Chapter Foure

Vector space

Asma Alramle

November 21, 2020

Definition 1 A set V is called vector space over the field R if the following laws hold:
1. For any u, v ∈ V , we have u + v ∈ V .
2. (u + v) + w = u + (v + w) for all u, v, w ∈ V .
3. There is a vector 0 in V with 0 + v = v for all v ∈ V .(0 is called the zero vector and it is unique).
4. For each v ∈ V there is −v ∈ V satisfying −v + v = 0. (−v is calle dthe negative of v and it is a
unique for each v).
5. u + v = v + u for all u, v ∈ V
6. For any u ∈ V and r ∈ R, we have ru ∈ V .
7. a(u + v) = au + av for al u, v ∈ V and a, b ∈ R.
8. (a + b)v = av + bv.
9. (ab)v = a(bv).
10. For any v ∈ V , 1.v = v

The notation (V, +, .) means that V is a vector space under the operations addition and scalar multipli-
cation.

The elements of V are called vectors and the elements of R are called scalars. The lop-sided product
(scalar) × (vector) = vector; vectors are called scalar multiples.

Remark 1 Note that, if u and v are vectors in R3 , then u = (a1 , a2 , a3 ) and v = (b1 , b2 , b3 ). However, the
operations of vector addition is defined as

(a1 , a2 , a3 ) + (b1 , b2 , b3 ) = (a1 + b1 , a2 + b2 , a3 + b3 )

and the Scalar multiplication is defined as

r(a1 , a2 , a3 ) = (ra1 , ra2 , ra3 ).

for r ∈ R.
The above two operations are called the usual addition and the usual scalar multiplication.

The followings are all examples of vector spaces under the usuall operations.
Example 1 1. (R, +, .) itself is a vector space.

2. For any positive integer n , (Rn , +, .) is a vector space, the set of all ordered n−tuples

3. (R3 , +, .) is a vector space over R.

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 4. The set R[x] of all polynomials over R is a vector space under the usual polynomial addition and scalar
multiplication. For example, the set of linear polynomiasl {a0 + a1 x|a0 , a1 ∈ R} under the
usual polynomial addition and scalar multiplication operations is a vector space.

5. The set M2,2 (R) of all 2 × 2 matrices is a vector space under the usual matrix addition and the usual
scalar multiplication.

The vector space V = {0} is called the trivial vector space.

Proposition 1 Let (V, +, .) be a vector space over R, then

1. The zero vector is unique.

2. Each vector v in V has a unique negative.

3. 0v = 0 for all v ∈ V

4. (−a)v = a(−v) for any a ∈ R and v ∈ V

5. Given u, v ∈ V , there is a unique w ∈ V with w + u = v

6. If av = 0, then either a = 0 or v = 0.

7. a.0 = 0 for every a ∈ R

Proof of (3)
Using properties of vector space, we have v + 0.v = 1.v + 0.v = (1 + 0).v = 1.v = v = v + 0
Adding −v to both sides
−v + v + 0.v = −v + v + 0
then 0.v = 0

proof of (7)
For any v ∈ V we have
a.0 = a.(v − v) = a.v + a.(−v) = a.v + a.[(−1).v] = a.v + (−a).v = a.v + −a.v = 0

Example 2 Show that each of the followings is not vector space

2
  
a 1
1. A = { : a, b, c ∈ R} under the usual matrix operations.
b c
Solution    
a1 1 a2 1
Let u, v ∈ A. Then u = and v =
b1 c1 b2 c 2
     
a1 1 a2 1 a1 + a2 2
Note that u + v = + =
b1 c 1 b2 c2 b1 + b2 c1 + c2
does not belong to A because the entry in the first row and second column is not 1.
Hence A is not vector space.
2. V = {a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 : a0 , a1 , a2 ∈ R+ } under the usual polynomial operations. Solution

If v ∈ V , then −v has negative coefficients. but all the coefficints in V are positive reals.
Therefore V is not vector space.
3. V = R2 with operations
(x1 , y1 ) + (x2 , y2 ) = (x1 − x2 , y1 − y2 )
r(x, y) = (rx, ry) for r ∈ R.
Solution

Let u, v ∈ V , then u = (x1 , y1 ) and v = (x2 , y2 )

Then u + v = (x1 − x2 , y1 − y2 ) but
v + u = (x2 − x1 , y2 − y1 ). Then u + v 6= v + u.

