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Angle between two vectors after an orthogonal map

Question

Two vectors x,y∈Rnx,y\in\mathbb{R}^n make an angle of 75∘75^\circ. If AA is any n×nn\times n orthogonal matrix, what angle (in degrees) do AxAx and AyAy make?

Short answer

75∘75^\circ. Since ATA=IA^TA=I, we have (Ax)⋅(Ay)=xTATAy=x⋅y(Ax)\cdot(Ay)=x^TA^TAy=x\cdot y and ∥Ax∥=∥x∥\|Ax\|=\|x\|, ∥Ay∥=∥y∥\|Ay\|=\|y\|, so the cosine of the angle is unchanged: orthogonal maps preserve inner products and hence angles.

Adapted from QuantQuestions.io; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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