Exercise A5 (Adjoints)
Let V = R[x] with inner product (p|q) = ∫[a,b] p(x)q(x) dx. Let r be a polynomial in R[x]. Show that the linear transformation T(p) := x + r(x)p(x) is self-adjoint.
b) Let V = P2(R) with the inner product (p|q) = ∫[c,d] p(x)q(x) dx (note that the integral bounds are different from above).
(i) Show that the linear operator T : P2(R) → P2(R) defined via T(a+bx+cx^2) = bx is not self-adjoint.
(ii) Show that the matrix T with respect to the basis {1, x, x^2} of P2(R) is:
0 0
0 0
(iii) Notice that the matrix of T in part (ii) is equal to its conjugate transpose, but we showed in part (i) that T is not self-adjoint. Why is this not a contradiction?