MT127 – Linear Algebra I

Lecture 19 – 2017/2018

Idrissa S. A.

Department of Mathematics - UDSM

January 19, 2018

Basis and dimension

Basis from a set of vectors

Let V = IRm and let S = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn } be set of nonzero vectors in V .
The procedure for finding a subset of S that is a basis for W = span S is
as follows
1 Form the equation

c1 v1 + c2 v2 + · · · + cn vn = 0

2 Construct the augmented matrix associated with homogeneous

system of equation above, and transform it to rref
3 The vectors corresponding to the columns containing the leading
ones form a basis for W = span S

ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018

Basis

Example
Let S = {v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 , v5 } be a set of vectors in IR4 , where
v1 = (1, 2, −2, 1), v2 = (−3, 0, −4, 3), v3 = (2, 1, 1, −1),
v4 = (−3, 3, −9, 6), , v5 = (9, 3, 7, −6)

Solution
Form the equation
           
1 −3 2 −3 9 0
 2  0  1  3  3 0
c1 
−2 + c2 −4 + c3  1 + c4 −9 + c5  7 = 0
          

1 3 −1 6 −6 0

ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018

Basis
Solution cont
equating corresponding components



 c1 − 3c2 + 2c3 − 3c4 + 9c5 =0

2c + 0c + c + 3c + 3c
1 2 3 4 5 =0


 −2c 1 − 4c 2 + c3 − 9c 4 + 7c 5 =0

c + 3c − c + 6c − 6c
1 2 3 4 5 =0

Form the augmented matrix and transform into rref

   1 3  3
1 −3 2 −3 9 0 1 0 2 2 0 2
1 3
 ∼ 0 1 − 2 − 2 0
 2 0 1 3 3 0 
 2 
−2 −4 1 −9 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 3 −1 6 −6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The leading ones appear in column 1 and 2, so {v1 , v2 } is a basis for

W = span S
ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018
Basis
Theorem
If S = {v1 , v2 , · · · , vn } is a basis for a vector space V and
T = {w1 , w2 , · · · , wr } is linearly independent set of vectors in V , then
r ≤ n.

Theorem
If S = {v1 , v2 , · · · , vn } and T = {w1 , w2 , · · · , wm } are bases for a vector
space, then n = m.

Dimension
The dimension of a nonzero vector space V , denoted by dim V is the
number of vectors in a basis for V .

Example
The dimension of IR2 is 2, the dimension of IR3 is 3; and in general of
IRn is n
ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018
Basis
Example
The dimension of P2 is 3, the dimension of P3 is 4.

Theorem
If S is a linearly independent set of vectors in a finite-dimensional vector
space V , then there is a basis T for V , which contains S.

Example
Find basis for IR4 that contains the vectors v1 = (1, 0, 1, 0) and
v2 = (−1, 1, −1, 0)

Solution
Let {e1 , e2 , e3 , e4 } be the natural basis for IR4 , where
 T  T  T
e1 = 1 0 0 0 , e2 = 0 1 0 0 , e3 = 0 0 1 0 and
 T
e4 = 0 0 0 1
ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018
Basis

Example cont
Form the set S = {v1 , v2 , e1 , e2 , e3 , e4 }, since {e1 , e2 , e3 , e4 } spans IR4 , so
does S. To find a subset of S that is a basis for IR4 , we form equation

c1 v1 + c2 v2 + c3 e1 + c4 e2 + c5 e3 + c6 e4 = 0

which leads to the homogeneous equation




c1 − c2 + c3 =0

−c + c
2 4 =0


c1 − c2 + c5 =0

c
6 =0

ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018

Basis

Example cont
Write into augmented matrix and transform into rref, gives
 
1 0 0 1 1 0 0
0 1 0 1 0 0 0
 
0 0 1 0 −1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 0

The leading ones appear in the columns 1,2,3 and 6, therefore

S = {v1 , v2 , e1 , e4 } is a basis for IR4 containing v1 and v2

Row space
The set of all linear combinations of the row vectors of an m × n matrix
is called the row space of A and is denoted by Row A
Each row has n entries, so Row A is a subspace of IRn .

ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018

Basis

Example
 
−2 −5 8 0 −17
 1 3 −5 1 5
Let A =  3 11 −19 7

1
1 7 −13 5 −3
The row space of A is the subspace of IR5 spanned by {r1 , r2 , r3 , r3 },
where r1 = (−2, −5, 8, 0, −17), r2 = (1, 3, −5, 1, 5),
r3 = (3, 11, −19, 7, 1), r4 = (1, 7, −13, 5, −3)

Theorem
If two matrices A and B are row equivalent, then their row spaces are the
same. If B is in echelon form, the nonzero rows of B form a basis for the
row space of A as well as B.

ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018

Basis
Example
Find bases for the
 row space, column space,
 and the null space of the
−2 −5 8 0 −17
 1 3 −5 1 5
matrix Let A =  3 11 −19 7

1
1 7 −13 5 −3

Solution
To find bases for the row
 space and the column  space, we reduce A into
1 3 −5 1 5
0 1 −2 2 −7 
echelon form A ∼ B =  
0 0 0 −4 20
0 0 0 0 0
Thus, the first three rows of B form a basis for the row space of B as
well as A. Then,
basis for Row A = {(1, 3, −5, 1, 5), (0, 1, −2, 2, −7), (0, 0, 0, −4, 20)}
ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018
Example continue
For the column space, observe from B, that the pivots are in columns 1,2
and 4, hence columns 1,2 and 4 of A (not B) form basis for Col A:
     
 −1 −5 0 
 1  3 1
Basis for Col A =  3 ,  11 , 7
    

1 7 5

For Nul A, we need the rref of A, further operations on B, yield

 
1 0 1 0 1
0 1 −2 0 3
A∼B∼C = 
0 0 0 1 −5
0 0 0 0 0

ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018

Example continue
The equation Ax = 0 is equivalent to C x = 0, that is

x1 + x3 + x5 = 0

x2 − 2x3 + 3x5 = 0

x4 − 5x5 = 0


So x3 = t, x5 = r are the free variables. Then

   
 −1 −1
x4 = 5r
  2
 
−3
 
x2 = 2t − 3r t, r ∈ R =⇒ x = t 
 1 + r  0
  
  0  5
x1 = −t − r

0 1

ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018

Example continue
   
−1 −1
  2 −3 
   
Basis for NulA =  1 ,  0
  
 0  5
0 1

Note
1 Unlike the basis for Col A, the bases for Row A and Nul A have no

simple connections with the entries in A itself.

2 dim (Basis for Row A) = 3, dim (Basis for Col A) = 3,
dim (Basis for Nul A) = 2

Rank and Nullity

The rank of A is the dimension of the column space of A.
The dimension of the null space is also called the nullity of A.

ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018

Rank theorem
The dimension of the column space and the row space of an m × n
matrix A are equal. This common dimension, the rank of A, also satisfies
the equation
rank A + nullity A = n

Take away
1 If A is a 7 × 9 matrix with a two-dimensional null space, what is the
rank of A?
2 Could a 6 × 9 matrix have a two-dimensional null space?

ISA MT127 – Linear Algebra I Lecture 19 – 2017/2018