Lecture 10 recap

1) Discussion of redundancy.
2) Definition of linear independence (in terms of solutions
of a vector equation).
3) Linear indepenence - one or two vectors.
4) Linear independence in terms of redundancy.
5) Geometrical examples - linear independence/dependence
of two or three vectors.
6) A theorem of guaranteed dependence.
Lecture 11
Linear independence
(cont’d)
Bases
Dimensions
 Theorem
n
Let u1 , u2 ,..., uk be linearly independent vectors in .
Suppose uk 1  n is NOT a linear combination of u1 , u2 ,..., uk ,
then u1 , u2 ,..., uk , uk 1 are linearly independent.

What is the significance

of such a result?
 Discussion
1) A set V is called a vector space if either V  n
or
n
V is a subspace of for some positive integer n.

2) Let W be a vector space. A set V is called a subspace

of W if V is a vector space contained in W .
 Example
U  span{(1,1,1)} V  span{(1,1, 1)}
W  span{(1, 0, 0),(0,1,1)}
3
U ,V ,W are all subspaces of . So they are vector spaces.

(1,1,1)  (1, 0, 0)  (0,1,1)  U  W

So U is a subspace of W
(1,1, 1) is not a linear combination of (1, 0, 0),(0,1,1)

 V  W and so V is not a subspace of W

 Discussion
Consider a vector space V .
n
Question:
Find a subset S of V ,
V
containing as few
vectors as possible, so
that every vector in V
is a linear combination
of the vectors in S
Such a set can then be used to
(that is, span(S )  V ).
build a 'coordinate system' for V .
 Definition (Basis)
Let S  { u1 , u 2 ,..., uk } be a subset of a vector space V .
Then S is called a basis (plural bases) for V if
1. S is linearly independent and
2. S spans V .
 Examples (Basis)

Show that S  {(2, 4),(1, 0)} is a basis for 2

.

Let S  {(1, 4,1),(2, 0, 1)}. Show that S is a basis

for span(S ).

Show that S  {(1, 2,1),(2, 9, 0),(3, 3, 4)} is a basis for 3

.
Examples (Basis)
Is S  {(1,1, 0,1),(2,1, 0, 3),(3, 1, 0, 3)} a basis for 4
?

Is S  {(1,1,1,1),(0, 0,1, 2),(1, 0, 0,1)} a basis for 4

?
No. (1, 0, 0, 0) is not a linear combination of vectors in S .
Examples (Basis)
Is S  {(1,1,1),(0, 0,1),(1,1, 0)} a basis for 3
?
Some remarks
1) A basis for a vector space V contains the smallest
possible number of vectors that can span V .
2) For convenience, we say that the empty set  is the
basis for the zero space.
3) Except the zero space, any vector space has infinitely
many different bases.
Theorem
If S  { u1 , u2 ,..., uk } is a basis for a vector space V , then
every vector v V can be expressed in the form (as a
linear combination of u1 , u2 ,..., uk )

v  c1u1  c2 u2  ...  ck uk

in exactly one way, where c1 , c2 ,..., ck  .

 Definition
Let S  { u1 , u2 ,..., uk } be a basis for a vector space V and
v be a vector in V . If
v  c1u1  c2 u2  ...  ck uk

then the coefficients c1 , c2 ,..., ck are called the coordinates

of v relative to the basis S .
The vector
(v)S  (c1 , c2 ,..., ck ) (belonging to k
)

is called the coordinate vector of v relative to the basis S .

 Some remarks
1) In order to discuss coordinate vectors meaningfully,
the vectors in S  { u1 , u2 ,..., uk } must be ordered.
v  c1u1  c2 u2  ...  ck uk (v)S  (c1 , c2 ,..., ck )

2) Once S  { u1 , u2 ,..., uk } is fixed, (v)S is unique and

well-defined for each v V .

3) Different basis,
S1 S2
different coordinate vectors.
v v
(v)S1  (v)S2
Example (coordinate vectors)
S  {(1, 2,1),(2, 9, 0),(3, 3, 4)}
3
1) Prove that S is a basis for .
2) Find the coordinate vector of v  (5, 1, 9) relative to S .
Solution: Solve for the coefficients a, b, c in the equation
v  (5, 1, 9)  a(1, 2,1)  b(2, 9, 0)  c(3, 3, 4)

 a  2b  3c  5

2a  9b  3c  1
a  4c  9

Example (coordinate vectors)
S  {(1, 2,1),(2, 9, 0),(3, 3, 4)}
v  (5, 1, 9)  a(1, 2,1)  b(2, 9, 0)  c(3, 3, 4)

 a  2b  3c  5 a  1, b  1, c  2

2a  9b  3c  1 So (v)S  (1, 1, 2).
a  4c  9


1 2 3 5  1 0 0 1 
 2 9 3 1  0 1 0 1
   
1 0 4 9  0 0 1 2 
   
unique solution
Example (coordinate vectors)
S  {(1, 2,1),(2, 9, 0),(3, 3, 4)}
3
1) Prove that S is a basis for .
2) Find the coordinate vector of v  (5, 1, 9) relative to S .
3) Find a vector w in 3
such that (w)s  (1, 3, 3).
Test information
Date: 5th October (Friday)
Time: 4.15pm – 5.15pm (60 minutes)
Venue: MPSH1 (Section A + Section B). Seating plan will be made
available in IVLE next week. Seating will be according to your tutorial
group.
Scope: Chapter 1, 2, 3 (up to and including Section 3.2)

Format: 3 questions. 40 marks.

