MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023

Written Assignment 3 Solutions

Q1. Assume that #» #» ∈ R3 are non-zero orthogonal vectors (meaning #»

v,w #» = 0) and let
v ·w
3 3 #»
T : R → R be the linear transformation defined by T ( x ) = 2 proj #» #» #» ( #»
x ) − #»
v ( x ) + 2 proj w x
with A = [T ]E being its standard matrix.

(a) By the propeties of composition of functions, we know that T (T ( #»

x )) = AA #»
x . Comput-
#»
ing T (T ( x )), we get:
T (T ( #»
x )) = T (2 proj #» #» #» ( #»
v ( x ) + 2 proj w x ) − #»
x)
= 2T (proj #» #» #» ( #»
x )) − T ( #»
v ( x )) + 2T (proj w x) (Properties of Linear transformation)
#» #» #»
= 2(2 proj #»
v (proj #» v ( x )) − proj #»
#» (proj #»
v ( x )) + 2 proj w v ( x ))

+ 2(2 proj #» #» ( #»
v (proj w x )) + 2 proj w#» (proj w#» ( #»
x )) − proj w#» ( #»
x ))
− (2 proj #» #» #» ( #»
x ) − #»
v ( x ) + 2 proj w x)
We know that proj #» #» #»
v (proj #»v ( x )) = proj #» v ( x ) proven previousl in#» chapter
#» #» #» #» #» #» #»
1 in the prop-
( x#»· w2 w)· #»
x ·w
#» ( #» #» #»
v #» 2 ( w· v )
erties of projection. Also, proj #» v (proj w x )) = ∥ w∥∥#» v ∥2
v = ∥ w ∥∥ #»
v ∥2
v = 0 by the
properties of dot product and also knowing that #» v ·w #» = 0. Putting these into above
equation we get:
T (T ( #»
x )) =
#» #» #»
v ( x ) + 0 − 2 proj #»
4 proj #» v (x)
#»
+ 0 + 4 proj w#» ( #»
x ) − 2 proj w#» ( #»
x)
− 2 proj #» #» #» ( #»
x ) + #»
v ( x ) − 2 proj w x
= #»
x.
Therefore, we have that T (T ( #»
x )) = AA #»
x = #»
x = I3 #»
x . Thuse, by the matrix equality
2
theorem, AA = A = I3 .

(b) By the definition of invertibility, since AA = I3 , we can conclude that A ∈ M3 (R) is

invertibile. Then, by the criteria of invertibility second version we get that the function
T detemined by the matrix A is both one-to-one and surjective.
   
1 0
#»   #»
(c) Let v = 0 and w = 1. Then,

0 0
     
a 1 a 0
     
   b ·0  b ·1        
a      
a a a 0
c 0 #» c 0 #»   a #» b #»
T   b  = 2 ∥ #»
v ∥2 #» 2 w − b = 2 1 v + 2 1 w − b = 2 0 + 2 b  −
v + 2 ∥ w∥     
c c c 0 0
   
a a
 b  =  b . (Properties of vector adition and definition of projections)
c −c
To compute A, we need the vecors:

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MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023
Written Assignment 3 Solutions

   
1 1
#»
T ( e 1 ) = T ( 0 ) = 0
  
0 0
   
0 0
T ( #»
e 2 ) = T (1) = 1
0 0
   
0 0
T ( #»
e 3 ) = T (0) =  0 .
1 −1
to represent the columns of A respectively. Thuse, A = T ( #»
e 1 ) |T ( #»
e 2 ) |T ( #»
 
e 3) =
 
1 0 0
0 1 0 .
0 0 −1
(d) The function T consumes a vector and produces the reflected vector across the plane
P = Span{ #» #» That is why A2 = I , as it just means reflectng twice which gives the
v , w}. 3
initial vector back.

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MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023
Written Assignment 3 Solutions

Q2. (a) By the definition fpr te matrix A, The diagonals will all be zero, all the elements on the
right side and above the diagonals (the zeroes) will be 3, and the ones below and to the
left of diagonals will be -3. The geneal form of A will be:
 
0 3 3 ... 3
−3 0 3 . . . 3
 
−3 −3 0 . . . 3
A= .
 .. 
 . 
−3 −3 −3 . . . 0

Thus,
 
0 3
1. A1 =
−3 0
 
0 3 3 3
−3 0 3 3
2. A2 = 
−3
.
−3 0 3
−3 −3 −3 0
(b) Assume that A
 is a 2n by 2n matris with
 the general form presented in part a for natural
0 3 3 ... 3
−3 0 3 . . . 3
 
−3 −3 0 . . . 3
n ≥ 1: A =   . Let us row reduce this matrix until we get an
 .. 
 . 
−3 −3 −3 . . . 0
upper triangular matrix. We stat by swapping the first low and the last row of the
matrix:
   
0 3 3 ... 3 −3 −3 −3 . . . 0
−3 0 3 . . . 3 −3 0 3 . . . 3

 
A = −3 −3 0 . . . 3 ∼ −3 −3 0 . . . 3.
   
 ..   .. 
 .   . 
−3 −3 −3 . . . 0 0 3 3 ... 3
Applying the followin ERO to the folloeing rows can get: (we apply Ri → Ri − R1 with
1 ≤ i ∈ N ≤ 2n − 1 and also R2n → R2n + R1 for the last row)
   
−3 −3 −3 . . . 0 −3 −3 −3 . . . 0
−3 0 3 . . . 3 0 3 6 . . . 3

 
−3 −3 0 . . . 3  0 0 3 . . . 3
 ∼  = B ∈ M2n×2n (R).
 ..   .. 
 .   . 
0 3 3 ... 3 0 0 0 ... 3
We know the following:
The upper triangle of the last matrix B, consists of 3s, 6s, and 0s which are not of our
interest as the matrix is upper triangular and to calcualte the determinant we only need
the diagonals. We applied a swap operation whcih brings a -1 as a coeeficiant when
calcuating the determinant. All the other ERO’s are free of additional applications

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MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023
Written Assignment 3 Solutions

to the determinant. Therefore, knowing that the determinant of B is the product of

diagonals,
det(B) = −det(A) = −3 · 32n−1 = −32n = −9n
∴ det(A) = 9n .

(c) By the invertibility and determinat theorm we know that A is invertible iff det(A) ̸= 0.
As det(A) = 9n we can see that the determinant will never be zero fo r any natural
n ≥ 1. Thus, the matrix A will always be invertible.

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MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023
Written Assignment 3 Solutions

Q3. (a) i Assume that z, w ∈ C. Let z = a + bi and w = c + di for a, b, c, d ∈ R. Then,

f (z + w)
= f ((a + bi) + (c + di))
= f ((a + c) + (b + d)i)
 
(a + c) −(b + d)
=
(b + d) (a + c)
   
a −b c −d
= +
b a d c
= f (z) + f (w).
by the properties of matrix arithmetic and complex arithmetics.
ii Assume z = a + bi ∈ C for a, b ∈ R and t ∈ R. Then,
f (tz) = f (t(a + bi))
= f (ta + (tb)i) (as t is real we can include it in the real coefficient of i)
 
ta −tb
=
tb ta
 
a −b
=t
b a
= tf (z).
as required.

(b) Let z, w ∈ C, z = a + bi, and w = c + di for a, b, c, d ∈ R. Then,

f (zw) = f ((a + bi)(c + di)) = f ((ac − bd) + (ad + bc)i)
    
(ac − bd) −(ad + bc) a −b c −d
= =
(ad + bc) (ac − bd) b a d c
= f (z)f (w)
as required.

(c) Let z, w ∈ C, z = a + bi, and w = c + di for a, b, c, d ∈ R. Assume that f (z) = f (w).

Therefore,
f (a + bi) = f (c + di)
   
a −b c −d
∴ =
b a d c
Knowing that two matrices are equal when their respective entries are equal, we get that
a = c and b = d. Therefore,

z = a + bi = c + di = w

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MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023
Written Assignment 3 Solutions

.
Thus, if f (z) = f (w), then z = w, and by definition, the function f is one-to-one.

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MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023
Written Assignment 3 Solutions

Q4. Let A ∈ Mn×n (C).

(a) Assume that A2 = −In and n is odd. Then, det(A2 ) = det(A)2 = det(−In ). As −In is
upper triangular, its determinant is the product of the diagonals which are all -1. Thus,
det(A)2 = det(−In ) = (−1)n . With n being odd, we get det(A)2 = −1. This also means
that det(A) = ±i. The determinant of A, by definition, is computed through addition
and multiplication of the entries of A. As the determinat of A is a comples number, at
least one of those entries must have been non-real or complex. (The other way of seeing
this is by the definition of determinant. The output will be the same type as the input
which are the entries of A). Therefore, A must have at leat one non-real entry.
 2
a − b2 −2ab
  
a −b 2
(b) Let A = with a.b ∈ R. Then, A = AA = . We want
b a 2ab a2 − b2
 2
a − b2 −2ab
  
−1 0
eventually for A2 = 2 2 = to e true. Thus we need values of
2ab a −b 0 −1
a and b such that a2 − b2 = −1 and ab = 0. There will be two cases to consider:
1. When b = 0: then we will get a2 = −1 which means that a is not real and this
contradicts the assumption.
 
2 0 −1
2. When a = 0: we get that b = 1 =⇒ b = ±1. In this case we will get A1 =
1 0
 
0 1
and A2 = .
−1 0
Testsing the two matrices we get:
    
2 0 −1 0 −1 −1 0
1. A1 = = = −I2 . Thus0 A1 works.
1 0 1 0 0 −1
    
0 1 0 1 −1 0
2. A22 = = = −I2 . Thus0 A2 works.
−1 0 −1 0 0 −1
Therefore, there exist 2 by 2 matrix A such that A2 = −In .

(c) Let A ∈ Mn×n (R) with n being an even natural number. Let A = [aij ] where aij ∈ R
for all natural 0 < i, j ≤ n. Let A be defined as:
(
0 if i + j ̸= n + 1
aij = i
(−1) if i + j = n + 1.

Or, in other words,  

0 0 ... 0 −1
0 0 . . . 1 0
 
A =  ... .
 
 
0 −1 . . . 0 0
1 0 ... 0 0
Testing this, we get that

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MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023
Written Assignment 3 Solutions

  
0 0 . . . 0 −1 0 0 . . . 0 −1
0 0 . . . 1 0  0 0 . . . 1 0 
  
A2 =  ...
   .. 
 . 
  
0 −1 . . . 0 0  0 −1 . . . 0 0 
1 0 ... 0 0 1 0 ... 0 0
 
−1 0 . . . 0 0
 0 −1 . . . 0 0
 
 ..
= .  = −In .

 
0 0 . . . −1 0 
0 0 . . . 0 −1
Note that n being even is a necessary requirement as when multipliying the matrices,
the positive 1’s have to be matched with the -1’s.
All in all, there exist a matrix A ∈ Mn×n (R) such that A2 = In .