuity or continuous may refer to:
Mathematics
* Continuity (mathematics), the opposing concept to discreteness; common examples include
** Continuous probability distribution or random vari ...
takes the value one for distinct points and zero otherwise. When applied coordinate-wise to the elements of a vector space, the discrete distance defines the ''
Hamming distance
In information theory
Information theory is the scientific study of the quantification, storage, and communication
Communication (from Latin ''communicare'', meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is "an apparent answer to ...
'', which is important in
coding
Coding may refer to:
Computer science
* Computer programming, the process of creating and maintaining the source code of computer programs
* Line coding, in data storage
* Source coding, compression used in data transmission
* Coding theory
* Chann ...
and
information theory
Information theory is the scientific study of the quantification (science), quantification, computer data storage, storage, and telecommunication, communication of Digital data, digital information. The field was fundamentally established by the ...
.
In the field of real or complex numbers, the distance of the discrete metric from zero is not homogeneous in the non-zero point; indeed, the distance from zero remains one as its non-zero argument approaches zero.
However, the discrete distance of a number from zero does satisfy the other properties of a norm, namely the triangle inequality and positive definiteness.
When applied component-wise to vectors, the discrete distance from zero behaves like a non-homogeneous "norm", which counts the number of non-zero components in its vector argument; again, this non-homogeneous "norm" is discontinuous.
In
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetis ...

and
statistics
Statistics is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data
Data (; ) are individual facts, statistics, or items of information, often numeric. In a more technical sens ...

,
David Donoho
David Leigh Donoho (born March 5, 1957) is a professor of statistics at Stanford University
, mottoeng = "The wind of freedom blows"
, type = Private university, Private research university
, academic_affiliations = Association of American Un ...
referred to the ''zero'' "''norm''" with quotation marks.
Following Donoho's notation, the zero "norm" of is simply the number of non-zero coordinates of , or the Hamming distance of the vector from zero.
When this "norm" is localized to a bounded set, it is the limit of -norms as approaches 0.
Of course, the zero "norm" is not truly a norm, because it is not
positive homogeneous.
Indeed, it is not even an F-norm in the sense described above, since it is discontinuous, jointly and severally, with respect to the scalar argument in scalar–vector multiplication and with respect to its vector argument.
Abusing terminology, some engineers omit Donoho's quotation marks and inappropriately call the number-of-nonzeros function the ''L''
0 norm, echoing the notation for the
Lebesgue space of
measurable function
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ...
s.
Infinite dimensions
The generalization of the above norms to an infinite number of components leads to
and spaces, with norms
for complex-valued sequences and functions on
respectively, which can be further generalized (see
Haar measure In mathematical analysis, the Haar measure assigns an "invariant volume" to subsets of locally compact topological groups, consequently defining an integral for functions on those groups.
This Measure (mathematics), measure was introduced by Alfré ...
).
Any
inner product
In mathematics, an inner product space or a Hausdorff space, Hausdorff pre-Hilbert space is a vector space with a binary operation called an inner product. This operation associates each pair of vectors in the space with a Scalar (mathematics), ...
induces in a natural way the norm
Other examples of infinite-dimensional normed vector spaces can be found in the
Banach space
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and th ...
article.
Composite norms
Other norms on
can be constructed by combining the above; for example
is a norm on
For any norm and any
injective
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and ...

linear transformation
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and ...
we can define a new norm of , equal to
In 2D, with a rotation by 45° and a suitable scaling, this changes the taxicab norm into the maximum norm. Each applied to the taxicab norm, up to inversion and interchanging of axes, gives a different unit ball: a
parallelogram
In Euclidean geometry
Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to Alexandrian Greek mathematics , Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry: the ''Euclid's Elements, Elements''. Euclid's method c ...

of a particular shape, size, and orientation.
In 3D, this is similar but different for the 1-norm (
octahedron
In geometry, an octahedron (plural: octahedra, octahedrons) is a polyhedron with eight faces, twelve edges, and six vertices. The term is most commonly used to refer to the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral tri ...

s) and the maximum norm (
prism
A prism
An optical prism is a transparent optics, optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refraction, refract light. At least one surface must be angled—elements with two parallel surfaces are not prisms. The traditional geometrical ...
s with parallelogram base).
There are examples of norms that are not defined by "entrywise" formulas. For instance, the
Minkowski functionalIn mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ha ...