Questions 1 and 2 from Chapters 1 and 2.
Question 3 from Chapter 3.
Calculators: Any non-programmable calculator can be used.
Graphing calculators cannot be used.

Help sheet: One A4-sized, double sided, handwritten. Do not bring

any other paper to the test.

Others: Answer booklet will be provided. You MUST write your answers
in pen.
 Example (different bases)
v  (2, 3)  2

S1  {(1, 0),(0,1)}
(2, 3)  2(1, 0)  3(0,1)
S2  {(1, 1),(1,1)}

S3  {(1, 0),(1,1)}  (v)S1  (2, 3)

 Example (different bases)
v  (2, 3)  2

S1  {(1, 0),(0,1)}

S2  {(1, 1),(1,1)}

S3  {(1, 0),(1,1)}

(2, 3)   12 (1, 1)  52 (1,1)

 (v)S2  ( 12 , 52)
 Example (different bases)
v  (2, 3)  2

S1  {(1, 0),(0,1)}

S2  {(1, 1),(1,1)}

S3  {(1, 0),(1,1)}

(2, 3)  (1, 0)  3(1,1)

 (v)S3  (1, 3)
 What is the significance?
v  (2, 3)  2

(v)S1  (2, 3)

(v)S3  (1, 3)

(v)S2  ( 12 , 52) At the end of

the day, it is the
same vector v !
 Example (standard basis)
v  (2, 3)  2
S1  {(1, 0),(0,1)} (v)S1  (2, 3)  v
In fact, for any v  ( x , y)  2
,

(v)S1  ( x , y)  v

Such a basis (like S1) is convenient to use.

Let E  {e1 , e2 ,..., en } where For any v  n

, (v)E  v

e1  (1, 0,..., 0) e2  (0,1,..., 0) .......... en  (0, 0,...,1)

n
E is called the standard basis for .
 Remark (standard basis)
3
Remember the standard basis for and the standrd
basis for 4 contains entirely different vectors.
Do not be confused!

3
Standard basis for

4
Standard basis for
 Some useful rules
Let S be a basis for a vector space V .
n

V
1) For any u, v in V , u  v
if and only if (u)S  (v)S . S

2) For any v1 , v2 ,..., vr V , c1 , c2 ,..., cr  ,

(c1v1  c2v2  ...  cr vr )S  c1(v1)S  c2 (v2 )S  ...  cr (vr )S

 Theorem
Let S be a basis for a vector space V where | S | k .
Let v1 , v2 ,..., vr V . n

V
Note that (vi )S  k
for each i.
S
1) v1 , v2 ,..., vr are linearly dependent
(resp. independent) vectors in V
if and only if (v1)S ,(v2 )S ,...,(vr )S are linearly dependent
(resp. independent) vectors in k .
2) span{v1 , v2 ,..., vr }  V if and only if span{(v1) S ,(v2 ) S ,...,(vr )S }
Proof: Omitted.  k
.
A question to ponder

For a vector space V , we know

that V can have many different bases.
But do all these bases have the same
number of vectors?
 Theorem
Let V be a vector space which has a basis with k vectors.
n
 basis for V
V
Then
(1) any subset of V with
more than k vectors is
"You must have the
always linearly dependent
right number"
(so cannot be a basis);
(2) any subset of V with less than k vectors cannot span V
(so also cannot be a basis);
 Definition (Dimension)
The dimension of a vector space V denoted by dim(V ),
is defined to be the number of vectors in a basis for V .

The dimension of the zero space is defined to be zero.

 Examples (Dimension)
1) dim( n
)n
n
(recall a basis for can be {e1 , e2 ,..., en }).

2) Subspaces of 2
: {0} : dimension 0

2
lines through the origin: dimension 1
: dimension 2

3) Subspaces of 3
: {0} : dimension 0
lines through the origin: dimension 1
3
: dimension 3 planes containing the origin: dimension 2
 Examples (Dimension)
Find a basis for and determine the dimension of the
subspace W  {( x , y , z)| y  2 z}.
 {( x , 2 z , z)| x , z  }
 { x(1, 0, 0)  z(0, 2,1)| x , z  }
 span{(1, 0, 0),(0, 2,1)}
{(1, 0, 0),(0, 2,1)} spans W
{(1, 0, 0),(0, 2,1)} is linearly independent (why?)
{(1, 0, 0),(0, 2,1)} is a basis for W and dim(W )  2.
 End of Lecture 11
Lecture 12:
Dimensions (cont’d)
Transition matrices (till end of Chapter 3)