Let V be a vector space and α = [v1 , . . .

, vn ] be an
ordered basis for V .
Theorem 1 The coordinate mapping C : V → Fn
given by C (v) = [v]α is linear and invertible (i.e.,
one-to-one and onto).

Let W be another vector space and

β = [w1 , . . . , wm ] be an ordered basis for W .
Theorem 2 The mapping
M : L(V , W ) → Mm,n (F) given by M(L) = [L]βα is
linear and invertible.
Linear maps and matrix multiplication
Let V , W , and X be vector spaces. Suppose α = [v1 , . . . , vn ]
is an ordered basis for V , β = [w1 , . . . , wm ] is an ordered
basis for W , and γ = [x1 , . . . , xk ] is an ordered basis for X .

Theorem 1 For any linear transformation L : V → W and

any vector v ∈ V ,
[L(v)]β = [L]βα [v]α .

Theorem 2 For any linear transformations L : V → W and

T : W → X,
[T ◦L]γα = [T ]γβ [L]βα .

Theorem 3 For any linear operators L : V → V and

T : V → V,
[T ◦L]α = [T ]α [L]α .
Identity matrix
Definition. The identity matrix (or unit matrix)
is an n×n matrix I = (aij ) such that aii = 1 and
aij = 0 for i %= j. It is also denoted In .
 
! " 1 0 0
1 0
I1 = (1), I2 = , I3 =  0 1 0  .
0 1
0 0 1
 
1 0 ... 0
0 1 . . . 0
In general, I =  .. .. . . . .. .
. . .
0 0 ... 1
Theorem. Let A be an arbitrary m×n matrix.
Then Im A = AIn = A.
Inverse matrix
Definition. Let A ∈ Mn,n (F). Suppose there
exists an n×n matrix B such that AB = BA = In .
Then the matrix A is called invertible and B is
called the inverse of A (denoted A−1 ).
AA−1 = A−1 A = I

Basic properties of inverse matrices:

• If B = A−1 then A = B −1 . In other words, if A is
invertible, so is A−1 , and A = (A−1 )−1 .
• The inverse matrix (if it exists) is unique.
• If n×n matrices A and B are invertible, so is AB, and
(AB)−1 = B −1 A−1 .
• Similarly, (A1 A2 . . . Ak )−1 = A−1
k . . . A2 A1 .
−1 −1
Inverting 2×2 matrices

Definition.
! "The determinant of a 2×2 matrix
a b
A= is det A = ad − bc.
c d
! "
a b
Theorem A matrix A = is invertible if
c d
and only if det A %= 0.
If det A %= 0 then
! "−1 ! "
a b 1 d −b
= .
c d ad − bc −c a
 ! "
a b
Theorem A matrix A = is invertible if
c d
and only if det A %= 0. If det A %= 0 then
! "−1 ! "
a b 1 d −b
= .
c d ad − bc −c a
! "
d −b
Proof: Let B = . Then
−c a
! "
ad−bc 0
AB = BA = = (ad − bc)I2 .
0 ad−bc

In the case det A %= 0, we have A−1 = (det A)−1 B.

In the case det A = 0, the matrix A is not invertible as
otherwise AB = O =⇒ A−1 (AB) = A−1 O = O
=⇒ (A−1 A)B = O =⇒ I2 B = O =⇒ B = O
=⇒ A = O, but the zero matrix is not invertible.
Left multiplication
Any m×n matrix A ∈ Mm,n (F) gives rise to a
linear transformation LA : Fn → Fm given by
LA (x) = Ax, where x ∈ Fn and L(x) ∈ Fm are
regarded as column vectors.
Theorem 1 The matrix of the transformation LA
relative to the standard bases in Fn and Fm is
exactly A.
Theorem 2 Suppose L : Fn → Fm is a linear map.
Then there exists an m×n matrix A such that
L(x) = Ax for all x ∈ Fn . Columns of A are
vectors L(e1 ), L(e2 ), . . . , L(en ), where e1 , e2 , . . . , en
is the standard basis for Fn .
Matrix of a linear transformation (revisited)
Let V , W be vector spaces and f : V → W be a linear map.
Let α = [v1 , v2 , . . . , vn ] be a basis for V and g1 : V → Fn
be the coordinate mapping corresponding to this basis.
Let β = [w1 , . . . , wm ] be a basis for W and g2 : W → Fm
be the coordinate mapping corresponding to this basis.
f
V −→ W

g1 * *g2
 

Fn −→ Fm
The composition g2 ◦f ◦g1−1 is a linear mapping of Fn to Fm .
It is uniquely represented as x (→ Ax, where A ∈ Mm,n (F).
Theorem A = [f ]βα , the matrix of the transformation f
relative to the bases α and β.
Isomorphism

Definition. A linear map L : V1 → V2 is called an

isomorphism of vector spaces if it is both
one-to-one and onto.
The vector space V1 is said to be isomorphic to V2
if there exists an isomorphism L : V1 → V2 .
The word “isomorphism” applies when two complex
structures can be mapped onto each other, in such
a way that to each part of one structure there is a
corresponding part in the other structure, where
“corresponding” means that the two parts play
similar roles in their respective structures.
Alternative notation
General maps
one-to-one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . injective
onto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . surjective
one-to-one and onto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bijective
Linear maps
any map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .homomorphism
one-to-one. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .monomorphism
onto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . epimorphism
one-to-one and onto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . isomorphism
Linear self-maps
any map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . endomorphism
one-to-one and onto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . automorphism
Examples of isomorphism
• M1,3(F) is isomorphic to M (F).
 3,1
x1
Isomorphism: (x1, x2, x3) !→ x2 .

x3
4
• M2,2(F) is %
isomorphic
& to F .
a b
Isomorphism: !→ (a, b, c, d ).
c d
• M2,3(F) is isomorphic to M3,2(F).
Isomorphism: A !→ At .
• The plane z = 0 in R3 is isomorphic to R2 .
Isomorphism: (x, y , 0) !→ (x, y ).
Examples of isomorphism

• Pn is isomorphic to Rn+1 .
Isomorphism: a0 +a1 x+ · · · +an x n !→ (a0 , a1, . . . , an ).
• P is isomorphic to R∞ 0 .
Isomorphism:
a0 + a1 x + · · · + an x n !→ (a0, a1, . . . , an , 0, 0, . . . ).
• Mm,n (F) is isomorphic to L(Fn , Fm ).
Isomorphism: A !→ LA , where LA (x) = Ax.
• Any vector space V of dimension n is isomorphic
to Fn .
Isomorphism: v !→ [v]α , where α is a basis for V .
Isomorphism and dimension
Definition. Two sets S1 and S2 are said to be of the same
cardinality if there exists a bijective map f : S1 → S2 .

Theorem 1 All bases of a fixed vector space V are

of the same cardinality.
Theorem 2 Two vector spaces are isomorphic if
and only if their bases are of the same cardinality.
In particular, a vector space V is isomorphic to Fn if
and only if dim V = n.
Remark. For a finite set, the cardinality is a synonym for the
number of its elements. For an infinite set, the cardinality is a
more sophisticated notion. For example, R∞ and P are both
infinite-dimensional vector spaces but they are not isomorphic.