Linear Transformation and Rank Nullity Theorem 2 Lectures

Linear Transformation
and Rank-Nullity Theorem
Dr. Dipankar Ghosh
Department of Mathematics
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
January 24, 2024
Dr. Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Linear Transformation and Rank-Nullity Theorem
Linear Transformations
A ‘Linear Transformation’ is nothing but a map from one vector space
to another which respects (in other words, preserves) every linear
combination, i.e., it is a map which preserves vector addition and
scalar multiplication. Let us start with some well known maps:
T : R2 −→ R2
where c ∈ R

x x
7→ c
y y
y
c 0 x cx
3 =
0 c y cy
c · (x, y) = (cx, cy)
2
1
(x, y)
0
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 x
−1 Stretching
Reflection with x-axis as mirror
T : R2 −→ R2

x x
7→
y −y

1 0 x x
y =
0 −1 y −y
2
1
(x, y)
0 mirror
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 x
−1
(x, −y)
−2
Projection on the x-axis
S : R2 −→ R T : R2 −→ R2

x

7→ x x x
y 7→
y 0

x
1 0 =x
y

1 0 x x
y =
0 0 y 0
2
(x, y)
1
(x, 0)
0 projection on x-axis
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 x
−1
−2
Rotation in Euclidean plane by an angle θ
Consider the map T : R2 → R2 which performs a rotation in the

counterclockwise
xy-plane byan angle
θ about theorigin.
x cos θ − sin θ x x cos θ − y sin θ
T = = .
y sin θ cos θ y x sin θ + y cos θ
y
3
Counterclockwise rotation
• T(x, y) by an angle θ
2 θ
1 •
(x, y)
0
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 x
−1
−2
Linear transformation, or linear map
Definition
A map between vector spaces which satisfies the rule of linearity is
called linear transformation (or linear map).
More precisely, let V and W be vector spaces over the field R (or C).
A linear transformation T : V → W is a function such that
T(c1 v1 + c2 v2 ) = c1 T(v1 ) + c2 T(v2 )
for all c1 , c2 ∈ R and v1 , v2 ∈ V. Equivalently, a linear map is a map

which respects both vector addition and scalar multiplication.
Example (A matrix can be thought of as a linear map)

Starting with an m × n matrix A over R, one can construct a linear
map TA : Rn → Rm defined by TA (X) := AX for all X ∈ Rn .
Proof. TA (X + Y) = A(X + Y) = AX + AY = TA (X) + TA (Y) and TA (cX)

= A(cX) = c(AX) = cTA (X).
Differentiation and integration transformation
Example (Differentiation transformation)
Let V = R[x], the vector space of all polynomials in x over R. Define a map
D : V → V as follows: If f = a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + ar xr , then
D(f ) := a1 + 2a2 x + · · · + rar xr−1 .
Is D a linear transformation?
Answer: Yes. Consider two polynomials f and g, a scalar c ∈ R. Verify that
D(f + g) = D(f ) + D(g) and D(cf ) = cD(f ).
Example (Integration transformation)
Let V be the vector space of all continuous functions from R into R. Define a
map T : V → V as follows: If f ∈ V, then T(f ) is given by
Z x
T(f )(x) = f (t)dt for all x ∈ R.
0
Is T a linear map? First convince yourself that V is a vector space over R.
Answer: Yes. Consider two continuous functions f , g : R → R, a scalar c ∈ R.

Note that T(f + g) = T(f ) + T(g) and T(cf ) = cT(f ).
More examples
Example
Define f : C → C by f (z) = z (conjugate) for all z ∈ C. Consider C as a
vector space over itself.
1 Does f preserves vector addition?
2 Does f preserves scalar multiplication?
3 Is f a linear transformation?
Answers: Yes, No, No (respectively).
Example
Define f : C → C by f (z) = z (conjugate) for all z ∈ C. Consider C as a
vector space over R.
1 Is f a linear transformation?
Answer: Yes
A basic question
Question 1:
Let T : V → W be a linear transformation.
What is T(0), where 0 denotes the additive identity or the zero
vector in the vector space V?
Answer: T(0V ) = 0W (where 0W denotes the zero vector in W)
Justification: T(0V ) = T(0V + 0V ) = T(0V ) + T(0V ). Adding both
sides by −T(0V ), it follows that T(0V ) = 0W .
An observation on matrix multiplication
Multiplying a matrix A with a column vector b yields a linear

