Department of Mathematics, IIT Madras

MA2031-Linear Algebra for Engineers

1. In each of the following a nonempty set 𝑉 is given and some operations are defined. Check
whether 𝑉 is a vector space with these operations. Whenever 𝑉 is a vector space, write
explicitly the zero vector and the additive inverse of any vector 𝑣 ∈ 𝑉 .
(a) 𝑉 = {(𝑎, 0) : 𝑎 ∈ R} with + and · as in R2 .
(b) 𝑉 = {(𝑎, 𝑏) ∈ R2 : 2𝑎 + 3𝑏 = 0} with + and · as in R2 .
(c) 𝑉 = {(𝑎, 𝑏) ∈ R2 : 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 1} with + and · as in R2 .
(d) 𝑉 = R2 with + as in R2 , and · defined by
0 · (𝑎, 𝑏) = (0, 0), and for 𝛼 ≠ 0, 𝛼 ∈ R, 𝛼 · (𝑎, 𝑏) = (𝑎/𝛼, 𝛼𝑏).
(e) 𝑉 = R2 with + as in R2 , and · defined by 𝛼 · (𝑎, 𝑏) = (𝑎, 0) for 𝛼 ∈ R.
(f) 𝑉 = C2 with + and · defined by (𝑎, 𝑏) + (𝑐, 𝑑) = (𝑎 + 2𝑐, 𝑏 + 3𝑑), and 𝛼 · (𝑎, 𝑏) =
(𝛼𝑎, 𝛼𝑏) for (𝑎, 𝑏), (𝑐, 𝑑) ∈ 𝑉 and 𝛼 ∈ C.
(g) 𝑉 = R+ , the set of all positive real numbers, with addition ⊕ and scalar multiplication
 defined by 𝑥 ⊕ 𝑦 = 𝑥𝑦, and 𝛼  𝑥 = 𝑥 𝛼 for 𝑥, 𝑦 ∈ 𝑉 and 𝛼 ∈ R.
(h) 𝑉 = R+ ∪ {0} with addition ⊕ and scalar multiplication  defined by 𝑥 ⊕ 𝑦 = 𝑥𝑦, and
𝛼  𝑥 = |𝛼|𝑥 for 𝑥, 𝑦 ∈ 𝑉 and 𝛼 ∈ R.
(i) 𝑉 = R × R+ , with addition ⊕ as (𝑎, 𝑏) ⊕ (𝑐, 𝑑) = (𝑎 + 𝑐, 𝑏𝑑) and scalar multiplication
 defined by 𝛼  (𝑎, 𝑏) = (𝛼𝑎, 𝑏 𝛼 ) for 𝛼 ∈ R.
(j) 𝑉 = Q, the set of all rational numbers, with + and · as in R.
(k) (R \ Q) ∪ {0, 1} with + and · as in R.
(l) 𝑉 = R with addition ⊕ as 𝑎 ⊕ 𝑏 = 𝑎 + 𝑏 − 2 and the scalar multiplication defined by
𝛼  𝑏 = 𝛼𝑏 + 2(𝛼 − 1) for 𝛼 ∈ R.
(m) 𝑉 = R𝑛 with addition ⊕ as 𝑢 ⊕ 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑣 − 𝑤 and scalar multiplication  as 𝛼  𝑢 =
𝛼(𝑢 − 𝑤) + 𝑤, where 𝑤 is a fixed given vector in 𝑉, and 𝛼 ∈ R, 𝑢, 𝑣 ∈ 𝑉 .
(n) 𝑉 = {(𝑎, 𝑏) ∈ R2 : 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 1} with addition ⊕ and scalar multiplication  as (𝑎, 𝑏) ⊕
(𝑐, 𝑑) = (𝑎 + 𝑐 − 1, 𝑏 + 𝑑), and 𝛼  (𝑎, 𝑏) = (𝛼𝑎 − 𝛼 + 1, 𝛼𝑏). Contrast it with (c).
2. Is the set of all purely imaginary numbers a real vector space with usual addition and
scalar multiplication?
