MATH 2140 Part A: Linear Algebra Lecture 3

OBJECTIVES:

On completion of this study unit you will be able to: demonstrate basic knowledge of two important sub-spaces and . techniques for finding a spanning set for and . understand the concepts of linear independence, bases, and co-ordinates. determine whether a given set of vectors is linearly dependent or independent;

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Some Important Subspaces

: vector space; , : subspaces of . Consider and , .

Theorem 2.2 If and are subspaces of a vector space , then

1. T is a subspace; 2. T is a subspace.

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Example 2.6 Let be the subspace of generated by 1, 1, 0 and 0, 1, 1 and T be the subspace generated by 1, 0, 1 and 1, 1, 1. Determine those vectors which belong to both and , and hence find a spanning set for . Solution. Let be an arbitrary vector in . Then is a linear combination of 1, 1, 0 and 0, 1, 1 and one of 1, 0, 1 and 1, 1, 1. Thus, there are , , and such that 1,1,0 0,1,1 1,0,1 1,1, 1 , , 0 0, , , 0, , , , , , , , , 0,0,0 which result in the following system of linear equations 0 0 0 Solving the system we obtain solution: 3, , and 2 Thus 3,2, 1 and 3,2, 1 . 3,2, 1 is a spanning set for S.
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Unit 3. Linear Independence, Bases, Co-ordinates

Linear Independence
Definition 3.1 A set of vectors , , , in a vector space is said to be linearly dependent if and only if there exist scalars , , , , not all zero, such that . If , , , is not linearly dependent, it is said to be linearly independent. For example, in , 1, 1 and 2, 2 are linearly dependent since 2 0 2, 1, not all zero). On the other hand, a 1, 1 and 1, 0 are linearly independent since if , that is, , 0, 0 we must have 0.

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In general, in order to determine the linear dependence of , , , , we follow the steps given below: 1. Write . 2. Derive a system of linear equations from the equality in (1) by equating the left and right hand sides (component wise for matrices, or term by term for polynomials). 3. Solve the system obtained in (2) and determine linear dependence according to: i. if the system has ONLY the trivial solution , , , 0,0, , 0, then , , , is linearly independent. ii. if the system has at least one set of non-zero solutions, then , , , is linearly dependent.

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Note that A non-zero vector itself is linearly independent. The zero vector itself is linearly dependent. Any finite set of vectors that includes the zero vector is linearly dependent. Any non-empty subset of a set of linearly independent vectors remains linearly independent. A non-empty subset of a set of linearly dependent vectors maybe linearly dependent or linearly independent.

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Theorem 3.1 , , , is a linearly dependent set of vectors if and only if one of the vectors is a linear combination of the remaining vectors in the set. Proof:

Example 3.1 Determine which of the following sets of vectors in are linearly independent.

1 1,0,2 , 1, 1,3 , 1, 1, 1 ; 2 1,0,2 , 1, 1,1 , 1, 1, 3 ; 3 1,1,0 , 1,0, 1 , 1, 1, 0 .

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Example 3.2 Show that

1 1 1 0 1 , , 0 0 1 0 0

0 0 , 1 1

0 1

is linearly independent.

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Example 3.4 Show that , , and x 1 is a linearly independent set in . Solution:

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Example 3.5 If , , are linearly independent vectors in a vector space , prove that , , are also linearly independent in . Solution:

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