of a centrally-symmetric convex body in
(centered at zero) defines a norm on
(see below).
All the above formulas also yield norms on
without modification.
There are also norms on spaces of matrices (with real or complex entries), the so-called
matrix norms.
In abstract algebra
Let be a
finite extension
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It h ...
of a field of
inseparable degree , and let have algebraic closure . If the distinct
embeddings of are , then the Galois-theoretic norm of an element is the value
As that function is homogenous of degree
, the Galois-theoretic norm is not a norm in the sense of this article. However, the -th root of the norm (assuming that concept makes sense), is a norm.
Composition algebras
The concept of norm
in
composition algebra
In mathematics, a composition algebra over a field (mathematics), field is a Non-associative algebra, not necessarily associative algebra over a field, algebra over together with a Degenerate form, nondegenerate quadratic form that satisfies
...
s does ''not'' share the usual properties of a norm as it may be negative or zero for ''z'' ≠ 0. A composition algebra consists of an
algebra over a field
In mathematics, an algebra over a field (often simply called an algebra) is a vector space equipped with a bilinear map, bilinear product (mathematics), product. Thus, an algebra is an algebraic structure consisting of a set (mathematics), set to ...
''A'', an
involution
Involution may refer to:
* Involute, a construction in the differential geometry of curves
* ''Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in Indonesia'', a 1963 study of intensification of production through increased labour input ...
*, and a
quadratic form
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ...
which is called the "norm".
The characteristic feature of composition algebras is the
homomorphism
In algebra
Algebra (from ar, الجبر, lit=reunion of broken parts, bonesetting, translit=al-jabr) is one of the areas of mathematics, broad areas of mathematics, together with number theory, geometry and mathematical analysis, analysis. I ...
property of ''N'': for the product ''wz'' of two elements ''w'' and ''z'' of the composition algebra, its norm satisfies
For
and O the composition algebra norm is the square of the norm discussed above. In those cases the norm is a
definite quadratic formIn mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ha ...
. In other composition algebras the norm is an
isotropic quadratic form
In mathematics, a quadratic form
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (ma ...
.
Properties
For any norm
on a vector space
the
reverse triangle inequality holds:
If
is a continuous linear map between normed spaces, then the norm of
and the norm of the
transpose
In linear algebra
Linear algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning linear equations such as:
:a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n=b,
linear maps such as:
:(x_1, \ldots, x_n) \mapsto a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n,
and their representations in vector spaces a ...

of
are equal.
For the
''L''''p'' norms, we have
Hölder's inequality
In mathematical analysis, Hölder's inequality, named after Otto Hölder, is a fundamental inequality
Inequality may refer to:
Economics
* Attention inequality
Attention inequality is a term used to target the inequality of distribution of atte ...
A special case of this is the
Cauchy–Schwarz inequality
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It h ...
:
Equivalence
The concept of
unit circle
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities a ...

(the set of all vectors of norm 1) is different in different norms: for the 1-norm, the unit circle is a
square
In Euclidean geometry
Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to Alexandrian Greek mathematics , Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry: the ''Euclid's Elements, Elements''. Euclid's method ...

, for the 2-norm (Euclidean norm), it is the well-known unit
circle
A circle is a shape
A shape or figure is the form of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface
File:Water droplet lying on a damask.jpg, Water droplet lying on a damask. Surface tension is high enough to preven ...

, while for the infinity norm, it is a different square. For any ''p''-norm, it is a
superellipse
A superellipse, also known as a Lamé curve after Gabriel Lamé
Gabriel Lamé (22 July 1795 – 1 May 1870) was a French mathematician who contributed to the theory of partial differential equation
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancie ...

with congruent axes (see the accompanying illustration). Due to the definition of the norm, the unit circle must be
convex
Convex means curving outwards like a sphere, and is the opposite of concave. Convex or convexity may refer to:
Science and technology
* Convex lens
A lens is a transmissive optics, optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by me ...

and centrally symmetric (therefore, for example, the unit ball may be a rectangle but cannot be a triangle, and
for a ''p''-norm).
In terms of the vector space, the seminorm defines a
topology
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities ...

on the space, and this is a
topology precisely when the seminorm can distinguish between distinct vectors, which is again equivalent to the seminorm being a norm. The topology thus defined (by either a norm or a seminorm) can be understood either in terms of sequences or open sets. A
sequence
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and t ...

of vectors
is said to
converge
Converge may refer to:
* Converge (band), American hardcore punk band
* Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body
* Limit (mathematics)
* Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines
See also
...
in norm to
if
as
Equivalently, the topology consists of all sets that can be represented as a union of open
balls
A ball
A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid
An oval (from Latin ''ovum'', "egg") is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas ( p ...
. If
is a normed space then
Two norms
and
on a vector space
are called if they induce the same topology,
which happens if and only if there exist positive real numbers ''C'' and ''D'' such that for all
For instance, if
on
then
In particular,
That is,
If the vector space is a finite-dimensional real or complex one, all norms are equivalent. On the other hand, in the case of infinite-dimensional vector spaces, not all norms are equivalent.
Equivalent norms define the same notions of continuity and convergence and for many purposes do not need to be distinguished. To be more precise the uniform structure defined by equivalent norms on the vector space is
uniformly isomorphic.
Classification of seminorms: absolutely convex absorbing sets
All seminorms on a vector space
can be classified in terms of
absolutely convexIn mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ha ...
absorbing subsets ''A'' of
To each such subset corresponds a seminorm ''p
A'' called the
gauge
Gauge (US: , UK: or ) may refer to:
Measurement
* Gauge (instrument)
A gauge, in science
Science (from the Latin word ''scientia'', meaning "knowledge") is a systematic enterprise that Scientific method, builds and Taxonomy (general), o ...

of ''A'', defined as
, with the property that