Limit 2020

Project work
By Prisha Reddy Bobbili
We come across various situations in mathematics where
the question and the relevant solution don’t actually seem
to belong to the same branch, let alone the same topic. In
the course of the camp we have come across a lot of
similar examples, where the questions were generally
from combinatorics, but the solutions were mostly related
to vector spaces.
The way this is done is by generally associating a unique
vector to each and every case. Thus, we convert problems
related to sets, unions and intersections into problems
that deal with vectors and linear independence, by certain
changes in the given data, without any prominent changes
in the final result.
We have used the term ‘linear independence’ in the above
paragraph. But before we deal with it, we shall first
become familiar with the term ‘vector space’.
What is a vector space?
A vector space (also called as a linear space) is defined to
be a collection of objects called vectors, which may be
added together or multiplied (scaled) by numbers, called
scalars.
Scalars are generally considered to be real numbers.
However in rare scenarios, these scalars can also be
considered to be complex numbers. In general, it can be
considered that they can be taken from any field,
including rational, algebraic, real, and complex number. In
order to give a little extra detail about the kind of scalar
associated to the vector, the terms real vector space and
complex vector space are used.
The two most basic operations that can be performed on
vectors in a vector space, as mentioned earlier, are vector
addition and scalar multiplication. We shall now discuss
about each of them in detail. In the following content, V×V
denotes the Cartesian product of V with itself, and the
symbol denotes a mapping from the first set to the
second one. Here V denotes the set of vectors in the given
vector space.
VECTOR ADDITION
Vector addition is simply denoted as
+:V×V V
This operation simply takes two suitable vectors (say u and
v) and assigns to them a new vector ‘w’ which is also
written as ‘u+v’. Note that ‘w’ must also belong to the
same field over which the vector space is defined.
These vectors can be added in the following way:

+ =

Thus if we now substitute xi = 0 ꓯ i {1,2,…,n} and replace

y i → xi ꓯ i we get the following equation:

Instead if we directly substitute yi=0 ꓯ i {1,2,…,n} then we

get the following result:

=
Thus we get:

= =

And this is the proof for the existence of the additive

identity, where the additive identity vₒ is:

vₒ =

Graphical representation of vector addition in R 2:

In the above figure each vector of the vector space R2
is represented as an arrow with its head at the Cartesian
coordinate (x, y) and tail at the origin, (0, 0). Thus the
origin can also be compared to the zero vector of the
vector space.
SCALAR MULTIPLICATION
Scalar multiplication, on the other hand, is denoted as
∙: : F × V V
This operation takes any scalar ‘a’ and a vector ‘v’ such
that ‘a’ F and ‘v’ V and gives a new vector ‘av’ This new
vector ‘av’ also belongs to the set V
Vectors can be scaled by a scalar as shown below:

c =

Graphical representation of scalar multiplication under R 2:

In the graphical representation of scalar multiplication
under R2, we would again be representing each vector
by an arrow originated at the (0, 0) coordinate and
extending up to the (x, y) coordinate in the Cartesian
plane. We see that a vector when scaled simply changes
the length of the arrow but is nowhere concerned to its
orientation. Basically, when a vector is scaled the
geometrically representational arrows always stay parallel
to the original vector representations

