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investmentjac
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† MAT1341 I NTRODUCTION TO L INEAR A LGEBRA E LIZABETH M ALTAIS

3. Vector Spaces

• We first reacquainted ourselves with vectors by depicting them as arrows with geometric
rules for addition and scalar multiplication. We observed several “nice” properties that
these operations satisfy.

↑ J


-

U Y w

+
L-i
i

• Next, we converted our arrow pictures into algebraic structures by using coordinate
systems to represent those arrows. In terms of coordinates, the vector addition operation
and scalar multiplication operation involved adding or multiplying coordinates and we
didn’t need pictures to “see” the result of those operations (although the pictures still
helped us to develop intuition).

[] [] [In
+ =

18] swil

• The algebraic way of adding and scalar-multiplying vectors also satisfied the same “nice”
properties that the geometric way did. On top of that, the algebraic way of representing
vectors also made it very natural to generalize from 2 and 3 dimensions into n dimensions
for n 4 (whereas the depiction of vectors as arrows doesn’t).

R =

[x for
Now, we will see that generalizing beyond n is also possible! What we need is to study the
essential ingredients that make a collection of things behave (in some abstract way) the same as
n
.


These notes are solely for the personal use of students registered in MAT1341.
1
V ECTOR S PACE A XIOMS
Definition 3.1. Let V be a set, whose elements we will call “vectors”, equipped with
• a rule for adding two vectors together
• a rule for scalar-multiplying a vector by a real number.
If V , with its two operations, satisfies the following 10 axioms, then V is called a V ECTOR S PACE :

2
E XAMPLES
Let’s explore various examples.
Example 3.2. S PACES OF E QUATIONS
Consider the set of all linear equations in three variables, x, y, z.

What are some elements in the set E?

Note: we don’t need all three variables to appear.


We can create new equations from old ones:

3
4
Example 3.3. F UNCTION S PACES
Let F denote the set of all real-valued functions with domain ( 1, 1).

For two functions f, g 2 F, we have f = g if and only if f (x) = f (g) for all x 2 ( 1, 1).

We can add two functions together:

5
We can scale a function by a real scalar k 2 :

Then F is a vector space!

6
Example 3.4. T HE T RIVIAL V ECTOR S PACE Let V be a set with only one element, which we
denote by 0. That is, let V = {0}.
We can use the following “rule” for addition (of the one and only vector in V ):

We also have the following “rule” for multiplication of a (the!) vector in V by a scalar k 2 :

Then V = {0} is a vector space!


(even though V = {0} and its operations seem a bit degenerate, V nonetheless satisfies the axioms!)

Example 3.5. Consider the set W = {} = Ø (the empty set). Is W a vector space?

⇢
x
Example 3.6. Consider the set L = 2 2
: y = 2x .
y
Using ordinary vector addition and scalar multiplication from 2
, is L a vector space?

7
⇢
x
Example 3.7. Let W = :x2 . Using ordinary vector addition and scalar
x+2
multiplication from 2
, is W a vector space?

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