MATH 2250

Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

Chapter 4: Vector Spaces This set of notes combines sections 4.3 and 4.4. Key Terminology and Concepts for these sections: Vector Space Nullspace of a matrix A Linear Combination of a set of vectors Subspace of a Vector Space Linear Independence Linear Dependence Span of a set of vectors

4.3 Linear Combinations and Independence of Vectors The following examples illustrate the concepts and process of this section. Example 1: Determine if w = (3,-1) is a linear combination of u = (1,2) and v = (2,-2). We seek scalars c1 and c2 such that c1u c2 v w . That is, c1 2c2 3 1 2 3 OR c1 c2 2 2 1 2c1 2c2 1 Either way, we can view this as Ax b and find the solution as x Thus, we have (see the picture at right) c1 2 3 1 2 c2 1 6 2 1
A 1b .

u w

2/3u

2 7
so

3 6

2 u 3

7 v 6

2 1 3 2

7 2 6 2

3 1

7/6v

This is a fundamental representation of the idea of a linear combination. If two vectors form a plane and a third vector is a linear combination of the first two, then it lies in the same plane. This is true in all dimensional spaces.

MATH 2250

Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

Example 2: Determine if the vector w = (-3,2,1) is a linear combination of the vectors u = (1,1,3) and v = (1,-1,2). This question is essentially asking if w lies in the same plane as the vectors u and v. Solution: We seek scalars c1 and c2 such that c1u c2 v 1 1 3

w . That is,

c1 1

c2

3 2 1 or in augmented matrix form, 1 1 3 1 1 2 .

3 2 1 This matrix can be row reduced to the echelon form 1 1 3

5 . 0 0 15 In this way, we see that the system has no solution. We conclude that w is not a linear combination of u and v. Hence, w does not lie in the plane formed by u and v.
NOTE: We could have used the determinant of the above matrix to answer this question. Why?

0 2

Example3: Can we find scalars c1 and c2 such that w = (2,5,-26,11) is a linear combination of u = (1,3,-15,7) and v = (1,4,-19,10)? Look at the vector (or matrix form) of this question: 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 3 4 c1 5 c1 c2 OR . 15 19 26 15 19 c2 26 7 10 11 7 10 11 What do you expect? WHY? Try solving the system of equations. What do you find. What does this mean? Take the first two rows and solve the 2x2 system 1 1 c1 2

3 4 c2

MATH 2250

Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

Definition: The span of a set of vectors v1 , v 2 ,, v k is the set of all linear combinations of
v1 , v 2 ,, v k : span{v1, v2, v3, , vk} = {x | x = c1v1 + c2v2 + c3v3 + + ckvk}

Theorem 1: The Span of a Set of Vectors Let v1 , v 2 ,, v k be a vectors in a vector space V. (There is no restriction on this set.) Then the set W of all linear combinations of v1 , v 2 ,, v k is a subspace of V. Proof: We must show that W is closed under scalar multiplication and vector addition. Let u and w denote vectors in W. Since u and w are members of W, there are scalars a1 , a2 ,, ak and b1 , b2 ,, bk such that u a1v1 a2 v 2 ak v k and w b1v1 b2 v 2 bk v k . For any scalar t, we have tu t (a1v1 a2 v 2 ak v k )

ta1v1 ta2 v 2 tak v k which is clearly a linear combination of v1 , v 2 ,, v k so it is in W. Also, u w (a1v1 a2 v 2 ak v k ) (b1v1 b2 v 2 bk v k ) (a1 b1 ) v1 (a2 b2 ) v 2 (ak bk ) v k which is in W. We conclude that the set W of linear combinations of v1 , v 2 ,, v k is a subspace of V.
As a review Definition We say that the vectors v1 , v 2 , v 3 , , v n are linearly INDEPENDENT if the ONLY solution to c1 v1 c2 v 2 c3 v 3 cn v n 0 is c1
c2 cn 0 . That is, the only solution is the trivial solution.

Fundamental Example: The standard unit vectors e1 (1,0,0, ,0)

e2 en
n

(0,1,0, ,0) (0,0, ,0,1)

in R are linearly independent. This is easily seen because the only solution to c1e1 c2e 2 cne n (c1 , c2 ,, cn ) (0,0,,0) Is the trivial solution c1 c2 cn 0 . It should be apparent that they also span Rn. We refer to these vectors as the standard basis for Rn.