What is a field?
In the above definitions of scalars, we have come across
the term, field. In order to thoroughly understand what
we mean by a field, we must first know its definition. “A
field is defined to be any set of numbers possessing
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
operations.”
Thus we can understand that neither natural numbers nor
whole numbers can be considered as fields but the set of
rational numbers (except the term 0) can be considered as
a proper example.
THE AXIOMS
The operations of vector addition and scalar multiplication
must satisfy certain properties (called as the axioms). They
are:
AXIOM MEANING
Associativity of addition u + (v + w) = (u + v) + w
Commutativity of addition u+v=v+u
Identity element of addition ϶vₒ V s.t vₒ + v= v + vₒ = v
Inverse elements of addition ϶(-v) V ꓯ v V s.t v+(-v)=vₒ
Compatibility of scalar a(bv)=ab(v)
multiplication with field
multiplication
Identity element of scalar 1(v)=v; where 1 denotes
multiplication the multiplicative identity
Distributivity of scalar a(u + v)=au + av
multiplication with respect
to vector addition
Distributivity of scalar (a + b)v = av + bv
multiplication with respect
to field addition
Though there are many kinds of vector spaces in the real
world, we shall concentrate on only two of them now,
namely:
1. Rn
2. (F2)n
The former one, as one might have observed, has already
been mentioned in this document multiple times. We will
now try to briefly understand each of them separately:
Vector space Rn:
The vector space Rn is the set of all the vectors that can be
represented as

R n= { : x1, x2,…,xn R }

It looks more or less like a matrix of order (n×1).

Note that Rn is an infinite set.
 , , , , , etc. are some of the

examples of the vectors present in the vector set R n.

An example of vector addition in Rn is:

+ =

An example of scalar multiplication in Rn is:

2 =

Vector space (F2) n:

The vector space (F2) n, unlike the vector space Rn, is finite.
The cardinality of the set is 2n.This vector space can be
defined as:

(F2) n = { : x1, x2,…,xn {0,1} }

The scalars that can be associated to the vectors of this set
also can be either 0 or 1.And the sum is always modulated
to 2.

Some of the examples of the vectors in (F2) n are , ,

, , , etc..

An example of vector addition in (F2) n is:

+ =

And examples of scalar multiplication in (F2) n are:

1 = 0 =

Basically, when the scalar is 1, the vector doesn’t change

but when the scalar is 0, the resultant vector is vₒ.
Now we attempt to understand the concept of linear
independence
LINEAR INDEPENDENCE:
Definition:
Let v1, v2,…, vk be vectors in Rn or (F2) n. Then the vectors v1,
v2,…, vk are said to be linearly independent iff:
c1v1 + c2v2 + … + ckvk = 0 c1,c2,…,ck=0
i.e. there does not exist any “non-trivial linear
combination” of v1, v2,…, vk that gives the zero vector.

An example of set of linearly-independent vectors are:

, ,

Proof of linearity:

Consider the equation: a +b +c =

+ + =
 =

Solving the three linear equations:

1a + 1b + 1c = 0 (equation ①)
1a + 2b + 4c = 0 (equation ②)
1a + 3b + 9c = 0 (equation ③)
2*② - (① + ③)

① and ②, we get:
a + b = 0 and a + 2b = 0 subtracting the former equation
from the later we get b=0
Substituting b=c=0 in any of the original equations we get
a=b=c=0.
Thus the three vectors are linearly independent.
Now we will consider an example where the vectors are
not linearly independent.

Consider the vectors: , ,

Here,

(2) + (-1) + (1)

Thus there exists a non-trivial linear combination of the

vectors , , that gives the 0 vector.

Hence these set of vectors cannot be called as linearly

independent vectors. They are instead known as linearly
dependent vectors.
DETERMING THE LARGEST NUMBER OF
LINEARLY INDEPENDENT VECTORS:
We prove that the largest number of linearly independent
vectors in a given set Rn is n itself. The proof proceeds by
proving the fact that n satisfies the required condition but
no other number greater than n can satisfy it, thus proving
that n is indeed the largest value possible.
Consider the vectors u1, u2, …, un to be vectors in Rn and
are defined as follows:

u1 = , u2 = , … , un-1 = , un =

Firstly, we prove that the above vectors are all linearly

independent:
Let:
c 1u1 + c 2u2 + … + c nun = 0 (let m= + +…+ )

