Math 271: Mathematical Methods Tridip Ray

Semester I, 2024-25 ISI, Delhi

Homework 1 (Class Test on 19 August 2024)

1. Check in each of the following cases whether the given set of vectors is linearly inde-
pendent:

(a) x1 = (1; 2) ; x2 = (0; 0) ;

(b) y 1 = (0; 1; 2) ; y 2 = (1; 1; 1) ; y 3 = (1; 2; 3) :

2. Let x; y and z be 3 linearly independent vectors in Rn :

(a) Are the vectors (x y) ; (y z) ; (z x) linearly independent? Explain clearly.

(b) Are the vectors (x + y) ; (y + z) ; (z + x) linearly independent? Explain clearly.

3. Recall the Fundamental Theorem on Vector Spaces:

If each of the (m + 1) vectors y 0 ; y 1 ; :::; y m in Rn can be expressed as a linear combi-

nation of the m vectors x1 ; x2 ; :::; xm in Rn ; then the vectors y 0 ; y 1 ; :::; y m are linearly
dependent.

In what follows we will develop a proof of this theorem using the method of induction
on m:

(a) Initial Step: Prove that the theorem is true for m = 1:

(b) Inductive Step: Assume that the theorem holds for m = k 1; and let us prove it for
m = k:

– By hypothesis we have each of the (k + 1) vectors, y 0 ; y 1 ; :::; y k ; can be expressed

as a linear combination of the k vectors x1 ; x2 ; :::; xk :

y 0 = a10 x1 + a20 x2 + ::: + ak0 xk ;

y 1 = a11 x1 + a21 x2 + ::: + ak1 xk ;
y 2 = a12 x1 + a22 x2 + ::: + ak2 xk ;
:::
y k = a1k x1 + a2k x2 + ::: + akk xk :

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 We have to prove that the (k + 1) vectors, y 0 ; y 1 ; :::; y k are linearly dependent. If
all aij are zero, the proof is immediate; so assume this is not the case. Then at
least one number aij is not zero, say a10 6= 0: De…ne

z1 y1 a11
a10
y 0 = a21 a11
a
a10 20
x2 + ::: + ak1 a11
a
a10 k0
xk ;

z2 y2 a12
a10
y 0 = a22 a12
a
a10 20
x2 + ::: + ak2 a12
a
a10 k0
xk ;
:::
a1k a1k a1k
zk yk a10
y 0 = a2k a
a10 20
x2 + ::: + akk a
a10 k0
xk :

– Question: Use the above construction to complete the inductive step.

4. Let S be a set of vectors in R2 de…ned as follows:

S = (x1 ; x2 ) in R2 such that x1 + x2 = 4 :

(a) What is the rank of S? Explain clearly.

(b) Find a basis of S; showing your procedure clearly.

5. Consider the set S R2 de…ned as follows:

S = (x1 ; x2 ) 2 R2 : x1 = 5 :

What is the rank of S? Explain clearly.

6. Let S = f(x1 ; x2 ; x3 ) 2 R3 : x1 + x2 = x3 g : Find a basis of S; showing your procedure

clearly.

7. Let x; y 2 Rn :

(a) Prove that jxyj kxk kyk (Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality).

(b) Use (a) to prove that kx + yk kxk + kyk (Triangle Inequality).

8. Let A be an n n matrix, and let A1 ; A2 ; :::; An denote the n column vectors of A:

De…ne an n n matrix B as follows:

bij = Ai Aj i = 1; :::; n; j = 1; :::; n

where bij is the element corresponding to the ith row and jth column of matrix B; and
Ai Aj denotes the inner product of the vectors Ai and Aj : Suppose A is non-singular.
Does it follow that B is non-singular? Explain clearly.

2
9. (a) Suppose A is an m n matrix and B is an n r matrix. Show that

rank (AB) min frank (A) ; rank (B)g :

(b) Give an example of 2 2 matrices A and B such that

rank (AB) 6= min frank (A) ; rank (B)g :

(c) Prove that if a matrix of rank k is multiplied in either order (that is, either
premultiplied or postmultiplied) by a nonsingular matrix, the rank of the product
is k.

10. Let A be an m n matrix. Row rank of A is the rank of the set of row vec-
tors, fA1 ; A2 ; :::; Am g : Column rank of A is the rank of the set of column vectors,
fA1 ; A2 ; :::; An g : Let r = row rank of A; c = column rank of A:

(a) Suppose that r < c:

Reordering rows or columns of A does not a¤ect its row or column rank. So choose
a row basis for A which we may assume consists of the rows fA1 ; A2 ; :::; Ar g ; and
a column basis which we may assume consists of the columns fA1 ; A2 ; :::; Ac g :

(i) Let A^i = (ai1 ; ai2 ; :::; aic ) and consider the system of equations

A^i y = 0; i = 1; 2; :::; r:

Prove that this system of equations has a nonzero solution y:

(ii) Since fA1 ; A2 ; :::; Ar g is a row basis, it follows from the Basis Theorem that,
Pr
for all k = 1; 2; :::; m; Ak = ik Ai for some real numbers ik : Hence
i=1

P
r
A^k = (ak1 ; ak2 ; :::; akc ) = ^
ik Ai ;
i=1

and so
P
r
A^k y = ik A^i y = 0; for all k = 1; 2; :::; m:
i=1

Prove that this leads to a contradiction which shows that our supposition
r < c is wrong, that is, it must be that r c:

(b) Brie‡y sketch the argument that r = c: