MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023

Written Assignment 2 Due Tuesday, Feb 28 at 8:30 AM

Instructions
• Please upload your solutions into the appropriate slot on Crowdmark.

• The coverage for this assignment is up to section 5.4 (inclusive). Your solutions should not
use material from any later sections. You are allowed to use material from earlier sections.
You are also allowed to use any results that appear in Practice Problem lists 1–6 (but please
make sure to clearly cite them).

• You can earn a 0.25 course grade bonus for typesetting your solutions in LaTeX (or equivalent
typesetting software). Please see the course outline for more details.

Problems
 
a 1 0
Q1. Let A = 0 a 1, where a ∈ F. Prove that
0 0 a
 n n(n−1) n−2 
a nan−1 2 a
n
A =0 an nan−1  for all integers n ≥ 2.
0 0 an

Q2. We say that a function T : Fn → Fm is invertible if there exists a function L : Fm → Fn such

that
L(T ( #»
v )) = #»
v for all #»
v ∈ Fn
and
T (L( #»
u )) = #»
u for all #»
u ∈ Fm .
Such a function L, if it exists, is said to be an inverse of T .

(a) Let T : Fn → Fm be an invertible function. Prove that if L1 : Fm → Fn and L2 : Fm → Fn

are inverses of T , then
L1 ( #»
u ) = L2 ( #»
u ) for all #»
u ∈ Fm .
[Thus, L1 and L2 are the same function. So an inverse of T , if it exists, is unique, and
we may call it the inverse of T .]
(b) Prove that if T : Fn → Fm is an invertible linear transformation, and if L : Fm → Fn is
the inverse of T , then L is a linear transformation.
(c) Let TA : Fn → Fn be the linear transformation determined by a matrix A ∈ Mn×n (F).
Prove that
TA is invertible if and only if A is invertible.
In the case where TA is invertible, determine the inverse of TA .

1
MATH136: Linear Algebra 1 Winter 2023
Written Assignment 2 Due Tuesday, Feb 28 at 8:30 AM

Q3. Let v#»1 , . . . , v#»k ∈ Fn be such that Fn = Span{v#»1 , . . . , v#»k }. Let T : Fn → Fm and S : Fn → Fm
be linear transformations that satisfy

T ( #»
v i ) = S( #»
v i) for all i = 1, . . . , k.

Prove that
T ( #»
v ) = S( #»
v) for all #»
v ∈ Fn .

Q4. Prove/disprove:

(a) The function T : Rn → R defined by T ( #»

v ) = ∥ #»
v ∥ is a linear transformation.
(b) Let x ∈ R be a fixed vector. The function T : Rn → R defined by T ( #»
#» n v ) = #»
v · #»
x is a
linear transformation.
(c) Let A ∈ Mn×n (F) be an invertible matrix, and let TA : Fn → Fn be the linear trans-
formation determined by A. For all #»
y ∈ Fn , there exists a unique #»
x ∈ Fn such that
#» #»
TA ( x ) = y .
(d) Let A, B ∈ Mn×n (F). Suppose that AB = AT and that A is invertible. Then B must
be invertible.