Linear Algebra Test 1 Professor Carlson

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1. Suppose (v1 , . . . , vN ) is a list of vectors from a vector space V
(a) What does it mean to say that (v1 , . . . , vN ) spans V.
(b) What does it mean to say that (v1 , . . . , vN ) is linearly independent.
(c) Define a finite dimensional vector space.
(d) Define a basis of a finite dimensional vector space.
a) (v1 , . . . , vN ) spans V if every vector v ∈ V can be written as a linear
combination of v1 , . . . , vN ,
N
X
v= cn vn , cn ∈ F.
n=1

PNb) (v1 , . . . , vN ) is linearly independent if the only linear combination

n=1 cn vn of v1 , . . . , vN summing to 0 is the one with all coefficients equal
to 0.
c) A vector space is finite dimensional if it has a finite spanning list.
d) A basis of a finite dimensional vector space V is a linearly independent
list of vectors that spans V.
2. Let U be the subset of F3 defined by

U = {(x, y, z) ∈ F3 : x + 2y + 3z = 0.}

a) Show that U is a subspace of F3 .

b) Find a basis for U , and prove that it is a basis.
c) Find a subspace W of F3 such that F3 = U ⊕ W . Prove that this claim
is true.
a) Since F3 is a vector space, it suffices to show that U contains 0, and is
closed under addition and scalar multiplication. If (x, y, z) = (0, 0, 0), then
x + 2y + 3z = 0, so U contains 0.
If (x1 , y1 , z1 ) and (x2 , y2 , z2 ) are in U , then

(x1 + x2 ) + 2(y1 + y2 ) + 3(z1 + z2 ) = (x1 + 2y1 + 3z1 ) + (x2 + 2y2 + 3z2 ) = 0,

so U is closed under addition.

If (x1 , y1 , z1 ) is in U , and c ∈ F, then

cx1 + 2cy1 + 3cz1 = c(x1 + 2y1 + 3z1 ) = 0,

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so U is closed under scalar multiplication.
Thus U is a subspace of F3 .
b) A basis for U consists of

v1 = (−2, 1, 0), v2 = (−3, 0, 1).

Any vector in U has the form (−2y − 3z, y, z), which can be written as

(−2y − 3z, y, z) = yv1 + zv2 .

The list (v1 , v2 ) is thus spanning. If

c1 v1 + c2 v2 = (−2c1 − 3c2 , c1 , c2 ) = (0, 0, 0),

then c1 = c2 = 0. Thus the list (v1 , v2 ) is also independent.

c) Take v3 = (1, 0, 0) and let W = span(v3 ). Since

(−2, 1, 0) + 2(1, 0, 0) = (0, 1, 0), (−3, 0, 1) + 3(1, 0, 0) = (0, 0, 1),

the standard basis for F3 is in U + W , so F3 = U + W . Suppose u ∈ U ,

w ∈ W and u + w = 0. Then

u + w = c3 v3 + (c1 v1 + c2 v2 ) = (c3 − 2c1 − 3c2 , c1 , c2 ) = (0, 0, 0).

Read off c1 = c2 = 0, and then c3 = 0. Thus u = w = 0 and F3 = U ⊕ W .

3. Suppose that V is a finite dimensional vector space. Prove that if U is
a subspace of V, then there is a subspace W of V such that V = U ⊕ W .
Pick a basis (u1 , . . . , uM ) for U . The list (u1 , . . . , uM ) is linearly inde-
pendent in V, so can be extended to a basis (u1 , . . . , uM , w1 , . . . , wN ) for V.
Take W = span(w1 , . . . , wN ). Since (u1 , . . . , uM , w1 , . . . , wN ) is a basis for V,
V = U + W . Suppose v = u + w ∈ V. Let
M
X N
X
u= bm um , w= cn v n .
m=1 n=1

If u+w = 0 then the fact that (u1 , . . . , uM , w1 , . . . , wN ) is a basis for V means

all coefficients bm , cn are 0, so the sum is direct, and

V = U ⊕ W.

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 4. Let T be a linear map from V to W . Suppose (v1 , . . . , vN ) is a list of
vectors from V such that (T v1 , . . . , T vN ) is linearly independent in W . Show
that (v1 , . . . , vN ) is linearly independent in V.
Suppose there are constants cn such that
c1 v1 + · · · + cN vN = 0.
Applying the linear map T to both sides gives
T (c1 v1 + · · · + cN vN ) = c1 T v1 + · · · + cN T vN = 0.
Since (T v1 , . . . , T vN ) is linearly independent in W , the constants cn are all
0, and so (v1 , . . . , vN ) is linearly independent in V.
5. Suppose z0 , . . . , zN is a list of distinct complex numbers. Let PN denote
the vector space of (complex) polynomials of degree at most N .
a) For each n = 0, . . . , N , find a polynomial pn (z) in PN such that
pn (zm ) = 0, m 6= n, pn (zn ) 6= 0.
b) Show that the list (p0 (z), . . . , pN (z)) is a basis for the vector space of
complex-valued functions on the finite set {z0 , . . . , zN }.
c) Conclude that for any complex numbers w0 , . . . , wN , there is a unique
polynomial p(z) of degree at most N such that p(zn ) = wn for n = 0, . . . , N .
a) Take
Y (z − z0 ) · · · (z − zN )
pn (z) = (z − zm ) = .
m6=n
z − zn
Then for m 6= n, pn (zm ) = 0, while
Y
pn (zn ) = (zn − zm ) 6= 0.
m6=n

b) As we saw on a homework problem, a basis for the functions is the list

(f0 (z), . . . , fN (z)), where fn (zm ) = 0 if m 6= n and fn (zn ) = 1. Here,
pn (z)
fn (z) = ,
pn (zn )
so (p0 (z), . . . , pN (z)) is a basis.
c) By part b) there is at least one polynomial of degree at most N with
p(zn ) = wn for n = 0, . . . , N . Suppose there is another q(z). Then p(z)−q(z)
is a polynomial of degree at most N vanishing at N + 1 distinct points. This
is too many roots unless all coefficients of p(z) − q(z) are zero, so p = q and
the polynomial is unique.