LINEAR

TRANSFORMATION
Definition:
Let V and W be vector spaces. A mapping 𝑻: 𝑽 → 𝑾 is called linear
mapping (linear transformation) iff it satisfies the following
conditions:

a) T(U+V) = T(U) + T(V), for every U and V in V.

b) T(cU) = cT(U), for every U in V and every scalar c.

Theorem 1:
If L: V → W is a linear transformation, then

𝐋(𝑐𝟏 𝐗 𝟏 + 𝑐𝟐 𝐗 𝟐 + ⋯ + 𝑐𝒌 𝐗 𝒌 ) = 𝑐𝟏 𝐋(𝐗 𝟏 ) + 𝑐𝟐 𝐋(𝐗 𝟐 ) + ⋯ + 𝑐𝒌 𝐋(𝐗 𝒌 )

for any vectors 𝐗 𝟏 , 𝐗 𝟐 , . . . , 𝐗 𝐤 in 𝑉 and any scalars 𝑐𝟏 , 𝑐𝟐 , . . . , 𝑐𝒌 .

Theorem 2:
Let L: V → W be a linear transformation. Then:

a) L(𝟎𝒗 ) = 𝟎𝒘 , where 𝟎𝒗 and 𝟎𝒘 are the zero vectors in V and W,

respectively.
b) L(X −Y) = L(X) − L(Y).
Theorem 3:
Let L: V → W be a linear transformation of an n-dimensional
vector space V into a vector space W. Also let S= {𝑿𝟏 , 𝑿𝟐 , . . . , 𝑿𝒏 }
be a basis for V. If X is any vector in V, then L(X) is completely
determined by {𝐋(𝐗 𝟏 ), 𝐋(𝐗 𝟐 ), . . . , 𝐋(𝐗 𝒏 )}.
A.) The Kernel and
Range of a Linear
Transformation
Definition:
A linear transformation L: V → W is said to be one-to-one if
for all 𝐗 𝟏 , 𝐗 𝟐 , in V, 𝐗 𝟏 ≠ 𝐗 𝟐 implies that L(𝐗 𝟏 ) ≠ L(𝐗 𝟐 ). An
equivalent statement is that L is one-to-one if for all
𝐗 𝟏 , 𝐗 𝟐 , in V, L(𝐗 𝟏 ) = L(𝐗 𝟐 ) implies that 𝐗 𝟏 = 𝐗 𝟐 .
Definition:

Let L: V → W be a linear transformation. The kernel of

L, ker L, is the subset of V consisting of all vectors X
such that L(X) = 𝟎𝒘 .
Theorem 4:
If L: V → W is a linear transformation, then ker L is a
subspace of V.
Theorem 5:

A linear transformation L: V → W is one-to-one if and

only if ker L = {𝟎𝒗 }.
Definition:
If L: V → W is a linear transformation, then the range of L,
denoted by range L, is the set of all vectors in W that are
images, under L, of vectors in V. Thus a vector Y is in range L
if we can find some vector X in V such that L(X) = Y. IF range
L=W, we say that L is onto.
Theorem 6:

If L: V → W is a linear transformation, then range L is

a subspace of W.
Theorem 7:

If L: V → W is a linear transformation, then

dim (ker L) + dim (range L) = dim V.

Corollary 1:
Let L: V → W be a linear transformation, and let dim

V = dim W.

a) If L is one-to-one, then it is onto.

b) If L is onto, then it is one-to-one

B.) The Matrix of a
Linear
Transformation
Definition:
Let V be an n - dimensional vector space with basis S = {𝐗 𝟏 , 𝐗 𝟐 , . . . , 𝐗 𝐦 }. If

𝐗 = 𝑎1 𝑿𝟏 + 𝑎2 𝑿𝟐 + . . . +𝑎𝑛 𝑿𝒏 (1)
is any vector in V, then the vector
𝑎1
𝑎
[𝑋]𝑠 = 2
⋮
𝑎𝑛
In 𝑅 𝑛 is called the coordinate vector of X with respect to the basis S.
The components of [𝐗]𝐬 are called the coordinates of X with respect to S.
Theorem 8:
Let L: V → W be a linear transformation of an n-dimensional vector space V into an
m-dimensional vector space W (n ≠ 0 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚 ≠ 0) and let S = {𝐗 𝟏 , 𝐗 𝟐 , . . . , 𝐗 𝒏 }
and T = {𝒀𝟏 , 𝒀𝟐 , . . . , 𝒀𝐦 } be bases for V and W, respectively. Then 𝑚 𝑥 𝑛 matrix A,
whose jth column is the coordinate vector
(1) [𝐋(𝐗 𝒋 )]𝑻 of 𝐋(𝐗 𝒋 ) with respect to T, is
associated with L and the following property: If Y = L(X) for some X in V, then

[𝐘]𝐓 = 𝐀[𝐗]𝐬 , (2)

Where [𝐗]𝑺 𝐚𝐧𝐝 [𝐘]𝑻 , are the coordinate vectors of X and Y with respect to the
respective base S and T. Moreover, A is the only matrix with this property.
The procedure for computing the matrix of a linear transformation L: V → W
with respect to the bases S = {𝐗 𝟏 , 𝐗 𝟐 , . . . , 𝐗 𝒏 } and T = {𝒀𝟏 , 𝒀𝟐 , . . . , 𝒀𝐦 } for
V and W, respectively, is as follows.

STEP 1: Compute 𝐋(𝐗 𝒋 ) for j=1, 2, . . . , n.

STEP 2: Find the coordinate vector [𝐋(𝐗 𝒋 )]𝑻 of 𝐋(𝐗 𝒋 ) with respect to the basis
T. this mean that we have to express 𝐋(𝐗 𝒋 ) as a linear combination of the
vectors in T (See Equation (3).).

STEP 3: The matrix A of L with respect to S and T is formed by choosing

[𝐋(𝐗 𝒋 )]𝑻 as the jth column of A.
Definition:
The matrix A of Theorem 8 called the matrix of L with
respect to the bases S and T. Equation (2) is called the
representation of L with respect to S and T. We also say
that Equation (2) represents L with respect to S and T.