# How to find all the inner products that satisfy $\langle u_1,u_1 \rangle=1$ $\langle u_2,u_2 \rangle=1$? where $B:=\{u_1,u_2\}$ is a basis

Let $V$ be a real vector space of $\dim 2$ and let $B:=\{u_1,u_2\}$ be a basis. How do you find all the inner products that satisfy $\langle u_1,u_1 \rangle=1$ $\langle u_2,u_2 \rangle=1$?

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It does not mean that the basis $B$ is orthonormal, that would only be the case if $\langle u_1, u_2\rangle$ were zero. –  mt_ Nov 13 '11 at 16:21
@mt_: thanks for pointing that out! –  Freeman Nov 13 '11 at 16:23

Pretty much anything will do, no? Namely, any inner product is determined by the values $\langle u_1,u_2\rangle,\langle u_1,u_1\rangle,\langle u_2,u_2\rangle$ and these values are independent. So, setting $\langle u_1,u_2\rangle=\alpha$ one sees that the inner product is given by $\langle au_1+bu_2,cu_1+du_2\rangle=ac+\alpha(ad+bu)+bd$
An inner product is usually required to be positive definite. So you must find the values of $\alpha$ such that $\langle x,x\rangle\geq 0$ with equality if and only if $x=0$. –  mt_ Nov 13 '11 at 16:22
Indeed, so $\alpha>0$ as $u_1,u_2 \neq0$ –  Freeman Nov 13 '11 at 16:28