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Five II A Allproofs

The document discusses how linear transformations map lines to lines, and how understanding the action of a transformation on a single vector from each line is sufficient to understand its overall action. It introduces eigenvectors as vectors that are scaled only or rotated by 0 or π radians under a transformation, with the scale factor being the eigenvalue.

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Ronald Perez
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15 views

Five II A Allproofs

The document discusses how linear transformations map lines to lines, and how understanding the action of a transformation on a single vector from each line is sufficient to understand its overall action. It introduces eigenvectors as vectors that are scaled only or rotated by 0 or π radians under a transformation, with the scale factor being the eigenvalue.

Uploaded by

Ronald Perez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Angles and Eigenvectors

Linear Algebra
Jim Hefferon

http://joshua.smcvt.edu/linearalgebra
Lines transform to lines
Lines go to lines
Consider a real space transformation t : Rn → Rn . A defining property of
linear maps is that t(r · ~v) = r · t(~v).
In a real space Rn a line through the origin is a set { r · ~v | r ∈ R }. So t’s
action
t
r · ~v 7−→ r · t(~v)
is to send members of the line { r · ~v | r ∈ R } in the domain to members of
the line { s · t(~v) | s ∈ R } in the codomain.
Thus, lines through the origin transform to lines through the origin.
Further, the action of t is determined by its effect t(~v) on any nonzero
vector element of the domain line.
Example Consider the line y = 2x in the plane
 
1
{r · | r ∈ R}
2

and this transformation t : R2 → R2 of the plane.


   
x x + 3y
7→
y 2x + 4y

The map’s effect on any vector in the line is easy to compute.


   
1 t 7
~v = 7−→
2 10

The scalar multiplication property in the definition of linear map


t(r · ~v) = r · t(~v) imposes a uniformity on t’s action: it has twice the effect on
2~v, three times the effect on 3~v, etc.
           
2 t 14 −3 t −21 r t 7r
7−→ 7−→ 7−→
4 20 −6 −30 2r 10r

In short: the action of t on any nonzero ~v determines its action on any


other vector r~v in the line [~v].
Pick one, any one
Every plane vector is in some line through the origin so to understand
what t : R2 → R2 does to plane elements it suffices to understand what it
does to lines through the origin. By the prior slide, to understand what t
does to a line through the origin it suffices to understand what it does to a
single nonzero vector in that line.
Pick one, any one
Every plane vector is in some line through the origin so to understand
what t : R2 → R2 does to plane elements it suffices to understand what it
does to lines through the origin. By the prior slide, to understand what t
does to a line through the origin it suffices to understand what it does to a
single nonzero vector in that line.
So one way to understand a transformation’s action is to take a set
containing one nonzero vector from each line through the origin, and
describe where the transformation maps the elements of that set.
A natural set with one nonzero element from each line through the
origin is the upper half unit circle (we will explain the colors below).

   
x cos(t)
{ = | 0 6 t < π}
y sin(t)
Angles in plane transformations
Angles
Example This plane transformation.
   
x 2x
7→
y 2x + 2y

is a skew.

→
Angles
Example This plane transformation.
   
x 2x
7→
y 2x + 2y

is a skew.

As we move through the unit half circle on the left, the transformation has
varying effects on the vectors. The dilation vary, that is, different vectors
get their length multiplied by different factors, and they are turned through
varying angles. The next slide gives examples.
The
√ prior slide’s vector from the left shown in red is dilated by a factor
of 2 2 and rotated counterclockwise by π/4 ≈ 0.78 radians.

   
1 2
7→
0 2

p √
The orange vector is dilated by a factor of 2 cos2 (π/6) + 1 = 7 and
rotated by about 0.48 radians.

   
cos(π/6) 2 cos(π/6)
7→
sin(π/6) 2 cos(π/6) + 2 sin(π/6)
On the graph below the horizontal axis is the angle of a vectors from the
upper half unit circle, while the vertical axis is the angle through which
that vector is rotated.

   
x 2x
7→
y 2x + 2y

The rotation angle of interest is 0 radians, here achieved by some green


vector.
Definition
A vector that is rotated through an angle of 0 radians or of π radians,
while being dialated by a nonzero factor, is an eigenvector. The factor by
which it is dilated is the eigenvalue.
Example The plane transformation
   
x −x
7→
y 2y

represented with respect to the standard bases by a diagonal matrix


 
−1 0
0 2

has this simple action on the upper half unit circle.

→
This plots the angle of each vector in the upper half unit circle against
the angle through which it is rotated.

   
x −x
7→
y 2y

One vector gets zero rotation, the vector with x = 0.


Example This generic plane transformation
   
x x + 2y
7→
y 3x + 4y

has this action on the upper half unit circle.

→
Plotting the angle of each vector in the upper half unit circle against the
angle through which it is rotated

   
x x + 2y
7→
y 3x + 4y

gives that one vector gets a rotation of 0 radians, while another gets a
rotation of π radians.

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