Standard basis
In mathematics, the standard basis (also called natural basis or canonical basis) of a coordinate vector space (such as or ) is the set of vectors, each of whose components are all zero, except one that equals 1. For example, in the case of the Euclidean plane formed by the pairs of real numbers, the standard basis is formed by the vectors Similarly, the standard basis for the three-dimensional space is formed by vectors Here the vector ex points in the x direction, the vector ey points in the y direction, and the vector ez points in the z direction. There are several common notations for standard-basis vectors, including {ex, ey, ez}, {e1, e2, e3}, {i, j, k}, and {x, y, z}. These vectors are sometimes written with a hat to emphasize their status as unit vectors (standard unit vectors). These vectors are a basis in the sense that any other vector can be expressed uniquely as a linear combination of these. For example, every vector v in three-dimensional space can be written uniquely as the scalars , , being the scalar components of the vector v. In the -dimensional Euclidean space , the standard basis consists of n distinct