4.

1 Vector Spaces and Subspaces

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Subspaces and Vector Spaces.

What are these?

There are two operations we can perform with vectors.

1. We can add them together.

2. We can multiply them by scalars.

To have "spaces" or collections of vectors, we should be able to continue to do

these operations - we should be able to form linear combinations of our vectors
in a space. Also, there should be some reasonable rules satisfied by the elements
in our space.

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 Examples of vector spaces:

 2 - the standard xy- plane is the set of all 2-dimensional real vectors.
 x
It is a vector space because it contains all possible vectors   including the
 y
 0
zero vector, 0 =   .
0

Suppose we have  2 but without the zero vector. Do we still have a space?

NO! We have to be able to multiply any vector in  2 by any scalar, including 0.

0
If   is missing we cannot multiply by the scalar 0.
0

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  x −x
Also we need to be able to add vector   to its negative  . If the origin
 y − y 
is missing we can not perform this addition.

So every vector space must at least contain the zero vector.

Other easy examples:

 x
 
3 which is all 3-dimensional vectors  y.
 z
 

x 
 1
 x2 
 n which is all n-dimensional vectors  .
 
x 
 n 

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In all these spaces  2 , 3 ,  ,  n we can add vectors and we stay in
the space. We can also multiply by scalars and we stay in the space.
That is, we can form linear combinations of vectors and still stay in
the space.

These vector additions and scalar multiplications obey the standard

rules, there are 8 of them, that addition and multiplication must satisfy.

What about 0 , and 1 ... are these vector spaces?

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What are some examples which are not vector spaces?

 x
Suppose we take just the first quadrant in  2 we then have all vectors  y
 
such that x ≥ 0 and y ≥ 0. Does Q1 form a vector space?

We can add vectors and we stay in Q1.

What about multiplication by scalars?

 x −x
Here there is a problem. Suppose we want to form (−1)   . We get  
 y − y 
but this vector does not lie in Q1. So we can not perform scalar
multiplication. Q1 is not a vector space - it is not closed under
scalar multiplication.

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  x
Suppose we take Q1 and Q 2 in  2 we then have all vectors  y
 
such that y ≥ 0. Do we have a vector space?

We can add vectors and we stay in Q1 ∪ Q 2.

What about multiplication by scalars?

 x
Here there is again a problem. Suppose we want to form (−1)   .
 y
−x
We get   but this vector does not lie in Q1 ∪ Q 2. So we can not
− y 
perform scalar multiplication.

Q1 ∪ Q 2 is not a vector space - it is not closed under scalar multiplication.

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So to have a vector space we require that vector addition and
scalar multiplication both be closed operations. Then we can
form all linear combinations of the vectors in the space.

 n gives us the most important vector spaces.

We are also interested in vector spaces inside  n and these are

called subspaces of  n .

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Consider  2 again. We want to construct a vector space inside  2 .
u 
It will be a subspace of  . Suppose the vector   is a vector in our
2
 v 
subspace.

u 
 
 v 

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If we are to construct a vector space we need all vectors
u 
k   , k any scalar, to be in the space and they clearly are.
 v 
So our subspace is closed under scalar multiplication.

u 
 
 v 

u 
− 
 v 

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Also, the sum of any vector on the line and any other vector on the
line is also on the line. So vector addition is closed - our subspace,
which is a vector space, is the line containing our original vector and
passing through the origin.

 u  u 
 + 
 v   v 

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Not every line in  2 is a subspace of  2 . Consider the line below.

Not a subspace since the line does not include the zero vector.

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Here are all the subspaces of  2 :

1.  2 itself is a subspace - the largest one.

0
2. Any line passing through  .
0
0
3. The vector   alone.
0

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 Here are all the subspaces of 3 :
1. 3 itself.
0
 
2. Any plane passing through 0 .
0
 
0
 
3. Any line passing through 0  .
0
 
0
 
4. The vector 0 alone.
0
 

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You might wonder about the combination of a line and a
0
 
plane in 3 . Suppose P is any plane passing through 0 and
0
 
0
 
L is any line passing through 0 . Form the union of the two,
0
 
written P ∪ L.
a) Is P ∪ L a subspace of 3?

Now form the intersection of the two, written P ∩ L.

b) Is P ∩ L a subspace of 3?

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a) Is P ∪ L a subspace of 3?

No. Pick a vector in P and a vector on L and add them.

In general, the sum will not be in P ∪ L.

b) Is P ∩ L a subspace of 3?

Yes. It contains only the zero vector which is a subspace.

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In general, suppose V and W are subspaces.

Is V ∩W a subspace?
 
Yes. Suppose x and y are in V ∩W . (Note V ∩W ≠ ∅).
 
Then x + y ∈V ∩W since V and W are both subspaces.

 
Also, for scalar k , k x ∈V ∩W and 0 ∈V ∩W for the same reason.

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 End presentation

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