combination of the columns
 of A.
  x1
1 2 3 4  
5 6 7 8  x2  =
x3 
9 10 11 12
    x4    
1 2 3 4
x1 5 + x2  6  + x3  7  + x4  8 .
9 10 11 12
 
x1
x2 
 
C1 C2 · · · Cn m×n  .  = x1 (C1 ) + x2 (C2 ) + · · · + xn (Cn ),
 .. 
xn
where C1 , . . . , Cn ∈ Rm .
Matrix representation of a linear map T : Rn → Rm
Theorem
Let T : Rn → Rm be a linear transformation. Then there exists an
m × n matrix A such that T can be represented by A, i.e., T(X) = AX
for every X ∈ Rn .
n
Proof.
 Let {e1 , . . . , en } be the 
standard
  R. Consider
basis of
x1 1 0
x2  0  ..  Xn
X =  .  ∈ Rn . Then X = x1  .  + · · · + xn  . = xi ei .
     
 ..   ..  0
i=1
xn 0 1
Applying T on the above equalities, we have that
T(X) = x1T(e1 ) + x2 T(e2 ) + · · · + xn T(e n)
= T(e1 ) T(e2 ) · · · T(en ) X [by the observation].
Set A := T(e1 ) T(e2 ) · · · T(en ) . Note that T(ej ) ∈ Rm gives the
jth column of A. Thus A is an m × n matrix with T(X) = AX for X ∈ Rn .
Remark. A linear map T : Rn → Rm is uniquely determined by its

action on {e1 , . . . , en }, i.e., by T(ei ) for all 1 6 i 6 n.
Correspondence between linear maps and matrices
(Optional)
Corollary
There is a one to one correspondence between the set of all linear
transformations from Rn to Rm and the collection of all m × n matrices
over R.
Proof. The correspondences are given by

ϕ : T 7→ T(e1 ) T(e2 ) · · · T(en ) and ψ : A 7→ TA .
It can be verified that the compositions ϕ ◦ ψ and ψ ◦ ϕ are the identity

maps on the respective domains.
Ordered bases
1 Let V be a finite dimensional vector space over R.
2 An ordered basis of V is nothing but a basis B = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn }
with a specified ordering of its vectors.
3 It essentially enables us to introduce coordinates in V.
4 Let B = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn } be an ordered basis of V.
5 Given v ∈ V, there is a UNIQUE n-tuple (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) of scalars
such that v = x1 v1 + x2 v2 + · · · + xn vn . Why?
6 We call such xi the ith coordinate of v relative to B.
7 We denote the coordinate vector of v relative to B by
 
x1
x2 
[v]B :=  .  .
 
 .. 
xn
8 On the other hand, every n-tuple (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) ∈ Rn is the
coordinate vector of some vector in V relative to B, namely, the
vector x1 v1 + x2 v2 + · · · + xn vn .
Correspondence between vectors in V and n-tuples in
Rn (Optional)
1 Let u, v ∈ V and c ∈ R. It can be easily verified that
[u + v]B = [u]B + [v]B and [cu]B = c[u]B .

2 Thus an ordered basis B of V determines a one-to-one
correspondence
v ←→ [v]B
between the set of all vectors in V and the set of all n-tuples in
Rn , and this correspondence respects both the vector additions
and scalar multiplications.
3 This also shows that any vector space V of dimension n over R is
isomorphic to Rn .
Matrix representation of T : V → W w.r.t ordered bases of V and W
Theorem.
Let T : V → W be a linear transformation. Let B = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn } and
B 0 = {w1 , w2 , . . . , wm } be two ordered bases of V and W respectively.
Then there exists an m × n matrix A such that T can be represented
by A, i.e., A[v]B = [T(v)]B0 for every v ∈ V. The ith column of A, which
is same as Aei , will be obtained by [T(vi )]B0 .
Definition

The matrix A := [T(v1 )]B0 [T(v2 )]B0 · · · [T(vn )]B0 m×n is called the
matrix representation of T : V → W with respect to the ordered bases
B = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn } and B 0 = {w1 , w2 , . . . , wm } of V and W respectively.
Sketch of the Proof. (You may ignore the proof.)

