Jordan-von Neumann Theorem

Matt Rosenzweig

In this note, we prove the Jordan-von Neumann theorem [1], which establishes necessary and sufficient condi-
tions for a vector space norm k·k to be induced by a inner product. The theorem is an extension of the well-known
parallelogram law for inner-product spaces.
Definition 1. A generalized (complex) linear normed space (X, k·k) is a (complex) vector space X with
a function k·k : X → R≥0 satisfying
1. kxk = 0 ⇐⇒ x = 0;
2. kx + yk ≤ kxk + kyk;
3. kαxk → 0 if α → 0 and kixk = kxk.
Proposition 2. (Jordan-von Neumann theorem) Let (X, k·k) p be a generalized linear normed space. Then there
exists an inner product (·, ·) : X × X → C such that kxk = (x, x) if and only if
 
2 2 2 2
kx + yk + kx − yk = 2 kxk + kyk ∀x, y ∈ X

In this case, the inner product (·, ·) is uniquely determined by the preceding requirement.
Proof. We first prove the ⇒ direction. Then, for x, y ∈ X,
2 2
kx + yk + kx − yk = (x + y, x + y) + (x − y, x − y) = (x, x) + (x, y) + (y, x) + (y, y) + (x, x) − (x, y) − (y, x) + (y, y)
 
2 2
= 2 kxk + kyk ,

which shows that the condition of the theorem is necessary. Also,

2 2
kx + yk − kx − yk = (x + y, x + y) − (x − y, x − y) = (x, x) + (x, y) + (y, x) + (y, y) − (x, x) + (x, y) + (y, x) − (y, y)
= 2 [(x, y) + (y, x)]
h i
= 2 (x, y) + (x, y)
= 4 Re(x, y)

Replacing x by ix and using the property that (ix, y) = i(x, y) and therefore Re i(x, y) = − Im(x, y), we obtain
2 2
kix + yk − kix − yk = −4 Im(x, y)

Thus,
1 2 2
 1 2 2

Re(x, y) = kx + yk + kx − yk , Im(x, y) = kix − yk − kix + yk ,
4 4
which shows that (·, ·) is uniquely determined by k·k.
We now prove the ⇐ direction. Define (·, ·) : X × X → C by
(  
2 2
Re(x, y) = 41 kx + yk − kx − yk
(x, y) = Re(x, y) − i Re(ix, y)

We now show that (·, ·) satisfies the axioms of an inner product. Let x, x0 , y, y 0 ∈ X. Then
     
2 2 2 2 2 2
2 kx + yk − kx − yk = 2 kx + yk + kx0 k − 2 kx − yk + kx0 k
 
2 2 2 2
= k(x + y) + x0 k + k(x + y) − x0 k − k(x − y) + x0 k + k(x − y) − x0 k
   
2 2 2 2
= k(x + x0 ) + yk − k(x + x0 ) − yk + k(x − x0 ) + yk − k(x − x0 ) − yk

1
Hence,

8 Re(x, y) = 4 [Re(x + x0 , y) + Re(x − x0 , y)] ⇐⇒ 2 Re(x, y) = Re(x + x0 , y) + Re(x − x0 , y)

2 2 2 2
Using our hypothessis that kx + yk + kx − yk = 2(kxk + kyk ) with x = 0, y ∈ X, we obtain that kyk = k−yk
for all y ∈ X. Hence, Re(0, y) = 0. Taking x = x0 , we obtain that

2 Re(x, y) = Re(2x, y) + Re(0, y) = Re(2x, y)

Replacing x and x0 by 21 (x + x0 ) and 12 (x − x0 ), respectively, we see that

1 1 1 1 1
Re(x + x0 , y) = 2 Re( (x + x0 ), y) = Re( (x + x0 ) + (x − x0 ), y) + Re( (x + x0 ) − (x − x0 ), y)
2 2 2 2 2
= Re(x, y) + Re(x0 , y)

By definition of (·, ·),

(x + x0 , y) = Re(x + x0 , y) − i Re(ix + ix0 , y) = Re(x, y) + Re(x0 , y) − i Re(ix, y) − i Re(ix0 , y) = (x, y) + (x0 , y)