4. S = {(x, y) ∈ R2 : x + y = 1}.
Solution

Let u, v ∈ S, then u = (x1 , y1 ) and v = (x2 , y2 ), such that x1 + y1 = 1 and x2 + y2 = 1

Now u + v = (x1 , y1 ) + (x2 , y2 ) = (x1 + x2 , y1 + y2 )

but x1 + x2 + y1 + y2 = (x1 + y1 ) + (x2 + y2 ) = 1 + 1 = 2
So S is not closed under addition operation.

5. V = {(2x, x2 ) : x ∈ R}
Solution

Let u, v ∈ V , then u = (2x, x2 ) and v = (2y, y 2 )

u + v = (2x, x2 ) + (2y, y 2 ) = (2x + 2y, x2 + y 2 ) = (2(x + y), x2 + y 2 )

On the other hand note that (x + y)2 6= x2 + y 2

Therefore, V is not closed under addition operation.

Exercise:
Show that each of the followings is not vector space

3
  
a b
1. W = { : a, b, c ∈ R} where W is the vector space of all 2 × 2 matrices over the field R.
−a c

2. V = {(x, y) ∈ R2 : x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0} with usual operations.

3. V = {(x, y) ∈ R2 } with the usual addition of R2 but using scalar multiplication a(x, y) = (ax, −ay).
4. Let V be a vector space over R. Show that if v ∈ V and a, b ∈ R with a 6= b, then av = bv implies that
v = 0.

5. V = {A ∈ M2 (R) : det(A) = 0} with usual matrix operations.

Definition 2 Two vectors (x1 , x2 , ..., xn ) and (y1 , y2 , ..., yn ) in Rn are called equal if x1 = y1 , x2 = y2 , . . . , xn =
yn .

Definition 3 (Vector Subspace) Suppose that (V, +, .) be a vector space over R and S be a non empty
set of V . Then S is a subspace of V if S forms a vector space over R under the vector addition and scalar
multiplication defined in V .

Remark 1 Any subspace is a vector space in its own right with respect to the vector addition and scalar
multiplication that is defined for V .

Remark 2 Let V be a vector space, then the sets {0} and V are vector subspaces of V . These are called
trivial subspaces.

Theorem 2 (Subspace Test) Suppose that (V, +, .) be a vector space over R. A subset S of V is called a
subspace of V if the following conditions are satisfied:

• The zero vector belongs to S, (that is, 0 ∈ S).

• If u ∈ S and v ∈ S, then u + v ∈ S . (S is said to be closed under addition).
• u ∈ S and t ∈ R, then tu ∈ S (S is said to be closed under scalar multiplication )

Examples

1. Prove that the set S = {(x, y) ∈ R2 : ax + by = 0 where a, b ∈ R} is a subspace of R2 .

 
a b
2. Show that the set W = { : a, b, c ∈ R} is a subspace of M2,2 (R).
c 0

3. Let S = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 :: x + y − z = 0}. Then S is a subspace of R3 .

4. Let S = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 : x + y + z = 3}. Then S is not a subspace of R3 .

5. Which of the following subsets of R3 are subspaces of R3

(a) S = {(x1 , x2 , x3 ) : xi ≥ 0} for all i..
(b) U = {(x1 , x2 , 0) : |x1 | ≥ |x2 |}.
(c) W = {(x, 2x, 3x) : x ∈ R}.
(d) L = {(x + y, x − y, −x) : x, y ∈ R}.
(e) S = {(x + y, x − y, z + 1) : x, y, z ∈ R}
6. Which of the following are correct statement?

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 (a) Let V be a vector space and let u ∈ V , then the set {au : a ∈ R} forms a vector subspace of V .
(b) Let A be n × n matrix, then S = {B ∈ Mn : AB = BA} is a subspace of Mn .
(c) If P is the set of all polynomials, then U = {p(x) ∈ P : p(3) = 0} is a subspace of P .

Corollary 1 Let S1 , S2 be subspaces of the vector space V then S1 ∩ S2 and S1 + S2 are subspaces of V .

Note that, in general, the union of vector subspaces might not be a subspace.

Definition 4 (Linear Combinations and Spanning) Let {v1 , v2 , ...vn } be a set of vectors in a vector
space V , a vector v is called a linear combination of the vectors v1 , v2 , ..., vn if it can be expressed in
the form
v = a1 v1 + a2 v2 + ... + an vn
where a1 , ..., an ∈ R are scalars, are called the coefficientsof v1 , v2 , ..., vn . The set of all linear combinations
of these vectors is called their span, and it is denoted by

span{v1 , v2 , ...vn } = {a1 v1 + a2 v2 + ... + an vn |ai ∈ R}

Example The vector (4, 5, 5) is a linear combination of the vectors (1, 0, 0), (1, 1, 0), and(1, 1, 1).