VO
T
/W T
/ T(v) T
/W T
/W
O vO
O
VO O VO O

Rn Rm [v]B [T(v)]B0 Rn / Rm ???
Rn / Rm A
By the last theorem, there exists A such that the following diagram is
commutative. Observe that the ith column of A is [T(vi )]B0 .
Example 1: Matrix representation of a linear trans...
Example
Let P2 (R) be the vector space of all polynomials with real coefficients
of degree at most 2. Consider D : P2 (R) → P2 (R) defined by
D(a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 ) = a1 + 2a2 x for all a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 ∈ P2 (R).
Find the matrix representation of D with respect to the ordered basis
B = {1, x, x2 } for both domain and codomain of D.
Solution: Note that

D(1) = 0 = 0 × 1 + 0 × x + 0 × x2 .
D(x) = 1 = 1 × 1 + 0 × x + 0 × x2 .
D(x2 ) = 2x = 0 × 1 + 2 × x + 0 × x2 .
Therefore the desired matrix is
 
0 1 0
[D(1)]B [D(x)]B [D(x2 )]B = 0

0 2
0 0 0
Example 2: Matrix representation of a linear trans...
Example
Consider D : P2 (R) → P2 (R) defined by
D(a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 ) = a1 + 2a2 x for all a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 ∈ P2 (R).
Find the matrix representation of D with respect to the ordered bases:

B = {1 + x + x2 , x + x2 , x2 } for the domain, and B0 = {2, 3x, 4x2 } for the
codomain of D.
Solution: Note that
1 2
D(1 + x + x2 ) = 1 + 2x = × 2 + × 3x + 0 × 4x2 .
2 3
1 2
D(x + x2 ) = 1 + 2x = × 2 + × 3x + 0 × 4x2 .
2 3
2
D(x2 ) = 2x = 0 × 2 + × 3x + 0 × 4x2 .
3
Therefore the desired matrix is
 
h i 1/2 1/2 0
2 2 2
[D(1 + x + x )]B0 [D(x + x )]B0 [D(x )]B0 = 2/3 2/3 2/3
0 0 0
Null space and nullity of a linear transformation
Let T : V → W be a linear transformation. Then
Let Null(T) := {v ∈ V : T(v) = 0W } ⊆ V.
Is Null(T) a subspace of V?
Ans: Yes
Justification: It is non-empty as 0V ∈ Null(T).
If u, v ∈ Null(T) and c, d ∈ R,
then T(cu + dv) = cT(u) + dT(v) = 0W ,
and hence cu + dv ∈ Null(T).
Definition (Null space and nullity)

Null(T) := {v ∈ V : T(v) = 0W } is called the null space of T.
The nullity of T is defined to be the dimension of Null(T).
Example
Find the null space and nullity of the linear transformations discussed
in the beginning of the notes.
Range (or Image) of a linear transformation, and rank
Let T : V → W be a linear transformation. Then
Let Image(T) := {w ∈ W : w = T(v) for some v ∈ V} ⊆ W.
Is Image(T) a subspace of W?
Ans: Yes
Justification: It is non-empty as 0W ∈ Image(T).
If w1 , w2 ∈ Image(T) and c1 , c2 ∈ R,
then w1 = T(v1 ) and w2 = T(v2 ) for some v1 , v2 ∈ V,
and hence c1 w1 + c2 w2 = T(c1 v1 + c2 v2 ) ∈ Image(T).
Definition (Range space and rank)

Image(T) := {w ∈ W : w = T(v) for some v ∈ V} is called the
range space of T.
The rank of T is the dimension of the range space of T.
Question to think: Is there any relation between rank (resp., nullity) of

a linear transformation and that of a matrix? (See Lecture 7)
Consider the correspondence TA ↔ A. Here A is an m × n real matrix,
and TA : Rn → Rm is the corresponding linear map.
Rank-Nullity Theorem
Theorem
Let T : V → W be a linear transformation, where dim(V) is finite.
Then rank(T) + nullity(T) = dim(V).
Proof. Start with a basis {u1 , . . . , un } of Null(T). Extend this to a

basis {u1 , . . . , un , v1 , . . . , vr } of V. It is enough to prove that
{T(v1 ), . . . , T(vr )} is a basis of Image(T).
Spanning: Any vector of Image(T) looks like T(v) for some v ∈ V.