+ +…+ = =0

1 2 n

m= + +…+
 1 2 n

1 2 n

c1v1 + c2v2 + … + ckvk = 0 c1, c2,…, ck = 0 is the

only solution
Order of the vectors = n
Therefore, the number of linear equations formed = n
But total number of variables = k
(i.e. the terms c1,c2,…,ck)
Thus if there is supposed to exist a unique solution, then,
it is necessary that n ≥ k .
Thus, we have proved that the maximum number of
linearly independent vectors all of which have order n, is
n.
SCALAR DOT PRODUCT OF VECTORS:
Not to be confused with scalar multiplication
Let’s understand the scalar dot product with an example:

Consider vectors ‘v1’ = and ‘v2’ =

Then the scalar dot product of v1 and v2 is:

(v1) ∙ (v2) = ∙ = + +…+

Examples:

. = (17)(0) + (0)(6) + (2)(0) + (0)(19)

=0+0+0+0=0

∙ = (1)(1) + (1)(2) + … + (1)(n)

( )( )
=1+2+…+n=
 The application:
The odd town problem
The people of a specific town (the odd town) want to form committees so
that the following two conditions are always satisfied:
1. The number of people in any committee is an odd number
2. The number of common people present in any two randomly selected
committees is always an even number.
Then what is the largest number of committees that can be formed?
Solution:
As discussed earlier, we would be using vector spaces in
order to solve the above seemingly combinatorial
problem. Note that, the problem mostly deals with parity
of the cardinality of the sets. This, thus indicates the
advantage of the (F2) n vector space over the Rn.
Let the required answer be ‘k’. And let the number of
people living in the odd town be ‘n’.
Name the committees thus formed to be C 1, C2,…, Ck
As mentioned at the very beginning, we will now associate
a vector to each of these committees.
Let the committee Ci be associated by the vector Vi ꓯ
i {1,2,…,k} , where the vector Vi be defined as follows:

Vi = where

xj = 0 if the jth person isn’t present in the committee

= 1 if the jth person is present in the committee
Consider:

Vi ∙ Vi = ∙ (modulo 2)

=( (modulo 2)
=( 2
+ 2
+…+ 2
(modulo 2)
But all the terms of the set { , , … , } have the
value of either 1 or 0, both of which satisfy the condition
x2 = x.
Thus,
( 2
+ 2
+…+ 2
= + +…+
Hence,
Vi ∙ Vi = cardinality of the set Vi (modulo 2) (ꓯ i {1,2,…,k})
Now consider Va, Vb (ꓯa,b {1,2,…,k} ; a b )
Here,
Va ∙ Vb = cardinality of the set Va Vb (modulo 2)
This is because in the vector space (F2)n,0∙0 = 1∙0 = 0∙1 = 0
Therefore we have got two conclusions now:
1. Vi ∙ Vi = cardinality of the set Vi (modulo 2)
(ꓯi {1,2,…,k})
2. Va ∙ Vb = cardinality of the set Va Vb (modulo 2)
(ꓯa,b {1,2,…,k} ; a b )
Thus Vi ∙ Vi is always odd and Va ∙ Vb is always even.
Vi ∙ Vi = 1 and Va ∙ Vb = 0
Now assume that
a1 V 1 + a 2 V 2 + … + a n V n = 0
We shall now consider the application of scalar dot
product with each of k vectors.
For example, when considering Vi for the dot product,
(a1V1 + a2V2 + … + anVn) ∙ Vi = 0
But, Va ∙ Vb = 0 a1V1 ∙ Vi + a2V2∙ Vi + … + anVn∙ Vi =0
i i∙ Vi)=0
i ꓯ {1,2,…,k}
Thus the set of k vectors thus considered are all linearly
independent.
But, we have already proved that the maximum number
of linearly independent vectors of order n is n itself.
Hence largest possible value of k is n.
Thus n is the final answer.
Example:

V1 = , V2 = , … , Vn-1 = , Vn =

i.e. only the ith man is in the the committee ci

if n is even we can also have the example:

V1 = , V2 = , … , Vn-1 = , Vn =

And instead if n is odd we can simply choose the first

committee, assign only the first person to that
committee and then repeat the above process with the
remaining n-1 committees ( since n-1 is an even number)