|  This tutorial includes many theorems that involve vector spaces and other topics that
apply to vector spaces. To gain the best understanding of the material covered it is 
suggested that you review each proof or if there is none, try to prove each theorem on your 
own. Also each topic has several examples that pertain to the theorems or definitions given 
and should also be reviewed. Vector Spaces If we have a set V and u and v exist in V
then V is said to be closed under addition if u + v exists in V If v is in V, and k is any scalar, then V is said to be closed under 
scalar multiplication if kv exists in V A vector space or linear space V, is a set which satisfies the 
following for all u, v and w in V and scalars c and d:
   Probably the most improtant example of a vector space is  for any n  1. We can easily see that the additive identity 0
 exists and it is closed under addition and scalar multiplication. To show that  satisfies the other 8 properties very simple and 
is left as an exercise. The examples given at the end of the vector space section examine some vector spaces more 
closely. To have a better understanding of a vector space be sure to look at each example listed. Theorem 1:
Let V be a vector space, u a vector in V and c a scalar then:1) 0u = 0
 2) c0 = 0
 3) (-1)u = -u
 4) If cu = 0, then c = 0 or u = 0
 Examples:1
| Show if a set is a vector space2
| 3 Examples of a vector spaces
 
 
 SubspacesA subset W of a linear space V is called a subspace 
of V if:1) W contains the additive identity 0
 2) W is closed under addition
 3) W is closed under scalar multiplication
 Basically a subset W of a vector space V is a subspace if 
W itself is a vector space under the same scalars and addition and scalar 
multiplication as V. Consider the set of vectors S={v1, 
v2, ... , vk} of a vector 
space V. Then we say the span of v1, 
v2, ... , vk is the set 
of all linear combinations of v1, 
v2, ... , vk and is 
denoted span(S). If V = span(S) then S is called a spanning set for 
V and V is spanned by S. Theorem 2:
Let v1, v2, ... , 
vk be vectors in a vector space V then:1) span(v1, v2, ... , 
vk) is a subspace of V
 2) span(v1, v2, ... , 
vk) is the smallest subspace of V that 
contains v1, v2, ... , 
vk
 Examples:3
| Show that a set is a subspace
 
 Linear IndependanceWe have covered what linear independance is in previous tutorials but will now apply it 
to vector spaces. We say a set of vectors v1, 
v2, ... , vk are linearly 
independent if the equation: c1v1+
c2v2+...+
ckvk = 0 
only has trivial solution: c1 = 
c2 = ... = ck = 0 If a set is not linear independent then it is said to be linearly dependent. This 
means that there is at least one ci in the above equation 
such that ci 0 where i = 1, 2, ... , k. Theorem 3:
A vector set {v1, v2, 
... , vk} in a vector space V is linearly 
dependent if and only if at least one vi (where i = 1, 2, 
... , k) can be written as the linear combination of the others. We say that elements v1, v2, 
... , vk form a basis of a vector space 
V if they span V and are linearly independent. This means that 
all v in V can be written uniquely as a 
linear combination ie: v = 
c1v1+ 
c2v2+ ... + 
ckvk The scalars or coefficients c1, 
c2, ... , ck are called 
the coordinates of v with respect to the basis  = 
{v1, 
v2, ... , vk} and the column
vector: 
    is called the coordinate vector of v with respect to 
 Theorem 4:
Consider a basis  for a subspace V and let 
u , v be vectors in V and c a scalar. Then: 1) [u + v]B = 
[u]B + [v]B
 2) [cu]B = c[u]B
 4
| Proof
 Theorem 5:
Let V be a vector space with a basis  = 
{v1, 
v2, ... , vk} and 
u1, u2, ... , 
uk be vectors in V. Then the set 
{u1, u2, ... , 
uk} is linearly independent in V if and only
 if {[u1]B, 
[u2]B, ... , 
[uk]B} is linearly independent 
in
  . Examples:4
| Find the basis
 
 DimentionThe dimention of a subspace V or dim(V) is the number 
of vectors in the basis of V. Finite-dimentional defines a basis which 
has a finite number of vectors and infinite-dimentional defines a basis which has 
infinite number. Theorem 6:
If a subspace V has a basis  = 
{v1, v2, ... , 
vk} then: 1) Any set of more then k vectors in V must be linearly dependent
 2) Any set of fewer then k vectors in V cannot span V
 3) Every basis for V has exactly k vectors
 6
| Proof
  is the set of all polynomials and has a basis: 
{1, x, x2, ... }. Since the basis has an infinte number of elements then  has infinte dimention.  n on the other hand contains n + 1 vectors in the basis, therefore is finite-dimentional
 Theorem 7:
If W is a subspace of a finite dimentional vector space V then:1) W is finite dimentional and dim(W)
  dim(V) 2) dim(W) = dim(V) if and only if W = V
 Examples:5
| Find a basis and determine the dimention
 
