AI engineering glossary · Linear algebra
What is dot product?
Dot product (also called Scalar product): An operation on two equal-length vectors that multiplies matching components and sums the results into one number. It measures how strongly two vectors point the same way, and it is the core of neuron computations, attention scores and similarity search.
Dot product: an example
[1, 2, 3] . [4, 5, 6] = 1*4 + 2*5 + 3*6 = 32.
Related terms
More Linear algebra terms
- Eigendecomposition
- Eigenspace
- Eigenvalue
- Eigenvector
- Einstein summation
- Frobenius norm
- Full rank
- Gaussian elimination
Where you learn it
Dot product is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.