Example Is the vector (4, 5, 5) a linear combination of the vectors (1, 2, 3), (−1, 1, 4), and(3, 3, 2)?

Example Verify that the vector (4, 5, 5) is not a linear combination of the vectors (1, 2, 1), (1, 1, 0)?

Remarks
1. In R2 , every vector (x; y) is a linear combination of the two vectors e1 = (1; 0) and e2 = (0; 1), for
clearly (x; y) = xe1 + ye2 .
2. In R3 , every vector (x; y, z) is a linear combination of the three vectors e1 = (1; 0, 0), e2 = (0; 1, 0),
and e3 = (0, 0, 1) for clearly (x; y, z) = xe1 + ye2 + ze3 .

Example 3 The two vectors e1 = (1; 0) and e2 = (0; 1) span R2 .

Example 4 The three vectors e1 = (1; 0, 0), e2 = (0; 1, 0), and e3 = (0, 0, 1) span R3 .

Linear Independence
Definition 5 Let S = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn } be any non−empty subset of a vector space V .
We say that the set S is linearly dependent if there exist some non−zero scalars c1 , c2 , . . . cn ∈ R such
that c1 v1 + c2 v2 + · · · + cn vn = 0. Otherwise, the set S is called linearly independent.
Please not that:
We say that v1 , v2 , . . . , vn are linearly independent if they are not linearly dependent; in other words, if
the only solution of c1 v1 + c2 v2 + · · · + cn vn = 0 is c1 = c2 = · · · = cn = 0.

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Example 5 Check that the set of vectors S = {(1, 2, 1), (2, 1, 4), (3, 3, 5)}is linearly independent/dependent?

Example 6 Show that the set of vectors S = {(1, 1, 1), (1, 1, 0), (1, 0, 1)}is linearly independent.

Basis and Dimension

Definition 6 A non−empty subset B = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn } of a vector space V is called Basis of V if

• B is linearly independent set, and

• B span V .

Example 7 1. In R3 , the set B = {(1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)} forms a basis of R3 . This set is called the
standard basis of R3 .

In general, the set {e1 , e2 , ...en } forms the standard basis of Rn .

2. Check if the set B1 = {(1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0)} or B2 = {(1, 0, 0), (1, 1, 0)} are bases of R3 .

3. Show that the set of vectors S = {(1, 1, 2), (2, 1, 3).(1, 2, 3)} cannot be a basis of R3 .

Definition 7 A vector space V is said to be finite dimensional if there exists a basis consisting of finite
number of vectors.Otherwise, the vector space is called infinite dimensional.
The dimension of a finite dimensional vector space V is the number of vectors in a basis of V , denoted
dim(V).

Note that: Let V be a finite dimenstional vector space. Then any two bases of V have the same number
of vectors.

The trivial vector space {0} has dimension 0.

       
1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Example 8 If V = M22 (the space of all 2×2 matrices , then the set B = { , , , }
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
forms the standard basis of M22 .

Example 9 Consider the set B = {v1 = (1, 1, 0), v2 = (5, 1, −3), v3 = (2; 7; 4)} in R3 . Then B forms a basis
of R3

       
1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
Example 10 Show that the set S = , , , } in M22 is independent.
0 0 1 0 1 −1 0 1

Home work (20 Marks)

1. Consider the set of vectors B = {v1 = (1; 2; 3), v2 = (3; 2; 1), v3 = (3; 3; 3)} in R3 . Does B be a basis
of R3 ?

2. In each case show that the given vectors are linearly independent and express (1, 0, 0) as a linear
combination of them
• (1, 1, 1), (1, −1, 1), (1, 1, −1);

• (1, 0, 1), (0, 1, 2), (1, 2, 3)

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3. The vectors (1, x, 3), (x + 1, y, 1) are linearly dependent. Find x, y.
4. The vectors (1, 2, 1), (1, 1, 2), (x, 1, 1) do not span R3 find x .
5. Find x such that (1 + x, 2x, 3x) is a linear combination of {(2, 1, 1), (1, 2, 1)}.
       
1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0
6. Verify that the set S = , , , } is a basis of M22 .
0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0