MATH013- Linear Algebra with MATLAB

Topic: BASIS, DIMENSION and RANK

Intended Learning Outcomes:
1. Define basis , dimension and rank
2. Determine if a given set of vectors is a basis for a vector space
3. Find the dimension of a vector space
4. Solve for the rank and nullity of a given matrix

BASIS
The vectors v1 , v2 ,, vk in a vector space V are said to form
a basis of V if
1 2 8
(a) v1 , v2 ,, vk span V (i.e., span(v1 , v2 ,, vk ) V
v1 2, v2 1 , v3 6 . .
).
3. Let
v , v2 ,, vk
(b) 1 are linearly independent.
3 1 10
R E M A R K: This definition tells you that a basis has two Are v1 , v2 and v3 a basis in R 3 ?
features. A basis S must have enough vectors to span, but not
so many vectors that one of them could be written as a linear
combination of the other vectors in S.

Sample Problem:
1. Let
1 0 0
e1 0, e2 1, e3 0, and S e1 , e2 , e3

0 0 1
3
. Are e1 , e2 and e3 a basis in R ?

Theorems:
If S v1 , v2 ,, vk is a basis for a vector space V,
then every vector in V can be written in an unique
way as a linear combination of the vectors in S.
Let S v1 , v2 ,, vk be a set of nonzero vectors in a
vector space V and let W spanv1 , v2 ,, vk .
Then, some subset of S is a basis of W.
1 0 3
2. Let v1 , v2 , v3 . Are
If S= { v1, v2,..vk } is a basis for a vector space V then
0 1 4 every set containing more than n vectors in V is
linearly dependent
v1 , v2 and v3 a basis in R 2 ? If a vector space V has one basis with n vectors, then
every basis for V has n vectors

How to find a basis (subset of S) of W:

Method 1:
The procedure based on the proof of the above theorems.

Method 2:
S T E P S:
1. Form equation c1v1 c2 v2 ck vk 0 .

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 2. Construct the augmented matrix associated with the 1 1 1
v1 2, v2 0, v3 1, S v1 , v2 , v3

equation in step 1 and transform this augmented is a
matrix to the reduced row echelon form.
3. The vectors corresponding to the columns 1 2 0
containing the leading 1s form a basis. For example, 3
basis for R Also,
if k 6 and the reduced row echelon matrix is 1 0 0
1 0
0 e1 0, e2 1, e3 0, T e1 , e2 , e3 is basis for

0 1 0
,
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 R3 .

0 0 0 0 0 0 0
There are 3 vectors in both S and T.
then the 1st, the 3nd, and the 4th columns contain a
v1 , v3 , v4 PROBLEM SET:
leading 1 and thus are a basis of
W spanv1, v2 ,, v6 . A. Determine whether S is a basis for the indicated vector
space
Sample Problem: 1. S= {(3, -2), (4, 5)} for R2
2. S={(-1,2,0,0)(2, 0,-1,0)(3,0,0,4)(0,0,5,0)} for R4
1 0 2 0 1 B. Determine whether S is a basis for M2,2

1. Let S e1 , e2 , a1 , e3 , a2 0, 1, 3, 0, 3
0 0 0 1 2

and spanS R . Please find subsets of S which
3

form a basis of R3 .
DIMENSION
If a vector space V has a basis consisting of n vectors, then
the number n is called the dimension of V denoted by
dim(V)=n If V consists of the zero vector alone, the dimension
of V is defined as zero.

The dimension of Rn with the standard operation is n

The dimension of Pn with the standard operation is
n+1
The dimension of Mnm with the standard operation is
nm

Sample Problem:
1 0 0
R E M A R K: Let S v1 , v2 ,, vn be a basis for a vector e1 0, e2 1, e3 0, T e1 , e2 , e3 is basis for

T w1, w2 ,, wr
0 0 1
space V and let is a linear
independent set of vectors in V. Then, r n. R3 .
The dimension of R 3 is 3.
Corollary:
Let S v1 , v2 ,, vn and T w1, w2 ,, wm be two
Basis Tests in an n-Dimensional Space
Let be a vector space of dimension
bases for a vector space V. Then, n m. If S= { v1, v2,..vk } is a linearly independent set of vectors in V
then S is a basis for V.
R E M A R K: For a vector space V, there are infinite bases. But If S= { v1, v2,..vk } spans V, then S is a basis for V.
the number of vectors in two different bases are the same.
Testing for a Basis in an n-Dimensional Space
3
Sample Problem : For the vector space R ,

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 1 1 1 RANK OF A MATRIX
v1 2, v2 0, v3 1, S v1 , v2 , v3

1. Is a Rank of a Matrix- The dimension of the row /column space of
1 2 0 matrix A is called rank of A and is denoted by rank(A).

basis for R3 ? Recall:

a11 a12 a1n
a a 22 a 2 n .
A 21


a m1 am2 a mn
The ith row of A is
rowi ( A) ai1 ai 2 ain , i 1,2,, m, ,
a1 j
and the jth column of A is a
col j ( A) , j 1,2,, n.
2j

amj

Row Space and Column Space

spanrow1 ( A), row2 ( A),, rowm ( A), which is a vector
space under standard matrix addition and scalar
multiplication, is referred to as the row space. Similarly,
spancol1 ( A), col2 ( A),, coln ( A), which is also a vector
space under standard matrix addition and scalar
multiplication, is referred to as the column space.

Row equivalent Matrices- if an m x n matrix A is row-

1 2 4 equivalent to an mxn matrix B then the row space A is equal
2. Is v 3 , v 1, v 2, S v , v , v to the row space of B.
1 2 3 1 2 3

1 0 1
Finding the Rank of a Matrix
a basis for R3 ?
1 2 0 1

Let A 2 1 5 3


0 1 3 5

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NULLSPACE OF A MATRIX
If A is an m x n matrix, then the set of all solutions of the
homogeneous system of linear equations. Ax =0 is a subspace
of Rn called the nullspace of A and is denoted by N(A). So
N(A)={x Rn: Ax=0}. The dimension of the nullspace of A is
called the nullity of A.

R E M A R K: The nullspace of A is also called the solution

space of the system Ax = 0

Finding the solution Space/null space of A Homogeneous

System

1 2 2 1

Let A 3 6 5 4


1 2 0 3

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