LINEAR ALGEBRA

VECTOR SPACES

Dr. Egnar ÖZDİKİLİLER

3.4 BASIS AND DIMENSION
➢ .A
a

If V has a basis containing of n vectors, we say that V has dimension n.

 Example:

1 0
Lets show if S: , Is the standard basis for R2
0 1

Answer:
Remember the definition of `Basis` :

So we have to make these two tests! i) Do these vectors span R2 ? ii) Are they linearly independent ?
i) Can we find a1 and a2 which satisfies the linear combination equation to form any V ?
V = a1V1 + a2V2

a 1 0 Two equations we get : a = a1 + 0

V= = a1 + a2
b 0 1 b = 0 + a2

a1 = a Yes, a1 and a2 can

any V be found. So, S
V2 a2 = b
vector in R2 V1 spans R2 .
 ii) Are vectors of S linearly independent ?
a1V1 + a2V2 = 0 We will try to understand if this equation is valid only for a1= a2 = 0 case.

a1 1 + a2 0 =0= 0 Two equations we get : 0 = a1 + 0

0 1 0 0 = 0 + a2

a1 = 0
V2 a2 = 0 Yes, it is
V1 0 vector in R2
possible only
for a1= a2 =
0 case. So, S
is linearly
independent.

Being a spanning set for R2 and being linearly independent, we can say that S is a basis for R2 .
There can be different basis for the same vector space. First lets see standard basis, which are made up of unit vectors.

1 0
The standard basis for R2 is: , Dim: 2
0 1

The standard basis for R3 is: 1 , 0 , 0

0 1 0 Dim: 3
0 0 1

10 01 00 00
The standard basis for R2*2 is: 00 , 00 Dim: 4
, 10 , 01

A standard basis is an orthonormal basis, in which each vector in the basis has only one non-zero entry that is equal to 1.
 What about the standard basis for polynomial vector space ?
The standard basis for P2 is S: { 1, x, } Dim: 2
The standard basis for P3 as S: { 1, x, x2 }

It means that these are the vectors. Dim: 3

Lets do our tests for P3 to show that it forms a basis:

i) Can we find a1 , a2 and a3 which satisfies the linear combination equation to form any V ?
V = a1V1 + a2V2 + a3V3

V = a + b x + c x2 = a 1 . 1 + a 2 . x + a 3 . x2 The equations we get : a = a1

Yes, S spans P3 .
b = a2
c = a3
any V V1 V2
V3
vector in P3
 ii) Are vectors of S linearly independent ?
a1V1 + a2V2 = 0 We will try to understand if this equation is valid only for a1= a2 = 0 case.

a1 . 1+ a2 . x + a3 . x2 = 0 = 0 . 1 + 0 . x + 0 . x2 we get : a1 = 0
a2 = 0 Yes, it is
a3 = 0 possible only
V3 0 vector in P3 for a1 = a2 =
V1
V2 a3 = 0 case.
So, S is
linearly
independent.

Being a spanning set for P3 and being linearly independent, we can say that S is a basis for P3 .
Answer:
 Example:
Is S a basis of P3 ?

Answer: V 1 = x2 + 1 Can we find any a1, a2 and a3 that satisfy the equation below:
V2 = x - 1 a . x2+ b . x + c . 1 = a1 . (x2 + 1) + a2 . (x – 1) + a3 . (2x + 2)
V3 = 2x + 2
Yes, when two sides of the equation is equalized, we find that

V 1 = x2 + 1 So, S span P3.

V2 = x - 1
V3 = 2x + 2 Now, we have to test if V1, V2 and V3 are linearly independent.
 a1 . V1 + a2 . V2 + a3 . V3 = 0

a1 . (x2 + 1) + a2 . (x – 1) + a3 . (2x + 2) = 0 . 1 + 0 . x + 0 . x2

When two sides of the equation is equalized

It is seen that a1, a2 and a3 all have to be zero.

So, V1, V2 and V3 are linearly independent.

S is a basis of P3 ! And its dimension is 3 !

 Example: S = { x2 + x, x - 1, x + 1}
Is S a basis of P3 ?
If it is, then can vector V = 5x2 – 3x +8 written as a linear combination of
V1, V2 and V3 ? (question can also be asked as: Is V a vector of S space ?)

Answer: V 1 = x2 + x Can we find any a1, a2 and a3 that satisfy the equation below:
V2 = x - 1 a . x2+ b . x + c . 1 = a1 (x2 + x) +a3 (x - 1) +a3 (x + 1)
V3 = x + 1

S spans P3.

Now, we have to test if V1, V2 and V3 are linearly independent. S is a basis of P3.

Vectors of S are
linearly
independent.
V vector has to be written as a combination of S vectors.
Lets find the coefficients (a1, a2, a3) of the combination equation.
 Example: Find i) the Null Space of A, and then
ii) the basis and dimension of its defining
vectors.

Answer: First, we have to find the Null Space of (A)

N(A)={x € R5 AX=0}

+
Notice that second part of the
question is only about the
defining vectors you have
found for N(A) !!!
Example: S is given as

Answer:
Then, check the requirements for being a basis:
Answer:
 1 1
-2
2 0
Example: Show that , 1 , is a basis for R3
3 1
0

Answer:
Since dim R3 = 3, we only neeed to show these 3 vectors are linearly independent.
Checking the determinant will be a shorter way:

1 1
-2
2 0 =2
1 Yes, linearly independent.
3 1
0
3.6 ROW SPACE AND COLUMN SPACE
First, lets learn ‘Rank’ concept
The number of is the rank of it.

Examples
rank A : 1

rank B : 2

rank C : 2

rank D : 3
By saying row space, we What is the row space of A?
are talking about a space What is the column space of A?
that is spanned by this two
row vectors

Similarly, column space

 Using row operations we
obtain U matrix, which is the
row echelon form of A

A is nonsingular A-1 exists det A≠0 Vectors are independent

!
The column vectors that span A, form a basis.
# of columns of the matrix = the rank of A + the dimension of the null space
 Example:

Solution:
At first, we find the row echelon form of A.

By saying null space we are talking about a homogeneous system , which is AX=0

Depending on U, we can say that Lets write the Null Space equations (We”ll use row space vectors & also satisfy
AX=0):
Lets continue with the second part of the question.
Example:

(of A)
 Example:
Find the dimension of the subspace of R4 spanned by

1 2 2 3
2 4 8
x1= x2= 5 x3= x4=
-1 -3 -2 -5
0 2 0 4

The difference between this and the previous question is only that the spanning set for this space is given by column vectors.
1 2 2 3
The subspace spanned by ( x1, x2, x3, x4 ) is the same as column space of the matrix A= 2 5 4 8
-1 -3 -2 -5
Row echelon form 1 2 2 3 0 2 0 4
0 1 0 2
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0

So, the first 2 columns of A, which are x1 and x2, form a basis for the column space of x.
Dim [span ( x1, x2, x3, x4 ) ] = 2
References

Steven Leon, Linear algebra with applications 8th edition

Dr. Z. Damla, UÇA AVCI Lecture Notes
Acad. Evren Tanrıöver, Lecture Notes
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hamdi Kayran, Zenginleştirilmiş öözümli örneklerle Lineer Cebir,
2021