Write v = c1 u1 + · · · + cn un + d1 v1 + · · · + dr vr . Then
T(v) = c1 T(u1 ) + · · · + cn T(un ) + d1 T(v1 ) + · · · + dr T(vr )
= d1 T(v1 ) + · · · + dr T(vr ).
Lin. Independence: Let b1 T(v1 ) + · · · + br T(vr ) = 0.
This implies that b1 v1 + · · · + br vr ∈ Null(T).
So b1 v1 + · · · + br vr = a1 u1 + · · · + an un for some ai ∈ R.
Thus b1 v1 + · · · + br vr − a1 u1 − · · · − an un = 0.
Therefore b1 = · · · = br = 0.
Row and column spaces
Definition
Let A be an m × n matrix over R.
The subspace of Rm generated by all columns (column vectors)
of A is called the column space of A.
The subspace of Rn generated by all rows (row vectors) of A is
called the row space of A.
Example
 
1 2 4 3
Let A = 5 6 8 .
7
9 10 1211
       
 1 2 3 4 
Column space of A is Span 5 ,  6  ,  7  ,  8  .
9 10 11 12
 
Column space of A is a subspace of R3 .
Examples: Row and column spaces
Example
 
1 2 4 3
Let A = 5 6 8 . 7
9 1012 11
      

 1 5 9 
      
2 6 10

Row space of A is Span  , ,  .
3 7 11

 
4 8 12
 
Row space of A is a subspace of R4 .
Example
    
1 0 2 0  x1 
If A = 0 1 3 0, Column Sp. is x2  ∈ R3 : x3 = 0 .
0 0 0 0 x3
 
Row rank and column rank
Definition
Let A be an m × n matrix over R.
The dimension of the column space of A is called the column
rank of A.
The dimension of the row space of A is called the row rank of A.
Example
   
1 0 2 0 1 1 1 1
Let A = 0 1 3 0 and B = 0 2 1 1.
0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Column rank of A is 2. Row rank of A is 2.
Column rank of B is 3. Row rank of B is 3.
As a consequence of Rank-Nullity Theorem, we can verify that for an
arbitrary matrix D, row rank(D) = column rank(D).
For every matrix, row rank = column rank (an
application of the Rank-Nullity Theorem)
Theorem
For an m × n matrix A over R, row rank(A) = column rank(A).
Some observations to prove: row rank = column rank
1 Consider A as a linear map A : Rn → Rm .

2 An element of Image(A) looks like AX for some X ∈ Rn .
3 But AX = x1 A1 + · · · + xn An , where Ai is the ith column of A.
4 Therefore Image(A) = Span{A1 , . . . , An } = Column Sp.(A).
5 Hence rank(A) := dim(Image(A)) = column rank(A).
6 Rank-nullity theorem: rank(A) + nullity(A) = dim(Rn ).
7 Therefore column rank(A) = n − nullity(A).
So it is enough to show that
row rank(A) = n − nullity(A).
Elementary row operations preserve row space, hence
rank
Theorem
Let A and B be row equivalent. Then A and B have the same row
space. In particular, row rank(A) = row rank(B).
Proof. Note that A and B have the same order (say, m × n).
Let R1 , . . . , Rm ∈ Rn be the row vectors of A. We observe that the
elementary row operations preserve the row space:
1 Effect of the 1st type elementary row operation, e.g.,
Span{R1 , R2 , R3 , . . . , Rm } = Span{R2 , R1 , R3 , . . . , Rm }.
2 Effect of the 2nd type elementary row operation, e.g.,
Span{R1 , R2 , R3 , . . . , Rm } = Span{R1 , c · R2 , R3 , . . . , Rm }, where
c 6= 0 (important!).
3 Effect of the 3rd type elementary row operation, e.g.,
Span{R1 , R2 , R3 , . . . , Rm } = Span{R1 , R2 − c · R1 , R3 , . . . , Rm }, where
c ∈ R.
Elementary row operations preserve the nullity of a
matrix
1 Let A and B be row equivalent matrices over R.

2 Then AX = 0 and BX = 0 have the same solution set,
i.e., Null(A) = Null(B).
3 Therefore nullity(A) = nullity(B).
Proof of “row rank(A) = n − nullity(A)”
1 Let A be an m × n matrix over R.

2 A is row-equivalent to a row-reduced echelon matrix B.
3 Since row rank(A) = row rank(B) and nullity(A) = nullity(B), it is
enough to prove that
row rank(B) + nullity(B) = n.

