VECTOR

SPACES
A vector space is a mathematical structure formed by a
collection of vectors: objects that may be added
together and multiplied ("scaled") by numbers, called
scalars in this context.
The operations of vector addition and scalar
multiplication have to satisfy certain requirements, called
axioms.

Vector addition and scalar
multiplication: a vector v
(blue) is added to another
vector w (red, upper
illustration). Below, w is
stretched by a factor of 2,
yielding the sum v + 2w.
The concept of vector space relies on the
idea of vectors. In general, the term vector is
used for objects on which two operations can
be exerted.
The concrete nature of these operations
depends on the type of vector under
consideration, and can often be described by
different means, e.g. geometric or algebraic.
In view of the algebraic ideas behind these
concepts explained below, the two operations
are called vector addition and scalar
multiplication.
Vector addition means that two vectors v and w can be
"added" to yield the sum v + w, another vector. The
sum of two arrow vectors is calculated by constructing
the parallelogram two of whose sides are the given
vectors v and w. The sum of the two is given by the
diagonal arrow of the parallelogram, starting at the
common point of the two vectors
v+w
Scalar multiplication combines a numberalso
called scalarr and a vector v. In the example, a
vector represented by an arrow is multiplied by a
scalar by dilating or shrinking the arrow accordingly:
if r = 2 (r = 1/4), the resulting vector r w has the
same direction as w, but is stretched to the double
length (shrunk to a fourth of the length, respectively)
of w (middle image above). Equivalently 2 w is the
sum w + w. In addition, for negative factors, the
direction of the arrow is swapped: (1) v = v has
the opposite direction and the same length as v
(blue vector in the image).
Definition

A vector space is a nonempty set V of objects, called vectors, on which
are defined two operations, called addition and multiplication by scalars
(numbers), subject to the ten axioms (or rules) listed below. The axioms
must hold for all vectors x, y, and z in V and for all scalars k
1
and k
2
.

1. The sum of x and y, denoted by x+y, is in V
2. x+y= y+x
3. (x+y)+z=x+(y+z)
4. There is a unique vector 0 in V such that x+0=x
5. For each x in V, there is a vector x in V such that x+(x)=0
6. The scalar multiple of x in k, denoted by kx, is in V.
7. k(x+y)= k x+k y
8. (k
1
+ k
2
) x= k
1
x+ k
2
x
9. k
1
(k
2
x) =(k
1
k
2
)x
10. 1 x = x
Vector Space
DEFINITION
Remark: Depending on the application,
scalars may be real numbers or
complex numbers. Vector spaces in
which the scalars are complex numbers
are called complex vector spaces, and
those in which the scalars must be real
are called real vector spaces.


Show that the set V of all 2x2 matrices with real entries is a vector
space if vector addition is defined to be matrix addition and vector
scalar multiplication is defined to be matrix scalar multiplication.

Solution
In this example we will find it convenient to verify the axioms in the
following order: 1, 6, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 4, 5, and 10. Let

u v


To prove Axiom 1, we must show that u+v is an object in V; that is, we
must show that u+v is a 2x2 matrix.

But this follows from the definition of matrix addition, since

u+v


11 12
21 22
u u
u u
(
=
(

11 12
21 22
v v
v v
(
=
(

11 12 11 12 11 11 12 12
21 22 21 22 21 21 22 22
u u v v u v u v
u u v v u v u v
+ +
( ( (
= + =
( ( (
+ +

Example 1
Similarly, Axiom 6 holds because for any real number c we have

c u

so that cu is a 2x2 matrix and consequently is an object in V.

Axiom 2 follows from Properties of Matrix Addition and Scalar
Multiplication since

u+v v+u


Similarly, Axioms 3, 7, 8 and, 9 (form Properties of Matrix
Addition and Scalar Multiplication).

