DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS

MTH415A: MATRIX THEORY & LINEAR ESTIMATION

(Session: 2018-19 Semester: I)

Problem Set 1

1. Verify which of the following is/are vector space (with respect to a real scalar for closure
under scalar multiplication):
(a) 𝑉4 = �𝒗 = (𝑤, 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)/ ∈ ℝ4 |𝑤 + 𝑥 − 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 0�,

(b) 𝑉3 = �𝒗 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)/ ∈ ℝ3 |𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 𝑧 2 = 1�,

𝑎 1
(c) 𝑀2×2 = �� � |𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ ℝ�,
𝑏 𝑐
(d) 𝑃2 = {𝑎0 + 𝑎1 𝑥 + 𝑎2 𝑥 2 |𝑎0 , 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 ∈ ℝ+ }, where ℝ+ is the set of real numbers greater
than zero,

(e) 𝑉2 = �𝒗 = (𝑥, 𝑦)/ ∈ ℝ2 |𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 4, 2𝑥 − 𝑦 = 3 and 6𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 10�,

𝑑𝑓
(f) ℱ = �𝑓: ℝ → ℝ | 𝑑𝑥
+ 2𝑓 = 1�.

2. Express, if possible, (0, −26, −9) and (1, 3, 5) as linear combinations of (5, 3, 7) and
(2, −4, 1).

3. Which of the following subsets of ℝ3 is/are subspace of ℝ3 ?

(a) 𝑆 = �𝒗 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)/ : 𝑥 + 2𝑦 − 3𝑧 = 4�,
𝑥−1 𝑦+2 𝑧
(b) 𝑆 = �𝒗 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)/ : 2
= 3
= 4�,
(c) 𝑆 = �𝒗 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)/ : 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 0, 𝑥 − 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 1 �,
(d) 𝑆 = �𝒗 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)/ : 𝑥 = −𝑧, 𝑥 = 𝑧 �,
(e) 𝑆 = �𝒗 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)/ : 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 𝑧�,
𝑥 𝑦−3
(f) 𝑆 = �𝒗 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)/ : 2
= 5
�.

4. Obtain the smallest subspace of ℝ3 containing the vectors:

(a) (2, −3, −3) and (0,3,2), and (b) (0, −3,6) and (0,1, −2).

5. Let 𝑀 and 𝑁 be subspaces of a vector space 𝑉. Consider the following subsets of 𝑉:

(a) 𝑀 ∩ 𝑁. (A vector 𝒗 belongs to 𝑀 ∩ 𝑁 if it belongs to both 𝑀 and 𝑁.)
(b) 𝑀 ∪ 𝑁. (A vector 𝒗 belongs to 𝑀 ∪ 𝑁 if it belongs to either 𝑀 or 𝑁.)
(c) 𝑀 + 𝑁. (A vector 𝒗 belongs to 𝑀 + 𝑁 if there are vectors 𝑚 ∈ 𝑀 and 𝑛 ∈ 𝑁 such that
𝑣 = 𝑚 + 𝑛.)
(d) 𝑀 − 𝑁. (A vector 𝒗 belongs to 𝑀 − 𝑁 if there are vectors 𝑚 ∈ 𝑀 and 𝑛 ∈ 𝑁 such that
𝑣 = 𝑚 + 𝑛.)
Which of (a) - (d) are subspaces of 𝑉?
6. Consider 𝒖 = (5,2,7)/ , 𝒗 = (1,2,3)/ , 𝒘 = (𝑘 ,2, 𝑘 − 3)/ . Find the value(s) of k such that
the vector w is in the span of u and v.

7. Determine if the subset 𝑆 of ℝ3 is linearly independent or dependent:

𝑆 = {(1, −1,2), (1, −2,1), (1,1,4) }.

8. Prove or disprove (by a counter-example):

(a) Subsets of linearly dependent sets are linearly dependent;
(b) If three non-null vectors are linearly dependent, then one of them is a scalar multiple of
one of the others.

9. Let 𝑉 be an 𝑛-dimensional vector space defined over ℝ𝑛 . Suppose 𝒗𝟏 , 𝒗𝟐 , ⋯ ⋯ , 𝒗𝒌 are

linearly independent vectors in 𝑉. Are the following vectors linearly independent:
(a) 𝒗𝟏 + 𝒗𝟐 , 𝒗𝟐 + 𝒗𝟑 ⋯ ⋯ , 𝒗𝒌−𝟏 + 𝒗𝒌 , 𝒗𝒌 + 𝒗𝟏 ; (b) 𝒗𝟐 − 𝒗𝟏 , 𝒗𝟑 − 𝒗𝟐 ⋯ ⋯ , 𝒗𝒌 − 𝒗𝒌−𝟏 , 𝒗𝒌 ?

10. (a) Verify whether the following vectors are linearly dependent or not. If yes, express one
as a linear combination of the others:
𝒗𝟏 = (1,0, −1,0)/ , 𝒗𝟐 = (1,2,3,4)/ , 𝒗𝟑 = (−1, −2,0,1)/ , 𝒗𝟒 = (−2, −2,7,11)/ .
(b) Determine for what value(s) of 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 are the following vectors linearly dependent:
𝒗𝟏 = (𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐)/ , 𝒗𝟐 = (1,2,0)/ , 𝒗𝟑 = (2, −1,0)/ .
(c) Determine for what value(s) of 𝑎, are the following vectors linearly dependent:
𝒗𝟏 = (1,2,3, 𝑎)/ , 𝒗𝟐 = (𝑎, 0, −1,2)/ , 𝒗𝟑 = (0,0 , 𝑎2 , 7)/ , 𝒗𝟒 = (1, 𝑎, 1,1)/ ,
𝒗𝟓 = (2, −2 ,3, 𝑎3 )/ .