3. Is the set of all 𝑛 × 𝑛 hermitian matrices a real vector space?
4. Is the set of all 𝑛 × 𝑛 hermitian matrices a complex vector space?
5. In each of the following, a vector space 𝑉 and a subset 𝑈 of 𝑉 are given. Check whether
𝑈 is a subspace of 𝑉.
(a) 𝑉 = R2 , 𝑈 = {(𝑎, 𝑏) ∈ 𝑉 : 𝑏 = 2𝑎 − 𝛼} for some 𝛼 ≠ 0.
(b) 𝑉 = R3 , 𝑈 = {(𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐) ∈ 𝑉 : 2𝑎 − 𝑏 − 𝑐 = 0}.
(c) 𝑉 = F3 [𝑡], 𝑈 = {𝑎 + 𝑏𝑡 + 𝑐𝑡 2 + 𝑑𝑡 3 ∈ 𝑉 : 𝑎 = 0}.
(d) 𝑉 = C3 [𝑡], 𝑈 = {𝑎 + 𝑏𝑡 + 𝑐𝑡 2 + 𝑑𝑡 3 ∈ 𝑉 : 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 + 𝑑 = 0}.
(e) 𝑉 = C3 [𝑡], 𝑈 = {𝑎 + 𝑏𝑡 + 𝑐𝑡 2 + 𝑑𝑡 3 ∈ 𝑉 : 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 integers}.
(f) 𝑉 = 𝐶 [−1, 1], 𝑈 = { 𝑓 ∈ 𝑉 : 𝑓 is an even function}.
(g) 𝑉 = 𝐶 [0, 1], 𝑈 = { 𝑓 ∈ 𝑉 : 𝑓 (𝑡) ≥ 0 for all 𝑡 ∈ [0, 1]}.
(h) 𝑉 = R𝑛×𝑛 , 𝑈 = {𝐴 ∈ 𝑉 : 𝐴t = 𝐴}.
(i) 𝑉 = C𝑛×𝑛 , 𝑈 = {𝐴 ∈ 𝑉 : 𝐴∗ = 𝐴}.
6. Describe all subspaces of R2 , and of R3 .
 7. Let 𝑈𝑏 = {(𝑎 1 , 𝑎 2 , . . . , 𝑎 𝑛 ) : 𝑎 1 , 𝑎 2 , . . . , 𝑎 𝑛 ∈ R, 𝑎 1 + 2𝑎 2 + · · · + 𝑛𝑎 𝑛 = 𝑏}. For which real
numbers 𝑏, is 𝑈𝑏 a subspace of R𝑛 ?
8. Let 𝑈 be a subspace of 𝑉 and let 𝑉 be a subspace of 𝑊 . Is 𝑈 a subspace of 𝑊?
9. Is the set of all skew-symmetric 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices a subspace of R𝑛×𝑛 ?
10. Determine whether the following are real vector spaces:
(a) R∞ := the set of all sequences of real numbers.
(b) ℓ ∞ := the set of all bounded sequences of real numbers.
(c) ℓ 1 := the set of all absolutely convergent sequences of real numbers.
11. Let 𝑆 be a nonempty set and let 𝑠 ∈ 𝑆. Let 𝑉 be the set of all functions 𝑓 : 𝑆 → R with
𝑓 (𝑠) = 0. Is 𝑉 a vector space over R with the usual addition and scalar multiplication of
functions?
12. Show that the set 𝐵(𝑆) of all bounded functions from a nonempty set 𝑆 to R is a real vector
space.
