Vector Spaces

Chapter 1 Vector Spaces

Per-Olof Persson
persson@berkeley.edu
Department of Mathematics
University of California, Berkeley

Math 110 Linear Algebra

Definition
A vector space V over a field F is a set with the operations
addition and scalar multiplication, so that for each pair x, y V
there is a unique x + y V, and for each a F and x V there is
a unique ax V, such that:
(VS 1) For all x, y V, x + y = y + x.

(VS 2) For all x, y, z V, (x + y) + z = x + (y + z).

(VS 3) There exists 0 V such that x + 0 = x for each x V.

(VS 4) For each x V, there exists y V such that x + y = 0 .

(VS 5) For each x V, 1x = x.

(VS 6) For each a, b F and each x V, (ab)x = a(bx).

(VS 7) For each a F and x, y V, a(x + y) = ax + ay.

(VS 8) For each a, b F and each x V, (a + b)x = ax + bx.

Matrices

n-tuples
Example
The set of all n-tuples (a1 , a2 , . . . , an ) with a1 , a2 , . . . , an F is
denoted Fn . This is a vector space with the operations of
coordinatewise addition and scalar multiplication: If c F and
u = (a1 , a2 , . . . , an ) Fn , v = (b1 , b2 , . . . , bn ) Fn , then
u + v = (a1 + b1 , a2 + b2 , . . . , an + bn ), cu = (ca1 , ca2 , . . . , ca3 ).
u, v are equal if ai = bi for i = 1, 2, . . . , n. Vectors in Fn can be
written as column vectors

a1
a2

..
.

Example
An m n matrix is an array of the form

a11 a12 a1n

a21 a22 a2n

..
..
..
.
.
.
am1 am2

where aij F for 1 i m, 1 j n. The set of all these

matrices is denoted Mmn (F ), which is a vector space with the
operations of matrix addition and scalar multiplication: For
A, B Mmn (F ) and c F ,
(A + B)ij = Aij + Bij

an

or row vectors (a1 , a2 , . . . , an ).

Functions and Polynomials

amn

(cA)ij = cAij
for 1 i m, 1 j n.

Properties of Vector Spaces

Example

Theorem 1.1 (Cancellation Law for Vector Addition)

Let F(S, F ) denote the set of all functions from a nonempty set S
to a field F . This is vector space with the usual operations of
addition and scalar multiplication: If f, g F(S, F ) and c F :

If x, y, z are vectors in a vector space V such that x + z = y + z,

then x = y.

(f + g)(s) = f (s) + g(s), (cf )(s) = c[f (s)] for each s S.

Example
The set P(F ) of all polynomials with coefficients in F :
f (x) = an xn + an1 xn1 + + a1 x + a0
is a vector space with the usual operations of addition and scalar
multiplication (set higher coefficients to zero if different degrees):
f (x) + g(x) = (an + bn )xn + + (a1 + b1 )x + (a0 + b0 ),
cf (x) = can xn + + ca1 x + ca0 .

Corollary 1
The vector 0 described in (VS 3) is unique (the zero vector).
Corollary 2
The vector y described in (VS 4) is unique (the additive inverse).
Theorem 1.2
In any vector space V, the following statements are true:
(a) 0x = 0 for each x V

(b) (a)x = (ax) = a(x) for each a F and x V

(c) a0 = 0 for each a F

Subspaces

Verification of Subspaces
It is clear that properties (VS 1,2,5-8) hold for any subset of
vectors in a vector space. Therefore, a subset W of a vector space
V is a subspace of V if and only if:

Definition
A subset W of a vector space V over a field F if called a subspace
of V if W is a vector space over F with the operations of addition
and scalar multiplication defined on V.
Note that V and {0 } are subspaces of any vector space V. {0 } is
called the zero subspace of V.

1
2
3
4

x + y W whenever x, y W

cx W whenever c F and x W
W has a zero vector

Each vector in W has an additive inverse in W

Furthermore, the zero vector of W must be the same as of V, and

property 4 follows from property 2 and Theorem 1.2.
Theorem 1.3
A subset W of a vector space V is a subspace of V if and only if
(a) 0 W

(b) x + y W whenever x, y W

(c) cx W whenever c F and x W

Symmetric and Diagonal Matrices

Intersections and Unions of Subspaces

Example
The transpose At of an m n matrix A is the n m matrix
obtained by interchanging rows and columns of A, that is,
(At )ij = Aji .
A symmetric matrix A has

At

= A and must be square.

The set W of all symmetric matrices in Mnn (F ) is a

subspace of Mnn (F ).
Example
An m m matrix M is a diagonal matrix if Mij = 0
whenever i 6= j.

Theorem 1.4
Any intersection of subspaces of a vector space V is a subspace
of V .
However, the union of subspaces is not necessarily a subspace,
since it need not be closed under addition.

The set of diagonal matrices is a subspace of Mnn (F ).

