LINEAR ALGEBRA (MA20105)

Problems Sheet:
Notation: F will always denote a field and Fn := F × · · · × F (n times).
R will denote the field of real numbers
C will denote the field of complex numbers
Q will denote the field of rational numbers

1. Prove that (Fn , +) is a vector space over F, where + is coordinate wise addition and c(a1 , . . . , an ) :=
(ca1 , . . . , can ), (a1 , . . . , an ) ∈ Fn , c ∈ F.

2. Let Mm×n (F) be the set of all m × n matrices over F. Prove that Mm×n (F) forms a vector space
under matrix addition and scalar multiplication.

3. On Rn , define two operations

α⊕β = α − β

c ∗ α = −cα.

The operations on the right are the usual ones. Which of the axioms for a vector space are
satisfied by (Rn , ⊕, ∗)?

4. On R2 , define
(x, y) + (x1 , y1 ) = (x + x1 , 0)

c(x, y) = (cx, 0).

Is R2 , with these operations, a vector space over R?

5. Let P [x]≤n := {a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn : ai ∈ F, 1 ≤ i ≤ n} (set of all polynomials of degree ≤ n).

Let p(x) = a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn , q(x) = b0 + b1 x + · · · + bn xn ∈ P [x]≤n . Define

p(x) + q(x) := (a0 + b0 ) + (a1 + b1 )x + · · · + (an + bn )xn

cp(x) := ca0 + ca1 x + · · · + can xn .

Prove that P [x]≤n is a vector space over F with the above operations.

Subspace related problems

1. Which of the follwing sets of vectors α = (a1 , · · · , an ) in Rn are subspaces of Rn (n ≥ 3)?

(i) all α such that a1 ≥ 0;
(ii) all α such that a1 + 3a2 = a3 ;
(iii) all α such that a2 = a21 ;
(iv) all α such that a1 a2 = 0;
(v) all α such that a1 ∈ Q?

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2. Let V be the real vector space of all functions from R → R. Which of the following sets of
functions are subspaces of V ?
(i) all f such that f (x2 ) = f (x)2 ;
(ii) all f such that f (0) = f (1);
(iii) all f such that f (3) = 1 + f (−5);
(iv) all f such that f (−1) = 0;
(v) all f which are continuous.

3. If S1 , S2 , . . . Sk are subsets of a vector space V , the set of all sums α1 + α2 + · · · + αk of vectors

Pk
αi ∈ Si is called the sum of the subsets S1 , . . . Sk and is denoted by S1 + · · · Sk or by i=1 Si .
Pk
If W1 , . . . Wk are subspaces of V , then check that the sum i=1 Wi is a subspace of V which
contains each of the subspaces Wi , 1 ≤ i ≤ k.

4. Prove that the union of two subspaces W1 , W2 of a vector space V is not a subspace in general
but the intersection is. If W1 ∪ W2 is a subspace of V , then prove that W1 ⊂ W2 or W2 ⊂ W1 .

5. Let W1 and W2 be two subspaces of a vector space V such that W1 +W2 = V and W1 ∩W2 = {0}.
Prove that for each vector α ∈ V there are unique vectors α1 ∈ W1 , α2 ∈ W2 such that
α = α1 + α2 .

Problems related to L.I., L.D., Bases and Dimension:

1. Prove that if two vectors are linearly dependent, then one of them is scalar multiple of the other.

2. Find three vectors in R3 which are linealy dependent, and are such that any two of them are
linearly independent.

3. Let V be the vector space of all 2 matrices over the field F . Let W1 be the set of matrices of
the form " #
a −a
c d,
and let W2 be the set of matrices of the form
" #
a b
.
−a d

(i) Prove that W1 and W2 are subspaces of V .

(ii) Find the dimensions of W1 , W2 W1 + W2 , and W1 ∩ W2 .

4. Show that the vectors α1 = (1, 0, −1), α2 = (1, 2, 1) and α3 = (0, −3, 2) form a basis for R3 .
Express each of the standdard basis vectors as linear combinations of α1 , α2 and α3 .

Problems related to Linear maps/transformations:

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1. Which of the following maps/functions T : R2 → R2 are linear map?
(i) T (x1 , x2 ) = (1 + x1 , x2 );
(ii) T (x1 , x2 ) = (x2 , x1 );
(iii) T (x1 , x2 ) = (x21 , x2 );
(iv) T (x1 , x2 ) = (sinx1 , x2 );
(v) T (x1 , x2 ) = (x1 − x2 , 0).

2. Find the range, rank, null space and nullity for the zero map and the identity map on a finite
dimensional vector space V .

3. Describe the range and the null space for the differentiation map which is discussed in the class.

4. Describe explicitly (as in Exercise 1.) the linear map T : R2 → R2 such that T (e1 ) = (a, b) and
T (e2 ) = (c, d).

5. Let V be the vector space of all n × n matrices over the field F , and let B be a fixed n × n
matrix. If T (A) = AB − BA, then check that T is a linear map from V into V .

Problems related to Systems of Linear Equations:

1. Are the following two system equations equivalent? If so, express each equation in each system
as a linear combination of the equation in the other system.
System - I:
x1 − x2 = 0
2x1 + x2 = 0;
System -II:
3x1 + x2 = 0
x1 + x2 = 0.

2. If A =  
3 −1 2
2 1 1 ,
 

1 −3 0
find all solutions AX = 0 by row-reducing A.

