SOLUTIONS FOR HOMEWORK 2

Section 1.4 3. (b) Yes, the rst vector is a linear combination of the other two. To verify this, we need to nd a, b R s.t. (1, 2, 3) = a(3, 2, 1) + b(2, 1, 1). This gives rise to a system of three equations with two unknowns: 3a + 2b = 1 2a b = 2 a b = 3 To solve this system of equations, we eliminate the unknown a from Equations 1 and 2. More precisely, we keep Eq3, and use Eq1 + 3Eq3 and Eq2 Eq3 instead of Eq1 and Eq2, respectively. This results in a new system of equations, with the same solution(s) as the old one. b = 8 b = 8 a b = 3 This leads to b = 8, and a = b3 = 5. Double-checking, we verify the equality (1, 2, 3) = 5(3, 2, 1) + 8(2, 1, 1). (d) No, the rst vector is not a linear combination of the other two. To verify this, we need to prove that no a, b R satisfy (2, 1, 0) = a(1, 23)+b(1, 3, 2). The last equality gives rise to a system of three equations with two unknowns: a + b = 2 2a 3b = 1 3a + 2b = 0 To solve this system of equations, we eliminate the unknown a from Equations 2 and 3. More precisely, we keep Eq1, and use Eq2 2Eq1 and Eq3 + 3Eq1 instead of Eq2 and Eq3, respectively. This yields a new system of equations, with the same solution(s) as the original one. a + b = 2 5b = 5 + 7b = 6 The last two equalities are mutually contradictory, hence the system has no solution. 4. (b) No, 4x3 +2x2 6 is not a linear combination of x3 2x2 +4x+1 and 3x3 6x2 +x+4. Indeed, the rst polynomial is a linear combination of the other two i there exist a, b R for which 4x3 + 2x2 + 0 x 6 = a(x3 2x2 + 4x + 1) + b(3x3 6x2 + x + 4).
1

SOLUTIONS FOR HOMEWORK 2

Comparing the coecients of dierent powers of x, we see that this equality holds i the system of four linear equations with two unknowns given below has a solution: a 2a 4a a + 3b = 4 6b = 2 + b = 0 + 4b = 6

We can try solving this system of equations be eliminating the unknowns. As a rst step, calculate Eq2 + 2Eq1 (to eliminate a from the second equation). We obtain 0 = 10, which is nonsense. Thus, the system has no solution. For us, it means that 4x3 + 2x2 + 0 x 6 is not a linear combination of x3 2x2 + 4x + 1 and 3x3 6x2 + x + 4. 5. (d) Yes, (2, 1, 1, 3) belongs to the linear span of (1, 0, 1, 1) and (0, 1, 1, 1). To show this, we have to nd a, b R that satisfy (2, 1, 1, 3) = a(1, 0, 1, 1) + b(0, 1, 1, 1). This pair (a, b) is a solution (in fact, the solution) of a system of four equations with two unknowns: a = 2 b = 1 a + b = 1 a + b = 3 From the rst two equations, we see that a = 2, and b = 1. It is easy to check that, for these a and b, Equations 3 and 4 are also satised. 6. We have to show that, for any a1 , a2 , a3 F, there exist t1 , t2 , t3 F satisfying t1 (1, 1, 0) + t2 (1, 0, 1) + t3 (0, 1, 1) = (a1 , a2 , a3 ). Solving the system of equations t1 + t2 = a1 t1 + t3 = a2 t2 + t3 = a3 By eliminating the unknowns one by one, we end up with t1 + t2 t2 + = a1 t3 = a2 a1 2t3 = a3 + a2 a1

Thus, t3 = (a1 + a2 + a3 )/2, t2 = a1 a2 + t3 = (a1 a2 + a3 )/2, and t1 = a1 t2 = (a1 + a2 a3 )/2. 10. Recall that an n n matrix A is symmetric if A = At . Denote by W the set of symmetric 2 2 matrices. We know that W is a subspace of M22 (F). The matrices M1 , M2 , and M3 are symmetric, hence, by Theorem 1.5, span(M1 , M2 , M3 ) W . We have to prove the reverse inclusion. That is, we have to show that any A W can be represented A11 A12 as a linear combination of M1 , M2 and M3 . To this end, observe that A = A21 A22