Linear Combinations

Systems of Linear Equations

To solve a system of linear equations, perform the operations:

Definition
Let V be a vector space and S a nonempty subset of V. A vector
v V is called a linear combination of vectors of S if there exist a
finite number of vectors u1 , u2 , . . . , un in S and scalars
a1 , a2 , . . . , an in F such that
v = a1 u1 + a2 u2 + + an un .
In this case we also say that v is a linear combination of
u1 , u2 , . . . , un and call a1 , a2 , . . . , an the coefficients of the linear
combination
Note that 0v = 0 for each v V, so the zero vector is a linear
combination of any nonempty subset of V.

Interchanging the order of any two equations

Multiplying any equation by a nonzero constant

Adding a constant multiple of one equation to another

to simplify the original system to one with the following properties:

1 The first nonzero coefficient in each equation is one
2

If an unknown is the first unknown with a nonzero coefficient

in an equation, then that unknown occurs with a zero
coefficient in each other equation

The first unknown with a nonzero coefficient in an equation

has a larger subscript than the first unknown with a nonzero
coefficient in the preceding equations.

It is then easy to solve for some unknowns in terms of the others,

or if an equation has the form 0 = c 6= 0, then the system has no
solutions.

Span

Linear Dependence

Definition
Let S be a nonempty subset of a vector space V. The span of S,
denoted span(S), is the set consisting of all linear combinations of
the vectors in S. For convenience, we define span() = {0 }.
Theorem 1.5
The span of any subset S of a vector space V is a subspace of V.
Moreover, any subspace of V that contains S must also contain
the span of S.
Definition
A subset S of a vector space V generates (or spans) V is
span(S) = V. In this case, we also say that the vectors of S
generate (or span) V.

Properties

Definition
A subset S of a vector space V is called linearly dependent if there
exist a finite number of distinct vectors u1 , u2 , . . . , un in S and
scalars a1 , a2 , . . . , an , not all zero, such that
a1 u1 + a2 u2 + + an un = 0.
In this case we also say that the vectors of S are linearly dependent.
Definition
A subset S of a vector space that is not linearly dependent is called
linearly independent, and the vectors of S are linearly independent.
Properties of linearly independent sets
The empty set is linearly independent
A set with a single nonzero vector is linearly independent
A set is linearly independent the only representations of 0
as a linear combination of its vectors are trivial

Basis

Theorem 1.6
The V be a vector space, and let S1 S2 V. If S1 if linearly
dependent, then S2 is linearly dependent.

Definition
A basis for a vector space V is a linearly independent subset of V
that generates V. The vectors of form a basis for V.
Example

Corollary
Let V be a vector space, and let S1 S2 V. If S2 is linearly
independent, then S1 is linearly independent.

Since span() = {0 } and is linearly independent, is a basis

for the zero vector space.
Example

Theorem 1.7
Let S be a linearly independent subset of a vector space V, and let
v be a vector in V that is not in S. Then S {v} is linearly
dependent if and only if v span(S).

The basis {e1 , . . . , en } with e1 = (1, 0, . . . , 0), e2 = (0, 1, 0, . . . , 0),

. . ., en = (0, . . . , 0, 1), is called the standard basis for Fn .
Example
The basis {1, x, x2 , . . . , xn } is called the standard basis for Pn (F ).

Properties of Bases

Theorem 1.8
Let V be a vector space and = {u1 , . . . , un } be a subset of V.
Then is a basis for V if and only if each v V can be uniquely
expressed as a linear combination of vectors of :
v = a1 u1 + a2 u2 + + an un

The Replacement Theorem

Theorem 1.10 (Replacement Theorem)

Let V be a vector space that is generated by a set G containing
exactly n vectors, and let L be a linearly independent subset of V
containing exactly m vectors. Then m n and there exists a
subset H of G containing exactly n m vectors such that L H
generates V.

for unique scalars a1 , . . . , an .

Theorem 1.9
If a vector space V is generated by a finite set S, then some subset
of S is a basis for V. Hence V has a finite basis.

Corollary 1
Let V be a vector space having a finite basis. Then every basis for
V contains the same number of vectors.

Dimension
Definition
A vector space V if called finite-dimensional if it has a basis
consisting of a finite number of vectors, this unique number
dim(V) is called the dimension of V. If V is not finite-dimensional
it is called infinite-dimensional.
Corollary 2
Let V be a vector space with dimension n.
(a) Any finite generating set for V contains at least n vectors, and
a generating set for V that contains exactly n vectors is a
basis for V.
(b) Any linearly independent subset of V that contains exactly n
vectors is a basis for V.
(c) Every linearly independent subset of V can be extended to a
basis for V.

Dimension of Subspaces

Theorem 1.11
Let W be a subspace of a finite-dimensional vector space V. Then
W is finite-dimensional and dim(W) dim(V). Moreover, if
dim(W) = dim(V), then V = W.
Corollary
If W is a subspace of a finite-dimensional vector space V, then any
basis for W can be extended to a basis for V.