 Change of BasisIf we had two bases  = 
{u1, u2, ... ,
un
 and  = {v1, 
v2, ... ,vn}
for a vector space V then there is a n  n
 matrix whose columns are the coordinate vectors 
[u1]C, 
[u2]C, ... , 
[un]C of the vectors in  with respect to  is called the  change-of-basis matrix from  to  . It is denoted by  That is: 
  = 
[[u1]C, 
[u2]C, ... , 
[un]C]  This may seem complicated, but simplily put the columns of  are just the corrdinate vectors obtained by writing the "old basis  in terms of the new basis  . Try some of the examples 
in order to see how this is applied. Theorem 8:
If we had two bases  and  for a vecor space V and change-of-basis  then: 1)
  [x]B = 
[x]C for all x in V. 2)
  is the unique matrix P with the 
property that P[x]B = [x]C 
for all x in  V. 3)
  is invertible and 
(  )-1 =  8
| Proof
 Gauss-Jordan elimination is regularily used to find the inverse of a matrix. Finding the
 change-of-basis matrix from a standard basis requires the calculation of a matrix inverse. 
Therefore with a slight modification we can use the Gauss-Jordan method to find the change-of-basis
 matrix between two nonstandard bases. The following theorem explains how. Theorem 9:
Consider a subspace V with bases 
[ C | B ] ={u1, 
u2, ... , un} and  ={v1, 
v2, ... , vn}. If 
B = [[u1]E, 
[u2]E, ... , 
[un]E] and 
C = [[v1]E, 
[v2]E, ... ,
[vn]E] where  is any 
basis for V then row reduction applied to [ C | B ] produces: 
  [ I |  ] Examples:6
| Find the change-of-basis matrix
 
  Linear Transformations Consider two vector spaces V and W a function or mapping 
T from V to W is called a linear transformation if for 
all u, v in V and all scalars k:1) T(u + v) = T(u) + T(v)
 2) T(ku) = kT(u)
 A mapping T:V to W is also a linear transformation if and 
only if for all v1, v2, 
... ,vn in V and scalars 
c1, c2, ... , 
cn T(c1
v1 + c2
v2 + ... + cn
vn) = c1T(
v1) + c2T(
v2) + ... + cnT(
vn) Theorem 10:
If T is a linear transformation from V to W and 
u and v exist in V then:1) T(0) = 0
 2) T(-v) = -T(v)
 3) T(u - v) = T(u) - T(v)
 10
| Proof
 Theorem 11: 
Consider a linear transformation T from V to W letting 
 = {v1, 
v2, ... , vn}
be a spanning set for V. Then T(  ) = 
{T(v1), T(v2), ... ,
T(vn)} spans the range of T. 11
| Proof
 Examples:7
| Show whether a transformation is linear8
| Show whether a transformation is linear
 
 
 Composition of a Linear Transformations The compostion of a linear transformation is similar to the composition of a 
function in calculus.If T is a linear transformation from U to V and S is a linear 
transformation from V to W then the composition of S with T is 
the transformation or mapping S
  T 
defined by  S T(u) = 
S(T(u) where u exists in U The next theorem follows directly from the definition:
 Theorem 12:
If T from U to V and S from V to W 
are linear transformation then S
  T from 
U to W is a linear transformation. A linear transformation T from V to W is invertible 
if there exists a linear transformation T' from W to V 
such that T'  T = I
V and T  T' = 
IW Properties of inverses: If T is a linear transformation from V to 
U then:1) If T is invertible then so is T'
 2) If T is invertible then it's inverse is unique
 3) T is invertible if and only if ker(T)={0} and im(T)=W
 Examples:9
| Show whether a transformation is invertible
 
 Kernel and Range of a Linear TransformationConsider a linear transformation T that goes from V to W. Then 
the kernel of T or the ker(T), is the set of all vectors which takes T to 0 or the 
null set in W. This can be shown in the following: ker(T) = {v in V: T(v) = 0} Another useful definition in this unit is the range of T, also refered to as the image of T and is 
denoted range(T). It is similar to the range of a function in calculus in that it is the set 
of all vectors in W which are images of the vectors 
in V under T. This can be shown in the following: range(T) = {w in W: w = T(v for some v in W) Theorem 13: The Rank-Nullity Theorem
Consider the linear transformation T from V to W where V and W
are finite dimentional then: nullity(T) = dim(ker(T))     and      rank(T) = dim(range(T)) Then:
 rank(T) + nullity(T) = dim(V)
 13
| Proof
 