To prove Axiom 4, we must find an object 0 in V such that u+0
=u for all u in V. This can be done by defining 0 to be

0



11 12 11 12
21 22 21 22
u u cu cu
c
u u cu cu
( (
= =
( (

11 12 11 12 11 12 11 12
21 22 21 22 21 22 21 22
u u v v v v u u
u u v v v v u u
( ( ( (
= + = + =
( ( ( (

0 0
0 0
(
=
(

With this definition
u+0 u

To prove Axiom 5 we must show that each object u in V has a
negative u such that u+(u)=0. This can be done by defining
the negative of u to be
u

With this definition
u+(u) 0

Finally, Axiom 10 is a simple computation:
1u u


11 12 11 12
21 22 21 22
0 0
0 0
u u u u
u u u u
( ( (
= + = =
( ( (

11 12
21 22
u u
u u

(
=
(


11 12 11 12
21 22 21 22
0 0
0 0
u u u u
u u u u

( ( (
= + = =
( ( (


11 12 11 12
21 22 21 22
1
u u u u
u u u u
( (
= = =
( (

Consider the set V of positive real numbers. If x and y denote
positive numbers, then we write vectors in V as x=x and y=y.
Now addition of vectors is defined by

and scalar multiplication is defined by

Determine whether V is a vector space.

Solution
-We shall go through all ten axioms.

1. For . Thus, the sum
is in V; V is closed under addition.











xy = +y x
k
x k = x
0 , 0 and 0 > = + > = > = xy y x y x y x
y x+
Example 2
2. Since multiplication of positive real numbers is commutative,
we have for all x=x and y=y in V,

Thus, addition is commutative.

3. For all x=x, y=y, z=z in V,

Thus, addition is associative.

4. Since and , the zero
vector 0 is 1 = 1

5. If we define , then



Therefore, the negative of a vector is its reciprocal.


x y y x + = = = + yx xy
z y x z y x + + = = = + + ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( z xy yz x
x x = = = + x x 1 1 x x = = = + x x1 1
x
1
= x
0 1 x x 0 1 x x = = = = + = = = = + 1
1
) ( and 1
1
) ( x
x x
x
6. If k is any scalar and is any vector, then
. Hence V is closed under scalar multiplication.

7. If k is any scalar, then


8. For scalars k
1
and k
2
,



9. For scalars k
1
and k
2
,


10. .

Since all the axioms are satisfied, we conclude that V is a vector
space
0 > = x x
0 > =
k
x kx
y x y x k k y x xy k
k k k
+ = = = + ) ( ) (
x x x
2 1
) (
2 1
2 1 2 1
) ( k k x x x k k
k k k k
+ = = = +
+
x x ) ( ) ( ) (
2 1 2 1
2 1 1 2
k k x x k k
k k k k
= = =
x x = = = x x
1
1
Let V= R
2
and define addition and scalar multiplication operation
as follows:
If x=(x
1
, x
2
) and y= (y
1
, y
2
), then define
x+y

and if k is any real number, then define
kx

For example, if x=(2,4), y=(-3,5), and k=7, then

x+y

kx=7x



1 1 2 2
( , ) x y x y = + +
1
( , 0) kx =
(2 ( 3), 4 5) ( 1, 9) = + + =
(7.2, 0) (14, 0) = =
Example 3
The addition operation is the standard addition operation on R
2
,
but the scalar multiplication operation is not the standard scalar
multiplication. There are values of u for which Axiom 10 fails to
hold. For example, if x=(x
1
, x
2
) is such that , then

1x x

Thus, V is not a vector space with the stated operations.


1 2 1 1
1( , ) (1. , 0) ( , 0) x x x x = = = =
2
0 x =
The set V of all triples of real numbers
(x,y,z) with the operations




Determine whether V is a vector space.

( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) z y kx z y x k
z z y y x x z y x z y x
, , , ,
' , ' , ' ' , ' , ' , ,
=
+ + + = +
Exercise 1
The set V of all pairs of real numbers
(x,y) with the operations




Determine whether V is a vector space.


( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
, ', ' ' 1, ' 1
, ,
x y x y x x y y
k x y kx ky
+ = + + + +
=
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
The set V of all pairs of real numbers
(x,y) with the operations




Determine whether V is a vector space.


( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ky kx y x k
y y x x y x y x
2 , 2 ,
' , ' ' , ' ,
=
+ + = +
Exercise 3

A subspace of a vector space V is a subset H of V that has three
properties:

1. The zero vector of V is in H.
2. H is closed under vector addition. That is, for each u and v in H, the
sum u+v is in H.
3. H is closed under multiplication by scalars. That is, for each u in H
and each scalar c, the vector cu is in H.

Note: The term subspace is used when at least two vector spaces are in
mind, with one inside the other, and the phrase subspace of V
identifies V as a larger space.