MATH 2250

Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

Comment: It should be apparent that a subset of any set of linearly independent set of vectors is linearly independent. Question: How many vectors in R n can be linearly independent? We will answer this question using the shape of corresponding matrices. By the previous example, it should be apparent that there can be up to n linearly independent vectors in R n . What if there are n + 1 vectors from R n ? Consider the matrix equation Ax = 0 resulting from forming a matrix whose columns are the n + 1 vectors and x (c1 , c2 ,, cn ) is the vector of unknown scalars c1 , c2 ,, cn . Thus, A is an n x (n + 1) matrix with more columns than rows and the corresponding augmented matrix has n rows and n + 2 columns. The point is that the system cannot have a unique solution so the set must be linearly dependent. Therefore, the maximum number of linearly independent vectors in R n is n. For k < n vectors in R n , a set of k vectors in R n is linearly independent if and only if the n x k matrix of vectors contains some k x k submatrix with nonzero determinant. Example 4: To take this idea further, can we find scalars c1 , c 2 , c3 and c4 such that w = (3,-1) is a linear combination of u = (1,2), v = (2,-2), x = (2,-5), and y = (-3,7)? Write out the matrix form of the resulting system of equations and explain your answer in terms of the number of equations and number of unknowns. This results in a system of 2 equations with 4 unknowns. Since this problem is an extension of Example 1, we know that the system has a solution. Therefore, we can conclude that this system has infinitely many solutions. In fact, there are 2 free variables (c3 and c4).

MATH 2250

Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

4.4 Bases and Dimension for Vector Space

Definition: BASIS A finite set of vectors S in a vector space V is called a basis for V provided that (a) the vectors in S are linearly independent (b) the vectors in S span V. Furthermore, the number of vectors in any such set S for V is the dimension of V. The standard basis for R n consists of the n vectors e1=(1,0,,0), e2=(0,1,0,,0), , en=(0,,0,1). A basis has the following additional characterizations: (i) a basis is a maximal set of linearly independent vectors in V (ii) a basis is a minimal spanning set for V Eventually, our work will be directed at describing the set of solutions of a linear differential equation or system of linear differential equations. The following example contrasts the difference between representing the subspace of all solutions to a homogeneous system of linear equations and identifying a basis for the subspace. Example 5: Find a basis for the subspace of all solutions of the homogeneous system x 3 y 15z 7 w 0 x 4 y 19 z 10w 0 2 x 5 y 26 z 11w 0 Viewing the system as Ax = 0, the coefficient matrix A is row equivalent to the RREF 1 0 3 2

0 1

0 0 0 0 We see that the variables z and w are free variables so x = 3z + 2w and y = 4z 3w

Therefore, letting z = s and w = t, the set of all solutions is given by x 3s 2t 3 2

This is the subspaceof all solutions z s 1 0 w t 0 1 or x = su + tv where u =(3,4,1,0) and v = (2,-3,0,1).

4s 3t

MATH 2250

Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

We will refer to the set of all solutions to Ax = 0 as the nullspace of A. Therefore, a basis for the nullspace of A is the set (3,4,1,0), (2, 3,0,1) . In this case, a basis for the nullspace (solution space of Ax = 0) is a set with two vectors. The solution space is a two dimensional plane spanned by u and v. The nullspace of A is the subspace of R 4 for which multiplication by A results in 0 (Ax = 0). We say that A annihilates the vectors x in the nullspace. Algorithm for Finding the Nullspace Ax = 0 1. Find the RREF for the n x n matrix A 2. Identify the r leading variables and n r free variables 3. Solve for the leading variables in terms of the free variables. 4. Rename (relabel) the free variables using parameters (s, t, etc. OR t1, t2, t3, etc.) 5. Write the parameterization of the nullspace in vector form with the parameters s, t, etc. factored out as scalars (like su + tv) Note: The set of vectors u and v form a basis for the nullspace. Example: Find a basis for the plane 3x 5y + 2z = 0.

Example: Is the plane 3x 5y + 2z = 5 a subspace of R3? Explain your reasoning.

Example: Are the vectors u = (1, 0, -1, 1), v = (1, 0, 1, 1), and w = (2, 3, 0, -1) linearly independent? Justify your answer. If yes, do they form a basis for the corresponding vector space ( )?

MATH 2250

Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

Example: Find a basis for R4 containing the previous vectors u, v, and w.

MATH 2250

Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

Algorithm for Finding the Nullspace Ax = 0 1. Find the RREF for the n x n matrix A 2. Identify the r leading variables and n r free variables 3. Solve for the leading variables in terms of the free variables. 4. Rename (relabel) the free variables using parameters (s, t, etc. OR t1, t2, t3, etc.) 5. Write the parameterization of the nullspace in vector form with the parameters s, t, etc. factored out as scalars (like su + tv) Note: The set of vectors u and v form a basis for the nullspace.

Comments: Keep in mind that the role of a basis is a representation of a vector space (or subpace). We do not always want to use the standard basis because in most applications we use specific linear transformations in the vector space to stretch, reflect, rotate, shear, etc. the space. As such, we want to represent the vector space using vectors whose directions correspond to the stretches, reflections, etc. Given a basis {v1, v2, v3, , vk} for a vector space (or subspace), for each vector x in the space, there is a unique set of coefficients c1, c2, c3, , ck for which x = c1v1 + c2v2 + c3v3 + + ckvk. Finally, note the following inequality: For a vector space V with dimension n: Size of a linearly independent set of vectors Size of a set of vectors that span V