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August 30
Thursday Aug. 24
1. Determine whether or not the following sets form vector spaces over the given fields.
1 a
(a) The set V of all matrices of the form where a, b ∈ R, over R with standard
b 1
addition and scalar multiplication.
1 a
Note that V is not closed under addition: for a, b, c, d ∈ R, we have and
b 1
1 c
but
d 1
1 a 1 c 2 a+c
+ = ∈
/ V.
b 1 d 1 b+d 2
We conclude that V is not a vector space with the given operations.
1 a
(b) The set V of all matrices of the form where a, b ∈ R, over R with addition
b 1
⊕ and scalar multiplication defined by
1 a 1 c 1 a+c 1 a 1 ka
⊕ = , k = .
b 1 d 1 b+d 1 b 1 kb 1
We claim that V is indeed a vector space with the given operations. Note first
that
V is closed
under the addtion and scalar multiplication operations: for
1 a 1 c
, ∈ V and k ∈ R, we have
b 1 d 1
1 a 1 c 1 a+c
⊕ = ∈V
b 1 d 1 b+d 1
and
1 a 1 ka
k = ∈ V.
b 1 kb 1
1
VS 1: Observe that
1 a 1 c 1 a+c
⊕ = (∵ defn. of addition)
b 1 d 1 b+d 1
1 c+a
= (∵ comm. of addition in R)
d+b 1
1 c 1 a
= ⊕ (∵ addition)
d 1 b 1
VS 2: Note that
1 a 1 c 1 e 1 a+c 1 e
⊕ ⊕ = ⊕ (∵ defn. of addition)
b 1 d 1 f 1 b+d 1 f 1
1 (a + c) + e
= (∵ addition again)
(b + d) + f 1
1 a + (c + e)
= (∵ add. assoc. in R)
b + (d + f ) 1
1 a 1 c+e
= ⊕ (∵ addition)
b 1 d+f 1
1 a 1 c 1 e
= ⊕ ⊕ (∵ addition)
b 1 d 1 f 1
1 0
VS 3: The matrix ∈ V and acts as the zero vector:
0 1
1 a 1 0 1 a
⊕ =
b 1 0 1 b 1
1 a 1 −a
VS 4: Given any ∈ V , its additive inverse is as
b 1 −b 1
1 a 1 −a 1 0
⊕ =
b 1 −b 1 0 1
VS 5: Observe that
1 a 1 a
1 = .
b 1 b 1
VS 6: Let k, l ∈ R, we have
1 a 1 (kl)a
(kl) = (∵ defn. of scalar mult)
b 1 (kl)b 1
1 k(la)
= (∵ mult. assoc. in R)
k(lb) 1
1 la
= k (∵ scalar mult.)
lb 1
1 a
= k l (∵ scalar mult.)
b 1
2
VS 7: We have
1 a 1 c 1 a+c
k ⊕ = k (∵ addition.)
b 1 d 1 b+d 1
1 k(a + c)
= (∵ scalar mult.)
k(b + d) 1
1 ka + kc
= (∵ dist. in R)
kb + kd 1
1 ka 1 kc
= ⊕ (∵ addition)
kb 1 kd 1
1 a 1 c
= k ⊕ k (∵ scalar mult.)
b 1 d 1
VS 8: We have
1 a 1 (k + l)a
(k + l) = (∵ scalar mult.)
b 1 (k + l)b 1
1 ka + la
= (∵ dist. in R)
kb + lb 1
1 ka 1 la
= ⊕ (∵ addition.)
kb 1 lb 1
1 a 1 a
= k ⊕ l (∵ scalar mult.)
b 1 b 1
(c) The set V of all positive real numbers over R with addition ⊕ and scalar multi-
plication defined by
x ⊕ y = xy, a x = xa .
We show that V is indeed a vector space with the given operations. Note first
that if x, y ∈ V and a ∈ R, we have
x ⊕ y = xy ∈ V, a x = xa ∈ V
so V is closed under addition and scalar multiplication.
VS 1: We have
x ⊕ y = xy (∵ addition)
= yx (∵ mult. comm. in R)
= y⊕x (∵ addition)
VS 2: Note that
(x ⊕ y) ⊕ z = (xy) ⊕ z (∵ addition)
= (xy)z (∵ addition)
= x(yz) (∵ mult. assoc. in R)
= x ⊕ (yz) (∵ addition)
= x ⊕ (y ⊕ z) (∵ addition)
3
VS 3: Observe that 1 ∈ V and
1 ⊕ x = 1x = x.
x ⊕ x−1 = xx−1 = 1.
VS 5: Note that
1 x = x1 = x.