			
 Examples:10
| Find the image and kernel of the transformation
 
  One-to-One and Onto Linear Transformations   Consider a linear transformation T from V to W. T is said 
to be one-to-one if for all u and v in V: u v  T(u)  T(v) and
 T(u) = T(v)
  u = v Figure 1 shows two examples of one-to-one functions. Both are also onto (see the next definition).
    A linear transformation T from V to W is said to be onto
if for all w and W there is at least one v in V such that:: w = T(v) Figure 2 has two examples. the first is onto beacause every point in W exists in V.
The second example is not onto, beacause there is one point in W which does not corresponded to 
a point in V by T.
  The following theorems can be used to solve various problems dealing with linear transformations.
Before trying to manipulate the theorems it maybe better to view each proof first to gain
 a better understanding of each theorem. Theorem 14:
 A linear transformation is one-to-one if and only if ker(T)={0}14
| Proof
 Theorem 15:
Let dim(V) = dim(W) = n. Then a linear transformation T from 
V W is one-to-one 
if and only if is onto 15
| Proof
  Theorem 16:
Consider a one-to-one linear transformation T from 
V W. Then if we have a 
linearly independent set S={v1, v2, ... , 
vk} then T(S)={T(v1),
 T(v2), ... , T(vk)} is 
also linearly independent in W. 16
| Proof
 Theorem 17:
A linear transformation is invertible if and only if it is both one-to-one and onto17
| Proof
 Examples:11
| Find if the linear transformation is one-to-one and onto12
| Show that the transformation is invertible
 
 
  Isomorphisms of Vector Spaces An invertible linear transformation is called an isomorphism. We say that the linear
spaces V and W are isomorphic if there is an isomorphism from 
V to W.  Properties of isomorphisms:Consider a linear transformation T from V to W
 1) If T is an isomorphism, the so is T-1
 2) T is an isomorphism if and only if   ker(T) = {0} and range(T) = W
 3) If v1, v2, ... , 
vk is a basis in V then 
T(v1), T(v2), ... , 
T(vk) is a basis in W
 4) If V and W are finite dimentional vector spaces, then
V is isomorphic to W if and only if
    dim(V) = dim(W)
 Examples:13
| Show that the transformation is an isomorphism
 
 Matrix of a Linear TransformationConsider a linear transformation T from  to  and a basis  of  . The n  n matrix 
B that transforms [x]B into
 [T(x)]B is called the  -matrix
 of T for instance for all x in  : [T(x)]B = B[(x)]B
  Constructing a  -matrix B of a linear transformation T 
column by column is easy. If we had a vector x in  such
that: 
    Consider a linear transformation T from  to  and a basis  of  consisting of vectors v1, 
v2, ... , vn. Then the
 columns of B are the  -coordinate vectors of 
T(v1), T(v2), ... , 
T(vn). Then the  -matrix 
of T is:  B=[[T(v1)]B, 
[T(v2)]B, ... , 
[T(vn)]B] To clear things up a bit look at the following diagram. Say we had a basis 
 of a subspace V of  , consisting of vectors  v1, 
v2, ... , vm. Then any 
vector x in V can be written uniquely as :  x = c1v1, 
c2v2, ... , 
cmvm the scalars  are called the  -coordinates of x and
the  -coordinate vector of x denoted by
 [x]B is would be: 
 Note that:
 
 Then our diagram looks like this:
  where T(x) = A(S[x]B) and also T(x) = 
S(B[x]B) so that A(S[x]B) = 
S(B[x]B) for all x. Thus:  AS = SB, B = S-1AS and A = SBS-1 
 
 
 Consider two n n matrices A and B. We say that A is 
similar to B if there is an invertible matrix S such that:  AS = SB or B = S-1AS Similarity relations:1) An n
  n matirx A is simlar to itself (REFLEXIVE) 2) If A is similar to B then B is similar to A (SYMMETRY)
 3) If A is similar to B and B is similar to C then A is similar to C (TRANSITIVITY)
 Theorem 18: The Fundamental Theorem of Invertible Matrices:Let T be a linear transformation from V to W and A be an 
n
  n matrix such that T(x) = Ax for any 
x in V. Then the following statements are equivalent: 
   Examples:14
| Find the matrix of the transformation15
| Three part question
 
 
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