13. Do the polynomials 𝑡 3 − 2𝑡 2 + 1, 4𝑡 2 − 𝑡 + 3, and 3𝑡 − 2 span F3 [𝑡]?
14. What is span {𝑡 𝑛 : 𝑛 = 0, 2, 4, 6, . . .} in R[𝑡]?
15. In F3 , let 𝑒 1 = (1, 0, 0), 𝑒 2 = (0, 1, 0) and 𝑒 3 = (0, 0, 1). span {𝑒 1 + 𝑒 2 , 𝑒 2 + 𝑒 3 , 𝑒 3 + 𝑒 1 } =?
16. Let 𝑢, 𝑣 1 , 𝑣 2 , . . . , 𝑣 𝑛 be 𝑛 + 1 distinct vectors in a vector space 𝑉 . Take 𝑆1 = {𝑣 1 , 𝑣 2 , . . . , 𝑣 𝑛 }
and 𝑆2 = {𝑢, 𝑣 1 , 𝑣 2 , . . . , 𝑣 𝑛 }. Prove that 𝑢 ∈ span (𝑆1 ) iff span (𝑆1 ) = span (𝑆2 ).
17. Let 𝑆 be a subset of a vector space 𝑉. Show that 𝑆 is a subspace iff 𝑆 = span (𝑆).
18. Let 𝑢 1 (𝑡) = 1, and for 𝑛 = 2, 3, . . . , let 𝑢 𝑛 (𝑡) = 1 + 𝑡 + . . . + 𝑡 𝑛−1 . Show that {𝑢 1 , . . . , 𝑢 𝑛 } spans
F𝑛−1 [𝑡]. Is it true that {𝑢 1 , 𝑢 2 , . . .} spans F[𝑡]?
19. Let 𝑆 be a subset of a vector space 𝑉 . Prove that span (𝑆) is the intersection of all subspaces
that contain 𝑆.
20. We know that 𝑒 𝑡 = 1 + 𝑡 + 2!1 𝑡 2 + · · · for each 𝑡 ∈ R. Does it imply that 𝑒 𝑡 ∈ span {1, 𝑡, 𝑡 2 , . . .}?
21. Show that every vector space has at least two spanning sets.
22. Let 𝑉 be the real vector space of all functions from {1, 2} to R. Construct a spanning set
of 𝑉 with two elements.
23. Find a finite spanning set for the space of all real symmetric matrices of order 𝑛.
24. Let 𝐴 and 𝐵 be subsets of a vector space 𝑉 . Prove (a)-(c) and give counter examples for
(d)-(f):
(a) span (span ( 𝐴)) = span ( 𝐴).
(b) If 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵, then span ( 𝐴) ⊆ span (𝐵).
(c) span ( 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) ⊆ span ( 𝐴) ∩ span (𝐵).
(d) span ( 𝐴) ∩ span (𝐵) ⊆ span ( 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵).
(e) span ( 𝐴) \ span (𝐵) ⊆ span ( 𝐴 \ 𝐵).
(f) span ( 𝐴 \ 𝐵) ⊆ (span ( 𝐴) \ span (𝐵)) ∪ {0}.
25. Give suitable real vector spaces 𝑈,𝑉,𝑊 so that 𝑈 +𝑉 = 𝑈 + 𝑊 but 𝑉 ≠ 𝑊 .
26. Let 𝑈 and 𝑊 be subspaces of a vector space such that 𝑈 ∩𝑊 = {0}. Prove that if 𝑥 ∈ 𝑈 +𝑊,
then there exist unique 𝑢 ∈ 𝑈, 𝑤 ∈ 𝑊 such that 𝑥 = 𝑢 + 𝑤.
27. Let 𝑈,𝑉, and 𝑊 be subspaces of a vector space 𝑋.
(a) Prove that (𝑈 ∩𝑉) + (𝑈 ∩ 𝑊) ⊆ 𝑈 ∩ (𝑉 + 𝑊).
(b) Give suitable 𝑈,𝑉,𝑊, 𝑋 so that 𝑈 ∩ (𝑉 + 𝑊) * (𝑈 ∩𝑉) + (𝑈 ∩ 𝑊).
(c) Prove that 𝑈 + (𝑉 ∩ 𝑊) ⊆ (𝑈 +𝑉) ∩ (𝑈 + 𝑊).
(d) Give suitable 𝑈,𝑉,𝑊, 𝑋 so that (𝑈 +𝑉) ∩ (𝑈 + 𝑊) * 𝑈 + (𝑉 ∩ 𝑊).