4 We will study some examples to observe this equality. But I will
leave it as an exercise to verify this equality in the general
situation.
For a row-reduced echelon B,
row rank(B) = n − nullity(B)
3 7
 
1 0 5 5
Consider a row-reduced echelon matrix B=0 1 − 15 1
5
.
0 0 0 0
We shall show that row rank(B) + nullity(B) = 4.
It can be observed that row rank(B) is the number of non-zero
rows of B, i.e., the number of pivots of B.
So row rank(B) = 2.
Consider the system BX = 0. The pivot variables are x1 , x2 . The
free variables are x3 and x4 . The system BX = 0 is
3 7
x1 + x3 + x4 = 0
5 5
1 1
x2 − x3 + x4 = 0
5 5
We claim that nullity(B) is the number of free variables, because
...
How to solve BX = 0 when B is row-reduced echelon?
3 7
 
1 0 5 5
Consider B=0 1 − 15 15 , a row-reduced echelon matrix.
0 0 0 0
The corresponding homogeneous system can be written as
3 7
x1 + x3 + x4 = 0
5 5
1 1
x2 − x3 + x4 = 0
5 5
The solutions of the system are given by
 
3 7
 
x1 − x
 5 3 5 4 − x 
−3/5
 
−7/5

x2   1 1   1/5  −1/5
 =
x3   5 x 3 − x4  = x3 
 1  + x4  0 
  
5 

x4  x3  0 1
x4
nullity(B) = dim(Null(B)) = the number of free variables.
Isomorphism of vector spaces
Definition
1 A linear map T : V → W is said to be an isomorphism if there is
a linear map S : W → V such that S ◦ T = 1V : V → V (identity
map) and T ◦ S = 1W : W → W.
2 Equivalently, a linear map T : V → W is said to be an
isomorphism if it is bijective (as a set map).
3 If T : V → W is an isomorphism, we say that V and W are
isomorphic, and we write V ∼
= W.
Example
Let A be an n × n matrix over R. Consider A : Rn → Rn as a linear
map. When is it an isomorphism?
Answer: When there is an inverse linear map B : Rn → Rn such that
A ◦ B = 1Rn and B ◦ A = 1Rn , i.e., when there is an n × n matrix B over
R such that AB = In and BA = In , i.e., when A is an invertible matrix.
Thank You!

Linear Transformation and Rank Nullity Theorem 2 Lectures

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Linear Transformation

and Rank-Nullity Theorem

Dr. Dipankar Ghosh

January 24, 2024

Consider the map T : R2 → R2 which performs a rotation in the

T(c1 v1 + c2 v2 ) = c1 T(v1 ) + c2 T(v2 )

for all c1 , c2 ∈ R and v1 , v2 ∈ V. Equivalently, a linear map is a map

Example (A matrix can be thought of as a linear map)

Proof. TA (X + Y) = A(X + Y) = AX + AY = TA (X) + TA (Y) and TA (cX)

D(f ) := a1 + 2a2 x + · · · + rar xr−1 .

Is T a linear map? First convince yourself that V is a vector space over R.

Answer: Yes. Consider two continuous functions f , g : R → R, a scalar c ∈ R.

Answers: Yes, No, No (respectively).

Multiplying a matrix A with a column vector b yields a linear

Remark. A linear map T : Rn → Rm is uniquely determined by its

It can be verified that the compositions ϕ ◦ ψ and ψ ◦ ϕ are the identity

1 Let u, v ∈ V and c ∈ R. It can be easily verified that

[u + v]B = [u]B + [v]B and [cu]B = c[u]B .

Sketch of the Proof. (You may ignore the proof.)

Solution: Note that

D(a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 ) = a1 + 2a2 x for all a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 ∈ P2 (R).

Find the matrix representation of D with respect to the ordered bases:

Definition (Null space and nullity)

Definition (Range space and rank)

Question to think: Is there any relation between rank (resp., nullity) of

Proof. Start with a basis {u1 , . . . , un } of Null(T). Extend this to a

Spanning: Any vector of Image(T) looks like T(v) for some v ∈ V.

Column space of A is a subspace of R3 .

Row space of A is a subspace of R4 .

1 Consider A as a linear map A : Rn → Rm .

row rank(A) = n − nullity(A).

1 Let A and B be row equivalent matrices over R.

1 Let A be an m × n matrix over R.

row rank(B) + nullity(B) = n.

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