VS 6: Let a, b ∈ R. We then have
VS 7: Note that
a (x ⊕ y) = a (xy) (∵ addition)
a
= (xy) (∵ scalar mult.)
a a
= x y (∵ exponents in R)
= (x ) ⊕ (y a )
a
(∵ scalar mult.)
= (a x) ⊕ (a y) (∵ addition)
VS 8: We have
(d) The set V of solutions of the differential equation f 00 (t) − 4f (t) = t, t ∈ R over
R with standard addition and scalar multiplication.
so that
(f1 + f2 )00 (t) − 4(f1 + f2 )(t) = (f100 (t) − 4f1 (t)) + (f200 (t) − 4f2 (t)) = 2t 6≡ t.
4
(e) The set V of 2 × 2 invertible matrices with real entries over R with standard
addition and scalar multiplication.
1 0 1 0
Observe that V is not closed under addition: we have , ∈ V but
0 1 0 −1
1 0 1 0 2 0
+ =
0 1 0 −1 0 0
is not invertible. We conclude that V is not a vector space with the given opera-
tions.
2. By definition, every field F has a multiplicative identity, an element e such that e·x = x
for every element x ∈ F . What is the multiplicative identity for R? Prove that the
multiplicative identity is unique for any given field.
Tuesday Aug. 29
3. Prove that the set of matrices with zero trace form a subspace of Mn×n (F ). Does the
same hold for matrices with zero determinant?
Let T be the set of matrices with zero trace. As Mn×n (F ) is a vector space over F and
T is its subset, we merely need to check three properties:
• the matrix Z consisting only of zero entries evidently has zero trace so Z ∈ T .
• let A, B ∈ T ; it follows then that tr(A) = tr(B) = 0. Note then that
n
X n
X n
X
tr(A + B) = (A + B)ii = Aii + Bii = tr(A) + tr(B) = 0.
i=1 i=1 i=1
5
4. Let B(R) be the set of all bounded functions on R (A function f is bounded if there
exists M such that |f (x)| ≤ M for all x. Thus sin(x) is bounded on R but ex is not).
Prove that B(R) is a subspace of F(R, R), the set of all functions from R to R.
As F(R, R) is a vector space and B(R) is its subset, we just need to check the following
three properties:
• the function z ≡ 0 is clearly bounded (as |z(x)| = 0 < 1 for all x) so z ∈ R.
• let f, g ∈ B(R). Then there exist M, N such that |f (x)| ≤ M and |g(x)| ≤ N for
all x ∈ R. Note then that, by the triangle inequality
|(f + g)(x)| = |f (x) + g(x)| ≤ |f (x)| + |g(x)| ≤ M + N
for all x ∈ R; thus, (f + g) is bounded and hence in B(R).
• let f ∈ B(R) and a ∈ R. Observe then that for all x ∈ R
|(af )(x)| = |af (x)| = |a||f (x)| ≤ |a|M
so af ∈ B(R).
We conclude that B(R) is a subspace of F(R, R).
5. Let W1 and W2 be subspaces of a vector space V . Prove that W1 + W2 = W2 if and
only if W1 is a subspace of W2 .
6
• let x ∈ Wi and a ∈ R. Note then that
ax = a(tvi ) = (at)vi ∈ Wi .
We need to show that (i) W1 ∩ W2 = {0} and (ii) W1 + W2 = V . For (i), note
that if u ∈ W1 ∩ W2 , then for some t, s ∈ R, we have u = tv1 and u = sv2 so that
7. Let E and O denote respectively the subsets consisting of all the even and odd functions
in V := F(R, R). In the homework, you are supposed to show that both E and O are
subspaces of V . Assuming that, prove that V = E ⊕ O.
As in the previous problem, we just need to show that (i) E ∩ O = {0} and (ii)
E + O = V . For (i), let f ∈ E ∩ O. Then, for any x ∈ R, we have f (−x) = f (x) and
f (−x) = −f (x) so that f (x) = −f (x) ⇒ f (x) = 0 ⇒ f ≡ 0.
For (ii), let f ∈ V . We need to show that f = g + h where g ∈ E and h ∈ O. Define
for all x ∈ R
f (x) + f (−x) f (x) − f (−x)
g(x) = , h(x) = .
2 2
Note then that g(x) + h(x) = f (x) for all x. Furthermore, for any x ∈ R, we have
f (−x) + f (x)
g(−x) = = g(x)
2
f (−x) − f (x)
h(−x) = = −h(x).
2
This shows that g ∈ E and h ∈ O and hence establishes (ii). We conclude that
V = E ⊕ O.