Marks: 100 ELL 701: Assignment 1

(1) Can {0, 1} be a field for some operations of addition and multiplication? Justify. (5)
√
(2) Consider a set of all real numbers of the form α + β 2 where α and β are rational. Is
this set with the usual operations of addition and multiplication (as defined for reals) a
field? (10)
(3) Let V be the set of all pairs (x, y) of real numbers, and let F be the field of real numbers.
Define
(x1 , y1 ) + (x2 , y2 ) = (x1 + x2 , y1 + y2 )
c(x1 , y1 ) = (cx1 , y1 )
Is V with these operations a vector space over the field of reals? (10)
(4) A real-valued function f defined on the real line is called an even function if f (−t) = f (t)
for each real number t. Prove that the set of even functions defined on the real line with
the operations of addition and scalar multiplication defined below is a vector space over
the field of reals. (5)
(f + g)(t) = f (t) + g(t)
(cf )(t) = cf (t)
(5) (a) Is R2 a subspace of R3 ? (5)
(b) Is R2 a subspace of C2 ? (5)
n×n
(c) Is the space of all n × n upper triangular matrices a subspace of R ? (5)
(d) Let V be the space of all functions f from R to R with usual operations of addition
and scalar multiplication as defined in Prob. 4. Is the set of all functions such
f (x2 ) = f (x)2 a subspace of V? (5)
     
1 0 1
3
(6) (a) Find a basis for the subspace of R spanned by the vectors: 1 , 1 , 2
     (5)
 0
 1 1

 α 
3
(b) Consider a subspace W of R given by α + β : α, β ∈ R . It is easy to see

 β 
that the standard basis of R3 spans W . Can we say that it is also a basis of W ?
What is dim W ? (5)
(7) What is the dimension of the space of all n × n symmetric matrices over the field R? (5)

(8) Let V be a finite dimensional vector space and let dim V = n. Prove the following:
(a) any subset of V containing more that n vectors is linearly dependent. (5)
(b) no subset of V containing less than n vectors can span V . (5)
(9) Let V be the set of all 2 × 2 matrices A with complex entries such that A11 + A22 = 0.
(a) Show that V is a vector space over the field of reals. (5)
(b) Find a basis for V (10)
(c) Let W be the set of all matrices A in V such that A21 = −A¯12 (bar denotes complex
conjugation). Prove that W is a subspace of V and find a basis for W . (10)