31 August2013

John Riley

Module 6: LINEAR TRANSFORMATIONS

1.

Transformations and matrices

Transformations are generalizations of functions. A vector x in some set S

another vector y T ( x)

is mapped into

. A transformation is linear if , for each component yi of the

vector y is a linear function of the vector x, that is, yi ai x .

It is useful to use matrix arrays to examine linear transformations. Consider a matrix A with m
rows and p columns and a second matrix B with p rows and n columns. We define the new
matrix C to be the product of A and B if the ijth element of C is the product of two vectors, the
ith row of A and the jth column of B. An example is shown below. Note that the product of two
matrices A and B is only defined if the number of columns of A is equal to the number of rows
of A.

2 0
2 4
1 2
3 2 1 2 1 0

C AB 1 1
1 3 , C AB

0 1
1 1 1 3 0 1

0 3
0 3
Then a linear transformation is the product of the m n matrix A and the column vector x.
y Ax

Exercise 1.1: Rules of matrix algebra

(a) Follow the definition of matrix multiplication and establish the following rules of matrix
algebra for the 2 2 case.
(i) A( x z) Ax Az (where and are parameters.)
(ii) A(B + C) AB + AC .
(iii) A(Bx) (AB) x
(b) The special matrix with ones down the diagonal and zeroes elsewhere is the identity matrix
and written as I. Confirm that the identity matrix maps a vector onto itself, that is Ix=x.

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John Riley

Inverse of a matrix

a
Consider the 2 2 matrix A 11
a21

a12
.
a22

The ij-th sub-matrix of A is the matrix created by deleting the i-th row and j-th columns. In the
2 2 case each sub-matrix is just a number. They are shown below as a second 2 2 matrix.

m12 a22
m
M 11

m21 m22 a12

a21
.
a11

Flipping a matrix on its side is called transposing a matrix. The transposed matrix is written

m
as M 11
m12

m21
m22

Next define the cofactor of the number mij to be cij (1)i j mij so that the sign changes if i j
is odd and consider the matrix

c (1)2 m11 (1)3 m21 m11

c
C 11 21

3
4
c12 c22 (1) m12 (1) m22 m12

m21 a22 a12

.
m22 a21 a11

Define the determinant of A

A a11a22 a12 a21

As is easily checked,

A
AC = CA
0

0
1 0
A
A I.
A
0 1

As long as the determinant of A is not zero we can therefore define the inverse matrix
1
B
C .
A
Then we have proved that if A 0
AB=BA=I.
We use the notation A 1 to denote the inverse of A.
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John Riley

Then

AA1 A1A I .

Solution of a linear equation system

Consider the linear system of equations Ax=b where A 0 .
Multiply both side by the inverse matrix A 1

A1b A1 (Ax) (A1A) x Ix x .

Exercise 1.2: Solution of a linear equation system

11 8
A

7 5
(a) Solve for the inverse matrix.

4
(b) Solve the linear equation system Ax=b if b
3
(c) For a general vector b solve for x(b), the solution to Ax=b.

Exercise 1.3: Linear dependence

(a) Show that

a
a
Ax 11 x1 12 x2 .
a21
a22

0 0
(b) If A 0 explain why AC=
.
0 0
a
a
0
(c) Hence show that 11 c11 12 c21
0
a21
a22
Thus the two column vectors of A are linearly related.
(d) Show also that the two rows of A are linearly related.
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John Riley

2. Dynamics of linear systems

x (t )
The state of an economic system is characterized by the column vector x(t ) 1 , t 1, 2.... .
x2 (t )

x (1) 1
The initial state is 1
x2 (1) 0
The economy evolves according to the following linear system of equations. x(t 1) Ax(t ) ,
that is,

x1 (t 1) a11 a12 x1 (t )
x (t 1) a

2
21 a22 x2 (t )
Then x(2) Ax(1) , x(3) Ax(2) A(Ax(1)) A2 x(1) ,.

x(t ) At 1 x(1) .

It is helpful to use a spreadsheet to compute the sequence x(1), x(2),..x(T) for some finite
number of periods. Download the spreadsheet and you will find that the matrix is the one in
Exercise 2.1: Explosive dynamics?
Sheet 1A andSheet1B depict the evolution of x(t) for T=5 and T=10 and a different starting state
x(1).
(a) Use Sheet1C to see how the state evolves for different initial states.
(b) Show that the evolution depicted in one of the first two sheets is unusual.
Suggestion: The starting state for Sheet1A is on the line. Try starting states (i) on this line and
(ii) near this line.
(c) Confirm your conclusions using Sheet2B one which allows a choice of how many periods
(up to 100.)
(d) What can you conclude about the ratio x2 (t ) / x1 (t ) as t increases for almost all initial states?

