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Section 1.4: The Matrix Equation Ax B

This document summarizes key concepts from Sections 1.4, 1.5, and 1.7 of a linear algebra textbook. It discusses solving the matrix equation Ax=b, homogeneous and non-homogeneous systems of linear equations, writing solution sets in parametric vector form, and the definitions and tests for linear dependence and independence among vectors. Key points include that Ax=b has a solution if and only if b is a linear combination of A's columns, and that vectors are linearly independent if they are not linear combinations of each other.

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Andy Ortiz
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41 views

Section 1.4: The Matrix Equation Ax B

This document summarizes key concepts from Sections 1.4, 1.5, and 1.7 of a linear algebra textbook. It discusses solving the matrix equation Ax=b, homogeneous and non-homogeneous systems of linear equations, writing solution sets in parametric vector form, and the definitions and tests for linear dependence and independence among vectors. Key points include that Ax=b has a solution if and only if b is a linear combination of A's columns, and that vectors are linearly independent if they are not linear combinations of each other.

Uploaded by

Andy Ortiz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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20F Discussion Section 3 Josh Tobin: http://www.math.ucsd.

edu/~rjtobin/

Section 1.4: The Matrix Equation Ax = b


ˆ This section is about solving the “matrix equation” Ax = b, where A is an m × n matrix and b is a
column vector with m entries (both given in the question), and x is an unknown column vector with
n entries (which we are trying to solve for). The first thing to know is what Ax means: it means we
are multiplying the matrix A times the vector x. How do we multiply a matrix by a vector? We use
the “row times column” rule, see the bottom of page 38 for examples.
ˆ Solving Ax = b is the same as solving the system described by the augmented matrix [A|b].

ˆ Ax = b has a solution if and only if b is a linear combination of the columns of A.

ˆ Theorem 4 is very important, it tells us that the following statements are either all true or all false,
for any m × n matrix A:
(a) For every b, the equation Ax = b has a solution.
(b) Every column vector b (with m entries) is a linear combination of the columns of A.
(c) The columns of A span Rm (this is just a restatement of (b), once you know what the word “span”
means).
(d) A has a pivot in every row.
This theorem is useful because it means that if we want to know if Ax = b has a solution for every b,
we just need to check if A has a pivot in every row. Note: If A does not have a pivot in every row,
that does not mean that Ax = b does not have a solution for some given vector b. It just means that
there are some vectors b for which Ax = b does not have a solution.
ˆ Finally, it is very useful to know that multiplying a vector by a vector has the following nice properties:

(a) A(u + v) = A(u) + A(v), for vectors u, v


(b) A(cu) = cA(u), for vectors u and scalars c.

Section 1.5: Solution Sets of Linear Systems


ˆ A homogeneous system is one that can be written in the form Ax = 0. Equivalently, a homogeneous
system is any system Ax = b where x = 0 is a solution (notice that this means that b = 0, so both
definitions match). The solution x = 0 is called the trivial solution. A solution x is non-trivial is
x 6= 0.
ˆ The homogeneous system Ax = 0 has a non-trivial solution if and only if the equation has at least one
free variable (or equivalently, if and only if A has a column with no pivots).
ˆ Parametric vector form: Let’s say you have found the solution set to a system, and the free variables
are x3 , x4 , x5 . Then to write the solution set in ‘parametric vector form’ means to write the solution
as
x = p + x3 u + x4 v + x5 w

where p, u, v, w are vectors with numerical entries. A method for writing a solution set in this form is given
on page 46.

1
20F Discussion Section 3 Josh Tobin: http://www.math.ucsd.edu/~rjtobin/

Section 1.7: Linear Independence


ˆ Like everything else in linear algebra, the definition of linear independence can be phrased in many
different equivalent ways. v1 , v2 , · · · , vp are linearly independent if any of the following equivalent
statements are true:
(a) the vector equation x1 v1 + x2 v2 + · · · + x2 v2 = 0 has only the trivial solution
(b) none of the vectors v1 , v2 , · · · , vp are a linear combination of the others
(c) if we put the vectors together as columns of the matrix A, then the system Ax = 0 has only the
trivial solution
(c) if we put the vectors together as columns of the matrix A, then the system Ax = 0 has only the
trivial solution
(d) if we put the vectors together as columns of the matrix A, then A has a pivot in every column
ˆ If vectors aren’t linearly independent, then they are linearly dependent. This means that (at least)
one of the vectors is a linear combination of the rest. Note: This does not mean that all of the vectors
are linear combinations of the others. See the following exercise.

ˆ Exercise 1: Find three vectors in R3 that are linearly dependent, but where the third vector is not a
linear combination of the first two.
ˆ Method to check linear (in)dependence: If we want to check if a set of given vectors is linearly
independent, put them together as columns of a matrix, and then row reduce the matrix. If there is a
pivot in every column, then they are independent. Otherwise, they are dependent.

ˆ Exercise 2 (1.7.1): Check if the following vectors are linearly independent:


     
5 7 9
 0 , 2 , 4 
0 −6 −8

ˆ Theorem 9: Any set containing the zero vector is linearly dependent. This follows immediately from
the method above, because if one of the columns is zero, there can’t be a pivot in every column (there
are other easy ways to prove this theorem also, see the book for example).
ˆ Theorem 8: If we have p vectors, each with n entries, and p > n, then these vectors have to be linearly
dependent. (This follows from the method above too, because if there are more columns than rows,
there can’t be a pivot in every column).
ˆ Exercise 3: Find 2 vectors in R5 that are linearly dependent. Notice that this means that if p ≤ n in
the theorem above, then the vectors might be dependent or independent.

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