Proving existence and uniqueness of the adjoint of $f$

linear algebralinear-transformations

Let $f:E\to F$ be a linear transformation between euclidean spaces with finite dimension.

We define the following isomorphism:$\quad \Psi_E:E\to E^*\quad\textrm{with}\quad\Psi_E(u)=\langle u,ยท\rangle$

Prove that there is only one linear transformation $f':F\to E$ such that
$$\langle f(u),v\rangle=\langle u,f'(v)\rangle\quad\forall u\in E, v\in F$$
where $f'$ is the adjoint of $f$.

My textbook gives the following proof:

Given $v\in F$, we define the linear map $\quad E\to\mathbb{R}\quad\textrm{with}\quad u\mapsto\langle f(u),v\rangle$.

Thus, $\exists!\ f'(v)\in E\ $ such that,
$$\Psi_E(f'(v))(u)=\langle f(u),v\rangle\quad\forall u\in E$$
$$i.e.\quad\langle u,f'(v)\rangle=\langle f(u),v\rangle\quad\forall u\in E$$
So we have proven the existence and uniqueness of $f'$.

I have found other ways to prove the statement, but I don't clearly understand my textbook proof.
Why can we define the linear map with $u\mapsto\langle f(u),v\rangle$? Why does $\Psi_E(f'(v))(u)\equiv\langle u,f'(v)\rangle$?
Could you give me some clues? Thanks in advance!

Best Answer

You are given $E$ and $F$ to be Euclidean spaces, with inner products $\langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle_E :E\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ and $\langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle_F :F\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$. Note that the linear map $T:u \mapsto \langle f(u), v \rangle_F$ is uniquely defined by $v\in F$ and $f$. Since $T$ is a linear functional on $E$, hence there exist a unique vector $w$ in $E$, such that $T(u)=\langle u, w\rangle_E$, i.e. $$\langle f(u), v \rangle_F=\langle u, w\rangle_E, $$let's call $w=f'(v)$, since this vector is associated to $v$, while defining $T$. It is required be to check that $f':F\rightarrow E$ is a linear map. And, then we have $$\langle u, f'(v)\rangle_E = \langle f(u), v \rangle_F.$$ I guess the notation, you have provided should be $\Psi_E:E\rightarrow E^*$ with $\Psi_E(u)=\langle \cdot, u\rangle_E$, we get $$\Psi_E(f'(v))(u)= \langle u, f'(v)\rangle_E = \langle f(u), v \rangle_F.$$