31 August2013

John Riley

Exercise 2.2:

0.25 x1 (t )
x1 (t 1) 1
x (t 1) 0.25
1 x2 (t )
2

(a) Does the state vary approximately as depicted for all initial x(1)?

(b) Vary the parameters of the matrix to see some of the possible outcomes. In particular, by
increasing or decreasing the parameters along the leading diagonal (a11 and a22) try to
characterize parameters that lead the system to damped oscillations and parameters that lead the
system to oscillate explosively.

31 August2013

John Riley

3. Characterization of the dynamics of a linear system (to be discussed in Math Camp)

To understand the dynamics we first ask if there is a starting point x(1) such that the state simply
grows at a constant rate, that is x(t 1) x(t ) . We can rewrite this in matrix form as follows.

x (t 1) 0 x1 (t )
x(t 1) 1

Ix(t )

x2 (t 1) 0 x2 (t )
Since x(t 1) Ax(t ) , it follows that Ax(t ) Ix(t ) , that is
Bx(t ) 0 where B A I .

If B is invertible x(t ) B1 0 0 . Thus if we are to find some non zero x(1) it must be the case
that B cannot be inverted. As we have seen this is the case if and only of the determinant of B is
equal to zero. Thus

b11 b12 a11

b12

(a11 )(a22 ) a12 a21 0 .

b21 b22
b21
b22

Exercise 3.1

4 2
(a) Consider the matrix A
.
1 3

Solve for the two characteristic roots ( , ) .

(b) For the first of these characteristic roots show that the state grows at a constant rate if the

x (1)
x (1)
starting state is x (1) 1 . Solve also for the starting state x (1) 1 if the state
x2 (1)
x1 (1)
vector grows at the constant rate .
(c) For any starting point x(1) explain why there is a unique such that

x(1) x (1) (1 ) x (1)

(d) Hence show that x(2) x (1) (1 ) x (1) .

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John Riley

HINT: Remember that Ax (1) x (1) and Ax (1) x (1) .

(e) Repeat the argument to show that x(t ) t 1 x (1) t 1 (1 ) x (1) .
(f) Hence explain why, for large t , the system grows at approximately the rate of the
characteristic root with the largest absolute value.

1 2
(g) Suppose that A

1 1
Use your spread-sheet to depict the evolution of the state. Solve for the characteristic roots if
any.

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John Riley

Answers for section 1

Exercise 1.2:
(a) A a11a22 a12 a21 =-1

11 8
5 7
5 8
5 8
1 5 8 5 8

A
C
, M
, M
, A 1
.

A 7 11 7 11
7 5
8 11
7 11
7 11
It is easy to check the result by multiplying

11 8
5 8
A
and

7 11
7 5

5 8 b1
(b) Ax=b. Therefore x Ix A -1 Ax A -1b

7 11 b2
Exercise 1.3:

a x a x a x
a
(a) Ax 11 12 1 11 1 12 2
a21 a22 x2 a21 x1 a22 x2
a11
a12
a11 x1 a12 x2 a11 x1 a12 x2
a x1 a x2 a x a x a x a x Ax
21
22
21 1 22 2 21 1 22 2
(b) As shown above,

A
AC = CA
0

0
1 0
A
A I.
A
0 1

a c
a
Therefore if A 0 , AC 11 12 11
a21 a22 c12

c21 0 0

.
c22 0 0

(c) It follows that

a11 a12 c11 a11

a12
0

11
21
a

a
0

21 a22 c21 a21
22

31 August2013

John Riley

Exercise 2.1
The chart below shows x(t ) when T =24 and the starting state is very close to the line

x2 52 x1 . Note that for the first 15 periods the state approaches the origin. But x(t) eventually
starts veering away.
If you choose a higher T you will see that x(t) eventually gets close to the line x2 x1 . This is
true for all starting states not on the line x2 52 x1 . Thus the ratio x2 (t ) / x1 (t ) approaches 1.
Note finally that if the starting point is above the line x2 52 x1 then x1 (t ) is large and positive
for large T. If the starting point is below the line then x1 (t ) is large and negative for large T.

31 August2013

John Riley

Exercise 2.2
The chart below shows a case in which the oscillations are almost stable. However in this case
the oscillations are slightly damped. For higher values on the leading diagonal the oscillations
become explosive. For lower values the cycles become more damped.

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