Vectors Spaces and Linear Transformations

I. Field
1. A field is a nonempty set F together with two binary operations + and · on F such that
F1: (assoc. and comm.) + and · are both associative and commutative
F2: (identity for +) ∃ 0 ∈ F s.t. a + 0 = a, for all a ∈ F
F2: (“identity” for ·) ∃ 1 ∈ F s.t. a · 1 = a, for all a ∈ F \ {0}
F3: (inverse for +) ∀ a ∈ F, ∃ (−a) ∈ F s.t. a + (−a) = 0
F3: (“inverse” for ·) ∀ a ∈ F \ {0}, ∃ a−1 ∈ F s.t. a · a−1 = 1
F4: (distribution of · over +) ∀ a, b, c ∈ F , a · (b + c) = a · b + a · c
2. Examples of Fields
(a) hQ, +, ·i, hR, +, ·i, hC, +, ·i are fields
(b) hZ, +, ·i is NOT a field (no inverse a−1 )
(c) hZp , +p , ·p i is a field for any prime p
3. Let hE, +, ·i be a field. If F ⊆ E and hF, +, ·i is also a field then F is a subfield of E, denoted F ≤ E.
4. Examples of Subfields
(a) Every field has a subfield: itself
(b) Q ≤ R ≤ C
(c) Zp 6≤ Q since + and · restricted to Zp does not agree with +p and ·p

II. Vector Space over a Field

1. A vector space over a field F is a nonempty set V with a binary operation + on V and a mapping (called scalar
multiplication) F × V → V , (a, v) 7→ av such that
→
−
V1: (abelian group) hV, +i is an abelian group (identity: zero vector 0 )
V2: (scalar · scalar) (ab)v = a(bv)
V3: (scalar + scalar) (a + b)v = av + bv
V4: (vector + vector) a(v + w) = av + aw
V5: (identity scalar) 1·v =v
2. Examples of Vector Spaces: The ff are vector spaces over a field F .
(a) larger field: any field E such that F ≤ E
(b) n-tuple on F: F n = {(a1 , a2 , ..., an ) : a1 , ...an ∈ F )} for any n ∈ Z+
P∞
(c) polynomials: F [x] = { i=0 ai xi : each ai ∈ F and only finitely many ai are nonzero}
Pn
(d) poly. degree at most n: Fn [x] = { i=0 ai xi :: a1 , ...an ∈ F } for any 0 ≤ n ∈ Z

(e) functions on R: F(R) = {f | f : R → R} is a vector space over R

3. Let F V and W ⊆ V . If F W under + and scalar mult. in F V , then W is a subspace of F V , denoted as W ≤ F V .

Subspace Test: Let F V and ∅ 6= W ⊆ V . Then W is a subspace of F V iff

av + bw ∈ W , ∀a, b ∈ F and ∀v, w ∈ W .

4. Examples of Subspaces: The ff are subspaces of F V .

→
−
(a) trivial: { 0 } and V
(b) intersection of subspaces: The intersection of any collection of subspaces of F V
(c) sum of two subspaces: U + W = {u + w : u ∈ U and w ∈ W } where U, W ≤ F V
• U + W is the smallest subspace of F V that contains U ∪ W .
 L →
−
(d) direct sum of subspaces: U W = U + W where U, W ≤ F V and U ∩ W = { 0 }
L
• Every v ∈ U W can be written uniquely as v = u + w for some u ∈ U and w ∈ W .
n n
M X X →
−
• Ui = Ui where Ui ≤ F V and Ui ∩ Uj = { 0 }
i=1 i=1 j6=i
Mn
• ex. F n = Ui where Ui = {(0, ..., 0, x, 0, ...0) : x ∈ F and x is in ith position}
i=1

Note: Union of any collection of subspace of F V is NOT necessarily a subspace of F V

• U = {(x, x) : x ∈ R} and W = {(x, −x) : x ∈ R} are subspaces of R R2
• but U ∪ W 6≤ R R2 since (1, 1) + (1, −1) = (2, 0) 6∈ U ∪ W

III. Span of a Set of Vectors

1. A linear combination of v1 , v2 , ..., vn ∈ F V is a1 v1 + a2 v2 + ... + an vn ∈ F V , for any a1 , a2 , ..., an ∈ F .
2. The span of X ⊆ F V is (set of all linear combinations of elements of X)
 n
X
{ ai vi : ai ∈ F } if X = {v1 , v2 , ..., vn }





 i=1
span X = .
[
 span Y if X is infinite

 finite Y ⊆X
 → −


{0} if X = ∅
The set X is a spanning set for W ≤ F V if span X = W .
• span X ≤ F V
• span (span X) = span X
• X⊆Y ⇒ span X ⊆ span Y .
• X ⊆ span Y and span X = F V ⇒ span Y = span X = F V . ∵ FV = span X ⊆ span (span Y ) = span Y
3. The vectors v1 , v2 , ..., vn ∈ F V are
n
X →
−
(a) linearly independent over F if ai vi = 0 implies each ai = 0
i=1
n
X →
−
(b) linearly dependent over F if ai vi = 0 for some ai ’s ∈ F not all zero
i=1
(c) (infinite set X ⊆ F V is lin. ind. over F if every finite subset of X is lin. ind. over F .)
• “over F ” is important! ex. {1, i} is lin. ind in R C but not in C C
• Given ∅ 6= v ∈ F V . Then {v} is lin. ind. over F (use defn)
Some results:
• X ⊆ F V is lin. ind. over F ⇔ each w ∈ span X can be written uniquely as a lin. combi. of vectors in X.
P P P
(⇒) If w = ai vi = bi vi then (ai − bi )vi = 0. Use defn of lin.ind.
P →
− P
(⇐) Let w = ai vi = 0 and note that 0 = 0vi . Use hypothesis.

• {v1 , ..., vn } ⊆ F V , all nonzero, is lin. dep. over F ⇔ vk is a lin. combi. of v1 , ..., vk−1 , for some k > 1.
P →
−
(⇒) By defn ai vi = 0 for some ai not all 0.
Pk−1
(⇒) Take k = max{i : ai 6= 0} > 1 (case: k = 1 is a contradiction) ⇒ vk = i=1 (−a−1 k ai )vi
Pk−1
(⇐) Hypothesis: vk = i=1 ai vi for some ai not all 0
Pk−1 →
−
(⇒) vk + i=1 −ai vi = 0 ⇒ {v1 , ..., vk } is lin. dep over F ⇒ {v1 , ..., vn } is lin. dep over F

IV. Basis for a Vector Space FV

1. A set B is a basis for F V if span B = V and B is lin. independent over F .

→
−
(a) basis for { 0 } : ∅
(b) basis for F F : {a} where a 6= 0 ∵ any y ∈ F can be written as y = (ya−1 ) a ∈ span {a}
(c) basis for F F n : {e1 , e2 , ..., en } = {(1, 0, ..., 0), (0, 1, ..., 0), ..., (0, 0, ..., 1)} (standard basis for F F n )
n
(d) basis for F F [x] : {x : n ∈ Z, n ≥ 0}