SOLUTIONS FOR HOMEWORK 2

is symmetric i A12 = A21 . In this case, we can write A= A11 0 0 0 + 0 0 0 A22 + 0 A12 A12 0

= A11 M1 + A22 M2 + A12 M3 , which is what we need. 15. To prove that span(S1 S2 ) span(S1 ) span(S2 ), we need to show that an x span(S1 S2 ) must also belong to span(S1 ) span(S2 ). By denition, we can write x = a1 u1 + . . . + an un , for some a1 , . . . , an F, and u1 , . . . , un S1 S2 . In particular, u1 , . . . , un S1 , hence x = a1 u1 + . . . + an un span(S1 ). Similarly, x span(S2 ). Therefore, x span(S1 ) span(S2 ). An example where the inclusion above is strict arises, for instance, when S1 S2 = , but span(S1 ) span(S2 ) contains a non-zero vector. For instance, consider the vectors x1 = (1, 0) and x2 = 2x1 = (2, 0) in V = R2 . Let S1 = {x1 } and S2 = {x2 }. Then S1 S2 = , hence span(S1 S2 ) = {0}. On the other hand, span(S1 ) = span(S2 ) = {(t, 0) : t R}, hence span(S1 ) span(S2 ) = {(t, 0) : t R}.

Section 1.5 2. (b) The set is linearly independent. In class, we observed that a set {u, v} (u and v are non-zero vectors) is linearly dependent i one vector is a multiple of the other. 1 2 1 1 However, is not a multiple of . Indeed, suppose, for the sake of 1 4 2 4 1 2 1 1 contradiction, that there exists t R for which =t . Compar1 4 2 4 ing the corresponding entries of the matrices, we conclude that 1 = t, 2 = t, 1 = 2t, and 4 = 4t. Clearly, no t R can satisfy all these equalities. (f ) The set is linearly independent. Indeed, its linear dependence is equivalent to the existence of non-zero scalars t1 , t2 , t3 , satisfying t1 (1, 1, 2) + t2 (2, 0, 1) + t3 (1, 2, 1) = 0. The centered equation is equivalent to the following system of three linear equations with three unknowns: t1 + 2t2 t3 = 0 t1 + 2t3 = 0 2t1 + t2 t3 = 0 First eliminate t1 from Equations 2 and 3: t1 + 2t2 t3 = 0 2t2 + t3 = 0 3t2 + t3 = 0

SOLUTIONS FOR HOMEWORK 2

Then get rid of t3 is Equation 3: t1 + 2t2 t3 = 0 2t2 + t3 = 0 5t2 = 0 Thus, t1 = t2 = t3 = 0 is the only solution. 3. 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 + 1 1 + 0 0 1 0 0 1 = 0 0 . 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
ij is a matrix whose (i, j) entry equals c . Thus, the sum above 6. ij 1im,1jn cij E equals O (the zero matrix) i cij = 0 for any i and j. This shows the linear independence of the matrices E ij .

8. (a) We have to show that the equality t1 (1, 1, 0) + t2 (1, 0, 1) + t3 (0, 1, 1) = 0 holds i t1 = t2 = t3 = 0. The centered equation is equivalent to the following system of three linear equations with three unknowns: t1 + t2 = 0 t1 + t3 = 0 t2 + t3 = 0 By eliminating the unknowns one by one, we end up with t1 + t2 t2 + Thus, t1 = t2 = t3 = 0. 15. As S is linearly dependent, there exist scalars c1 , . . . , cn , not all of them equal to 0, such that c1 u1 + . . . + cn un = 0. Let m be the largest values of i with ci = 0 (that is, cm = 0, and ci = 0 for i > m). If m = 1, then u1 = 0. If m > 1, we can write um = a1 u1 + . . . + am1 um1 , with ai = c1 ci for 1 i m 1. m 19. Suppose, for the sake of contradiction, that the set {At , . . . , At } is linearly dependent. n 1 Then there exist scalars c1 , . . . , cn , not all of them equal to 0, such that c1 At +. . .+cn At = n 1 O (the zero matrix). But then c1 A1 + . . . + cn An = c1 At + . . . + cn At 1 n
t

= 0 t3 = 0 2t3 = 0

= Ot = O,

which contradicts the linear independence of the set {A1 , . . . , An }. Links The syllabus. The main page of the course. The assignment.