proof of rank-nullity theorem

rmilson
2013-03-21 13:39:04
Let T : V W be a linear mapping, with V finite-dimensional. We wish to
show that
dim V = dim Ker T + dim Img T
The images of a basis of V will span Img T , and hence Img T is finitedimensional. Choose then a basis w1 , . . . , wn of Img T and choose preimages
v1 , . . . , vn U such that
wi = T (vi ),

i = 1...n

Choose a basis u1 , . . . , uk of Ker T . The result will follow once we show that
u1 , . . . , uk , v1 , . . . , vn is a basis of V .
Let v V be given. Since T (v) Img T , by definition, we can choose scalars
b1 , . . . , bn such that
T (v) = b1 w1 + . . . bn wn .
Linearity of T now implies that T (b1 v1 + . . . + bn vn v) = 0, and hence we can
choose scalars a1 , . . . , ak such that
b1 v1 + . . . + bn vn v = a1 u1 + . . . ak uk .
Therefore u1 , . . . , uk , v1 , . . . , vn span V .
Next, let a1 , . . . , ak , b1 , . . . , bn be scalars such that
a1 u1 + . . . + ak uk + b1 v1 + . . . + bn vn = 0.
By applying T to both sides of this equation it follows that
b1 w1 + . . . + bn wn = 0,
and since w1 , . . . , wn are linearly independent that
b1 = b2 = . . . = bn = 0.
hProofOfRanknullityTheoremi

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Consequently
a1 u1 + . . . + ak uk = 0
as well, and since u1 , . . . , uk are also assumed to be linearly independent we
conclude that
a1 = a2 = . . . = ak = 0
also. Therefore u1 , . . . , uk , v1 , . . . , vn are linearly independent, and are therefore
a basis. Q.E.D.