Using the triangle inequality property of k·k and the result that kxk = k−xk ∀x ∈ X, we obtain that

|kxk − kyk| ≤ kx − yk

Hence, for α, β ∈ C and x, y ∈ X,

|kαx ± yk − kβx ± yk| ≤ k(α − β)xk ,

By hypothesis that k·k is a generalized norm, we have that α → β ⇒ kαx ± yk → kβx ± yk. From the definition
of Re(αx, y), we see that Re(αx, y) is continuous in α, which implies that (αx, y) is continuous in α.
Let S := {α ∈ C : (αx, y) = α(x, y) ∀x, y ∈ X}. Clearly, 0, 1 ∈ S. Furthermore, it is clear that α, β ∈ S ⇒
α ± beta ∈ S, which implies that Z ⊂ S. I now claim that Q ⊂ S. Let α, β ∈ Z with β 6= 0. Since α, β ∈ S, we
see that
α α α α
α(x, y) = (αx, y) = (β · x, y) = β( x, y) ⇒ (x, y) = ( x, y) ∀x, y ∈ X,
β β β β
which completes the proof of the claim. Since (αx, y) is continuous in α, for fixed x, y ∈ X, we conclude from
the density of Q in R that R ⊂ S. To see that C ⊂ S, which implies equality, observe that

(ix, y) = Re(ix, y) − i Re(i · ix, y) = Re(x, y) − i Re(−x, y) = Re(x, y) + i Re(x, y) = i [−i Re(x, y) + Re(x, y)] = i(x, y)

Noting (αi)x = α(ix), for α ∈ R and x ∈ X, completes the proof.

Since kixk = kxk for all x ∈ X by definition of a generalized norm, we have that
1 2 2
 1
2 2

Re(ix, iy) = kix + iyk − kix − iyk = kx + yk − kx − yk = Re(x, y)
4 4
and
1 2 2
 1
2 2

Re(x, y) = kx + yk − kx − yk = ky + xk − ky − xk = Re(y, x)
4 4
Hence,
1 2 2

Re(ix, y) = Re(i · ix, iy) = Re(−x, iy) = − Re(x, iy) = − kx + iyk − kx − iyk
4
1 2 2

=− k−ix + yk − k−ix − yk
4
1 2 2

=− ky − ixk − ky + ixk
4
= Re(y, ix)

We conclude that

(y, x) = Re(y, x) + i Re(iy, x) = Re(x, y) + i Re(x, iy) = Re(x, y) + i Re(ix, −y) = Re(x, y) − i Re(ix, y) = (x, y)

2
As a consequence, we obtain
2
(αx, αx) = α(x, αx) = α(αx, x) = α · α(x, x) = |α| (x, x), ∀α ∈ C, x ∈ X
p
We complete the proof of the theorem by showing that kxk = (x, x). Observe that

1 2 2
 1 2 2

(x, x) = Re(x, x) − i Re(ix, x) = kx + xk − kx − xk − i kix + xk − kix − xk
4 4
2 1 2 2 2

= kxk − i kix + xk − |i| kx + ixk
4
2
= kxk

Proposition 3. Let (X, k·k) be a linear normed space. Define

2 2
1 kx + yk + kx − yk
Cx,y := 2 2 , ∀x, y ∈ X, not x = y = 0
2 kxk + kyk

Define b := supx,y∈X Cx,y and a := inf x,y∈X Cx,y . Then 21 ≤ a ≤ 1 ≤ b ≤ 2 and moreover, a = 1
b. A linear
normed space has an inner product if and only if a = b = 1.
Proof. The last assertion is just Jordan-von Neumann theorem. For the string of inequalities, observe that by
the triangle inequality
2 2 2 2 2 2
1 kx + yk + kx − yk 1 2(kxk + kyk)2 kxk + 2 kxk kyk + kyk 2(kxk + kyk )
2 2 ≤ ≤ ≤ = 2,
2 kxk + kyk 2 kxk2 + kyk2 2
kxk + kyk
2 2
kxk + kyk
2

and by the reverse triangle inequality,

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 kx + yk + kx − yk kx + yk + kx − yk kx + yk + kx − yk kx + yk + kx − yk
2 2 =2 2 2 ≥2 2
≥ 2 2
2 kxk + kyk k2xk + k2yk 2(kx + yk + kx − yk) kx + yk + 2 kx + yk kx − yk + kx − yk
2 2
kx + yk + kx − yk 1
≥ 2 2 =
2(kx + yk + kx − yk ) 2

To see that a = 1b , observe that

2 2 2 2
1 k2xk + k2yk kxk + kyk 1
Cx+y,x−y = =2 2 = C
2 kx + yk2 + kx − yk2 2
kx + yk + kx − yk x,y

References
[1] P. Jordan and J. von Neumann, On Inner Product in Linear Metric Spaces, Ann. of Math. 36 (1935), no. 2,
719-723.