Subspaces
DEFINITION
The vector space R
2
is not a subspace of R
3
because R
2
is not
even a subset of R
3
. (The vectors in R
3
all have three entries,
whereas the vectors in R
2
have only two.) The set





is a subset of R
3
that looks and acts like R
2
, although it is
logically distinct from R
2
. Show that H is a subspace of R
3
.

Solution

The zero vector is in H, and H is closed under vector addition
and scalar multiplication because these operations on vectors in
H always produce vectors whose third entries are zero (and so
belong to H). Thus H is a subspace of R
3
.

:
0
s
H t s and t are real

(

(
=
`
(

(

)
Example 4
A plane in R
3
not passing through the origin is not a subspace of
R
3
, because the plane does not contain the zero vector of R
3
.
Similarly, a line in R
2
not passing through the origin, such as in
Figure 1, is not a subspace of R
2
.









Figure 1: A line that is not a vector space

x
2

x
1

H
Example 5
Exercise
Determine which of the following are
subspace of R
3


a) all vectors of the form (a,0,0)
b) all vectors of the form (a,1,1)
c) all vectors of the form (a,b,c) where b=a+c


Exercise 4
Definition

Let v
1
, v
2
, , v
p
be a vector space V. A sum of the
form k
1
v
1
+k
2
v
2
++k
p
v
p
where k
1
, k
2
, , k
p
are
scalars, is called a linear combination of v
1
, v
2
, ,
v
p
.

Linear Combinations of Vectors
DEFINITION



The set of all linear combinations of v
1
, v
2
, , v
p
is called
the span of v
1
, v
2
, , v
p
. The span of v
1
, v
2
, , v
p
will be
denoted by Span {v
1
, v
2
, , v
p
}




Theorem 1

If v
1
, , v
p
are in a vector space V, then Span{v
1
, , v
p
} is
a subspaces of V.

Note:
We call Span {v
1
,, v
p
} the subspace spanned (or generated) by {v
1
,, v
p
}.
Given any subspaces H of V, a spanning (or generated) set for H is a set
{v
1
,, v
p
} in H such that H=Span{v
1
,, v
p
}

Spanning
Definition - Span
Every vector in R
3
is
expressible as a linear combination of the
standard basis vector


since



( ) c b, a, = v
( ) ( ) ( ) 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 1 = = = k j i
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) k j i v c b a c b a c b a + + = + + = = 1 , 0 , 0 0 , 1 , 0 0 , 0 , 1 , ,
) , , ( Span k j i v =
Example 6
Given v
1
and v
2
in a vector space V, let H=Span{v
1
,v
2
}. Show that H is a
subspace of V.

Solution
The zero vector is in H, since 0=0v
1
+0v
2
. To show that H is closed under
vector addition, take two arbitrary vectors in H, say,

u= s
1
v
1
+s
2
v
2
and w=t
1
v
1
+t
2
v
2


By Axioms 2, 3, and 8 for the vector space V,

u+w=(s
1
v
1
+s
2
v
2
)+(t
1
v
1
+t
2
v
2
)=(s
1
+t
1
)v
1
+(s
2
+t
2
)v
2



So u+w is in H. Futhermore, if c is any scalar, then by Axioms 7 and 9,

cu=c(s
1
v
1
+s
2
v
2
)=(cs
1
)v
1
+(cs
2
)v
2


which shows that cu is in H and H is closed under scalar multiplication. Thus
H is a subspace of V.

Example 7
Let H be the set of all vectors of the form , where a
and b are arbitrary scalars. That is, let


Show that H is a subspace of R
4
.

Solution
Write the vectors in H as column vectors. Then an arbitrary vector in H
has the form





This calculation shows that H=Span{v
1,
v
2
}, where v
1
and v
2
are the
vectors indicated above. Thus H is a subspace of R
4
by Theorem 1.

( ) b a a b b a , , , 3
( ) { } R b a b a a b b a H in and , , , 3 =
(
(
(
(

+
(
(
(
(

=
(
(
(
(

1
0
1
3
0
1
1
1 3
b a
b
a
a b
b a
Example 8
Consider the vector u=(1,2,-1) and
v=(6,4,2) in .Show that w=(9,2,7) is a
linear combination of u and v and that
w=(4,-1,8) is not a linear combination of
u and v
Exercise 5