3. If A =  
6 −4 0
4 −2 0 ,
 

−1 0 3
find all solutions of AX = 2X and all solutions of AX = 3X.

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 4. Prove that the following two matrices are not row-equivalent:
   
2 0 0 1 1 2
a −1 0 , −2 0 −1 .
   

b c 3 1 3 5

5. Give an example of a system of two linear equations in two unknown which has no solution.

6. Find all solutions of

2x1 − 3x2 − 7x3 + 5x4 + 2x5 = −2
x1 − 2x2 − 4x3 + 3x2 + x5 = −2
2x1 − 4x3 + 2x4 + x5 = 3
x1 − 5x2 − 7x3 + 6x4 + 2x5 = −7.

7. Let A be as in Problem (2.). For which triples (y1 , y2 , y3 ) does the system AX = Y have a
solution?

8. Find two different 2 × 2 matrices A such that A2 = 0 but A 6= 0.

9. Let A =  
1 −1 1
2 0 1 .
 

3 0 1

Find elementary matrices E1 , E2 , . . . , Ek such that Ek . . . E1 A = I.

Problems related to the representation of limear map by matrices:

1. Let T be a linear map on C2 defined by T (x1 , x2 ) = (x1 , 0). Let B be the standard ordered basis
of C2 and let B 0 = (α1 , α2 ) be the ordered basis defined by α1 = (1, i), α2 = (−i, 2).
(i) What is the matrix of T relative to the pair B, B 0 ?
(ii) What is the matrix relative to the pair B 0 , B?
(iii) What is the matrix of T in the ordered basis B 0 ?
(iv) What is the matrix of T in the ordered basis {α2 , α1 }?

2. Let V be a two dimensional vector space over the field F, and let B be an ordered basis for V .
If T is a linear map on V and [T ]B =
" #
a b
c d,

prove that T 2 − (a + d)T + (ad − bc)I = 0.

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 3. Let T be a linear map on R2 defined by

T (x1 , x2 ) = (−x2 , x1 ).

(i) What is the matrix of T in the standard ordered basis for R2 ?

(ii) What is the matrix of T in the ordered basis B = {α1 , α2 }, where α1 = (1, 2) and α2 = (1, −1)
?
(iii) Prove that for every real number c the linear map T − cI is invertible.
(iv) Prove that B is any ordered basis for R2 and [T ]B = A, then A12 A21 6= 0.

4. Let T be a linear map on R3 defined by

T (x1 , x2 , x3 ) = (3x1 + x3 , −2x1 + x2 , −x1 + 2x2 + 4x3 ).

Prove that T is invertible and give a rule for T −1 like the one which defines T .

5. Let θ be a real number. Prove that the following two matrices are similar over the field of
complex numbers: " # " #
cosθ −sinθ eiθ 0
, .
sinθ cosθ 0 e−iθ

Problems related to Linear functionals and dual space:

1. In R3 , let α1 = (1, 0, 1), α2 = (0, 1, −2), α3 = (−1, −1, 0).

(i) f is a linear functional on R3 such that

f (α1 ) = 1, f (α2 ) = −1, f (α3 ) = 3,

and if α = (a, b, c), find f (α).

(ii) Describe explicitly a linear functional f on R3 such that

f (α1 ) = f (α2 ) = 0

but f (α3 ) 6= 0.
(iii) Let f be any linear functional such that

f (α1 ) = f (α2 ) = 0

and f (α3 ) 6= 0. If α = (2, 3, −1), show that f (α) 6= 0.

2. Let B = {α1 , α1 , α3 } be the basis for C3 defined by α1 = (1, 0, −1), α2 = (1, 1, 1), α3 = (2, 2, 0).
Find the dual basis of B.

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3. If A and B are n × n matrices over the field F , show that trace(AB) = trace(BA). Show that
similar matrices have the same trace.

4. Let V be the vector space of all polynomial functions p from R to R which have degree 2 or less:

p(x) = c0 + c1 x + c2 x2 .

Define three linear functionals on V by

Z 1 Z 2 Z −1
f1 (p) = p(x)dx; f2 (p) = p(x)dx; f3 (p) = p(x)dx.
0 0 0

Show that {f1 , f2 , f3 } is a basis for V ∗ by exhibiting the basis for V of which it is the dual.

5. If A and B are n × n complex matrices, show that AB − BA = I is impossible.

Eigen values, Eigen vectors, characteristic polynomial, diagonalization

1. In each of the following cases, let T be a linear operator on R2 which is represented by the matrix
A in the standard ordered basis of R2 , and let U be the linear operator on C2 represented by A
in the standard ordered basis. Find the characteristic polynomial for T and that for U , find the
eigen values of eack operator, and for each such eigen value c, find a basis for the corresponding
space of eigen vectors.
" # " # " #
1 0 2 3 1 1
A= ,A = ,A = .
0 0 −1 1 1 1

2. Let V be a n-dimensional vector space over the field F . What is the characteristic polynomial
for Identity operator and zero operator on V .

3. Let A be an n × n triangular matrix over the field F . Prove that the eigen values of A are the
diagonal entries of F .

4. Let T be a linear operator on R3 which is represented in the standard ordered basis by the
matrix A =  
−9 4 4
 −8 3 4 .
 

−16 8 7
Prove that T is diagonalizable by exhibiting a basis for R3 , each of vector of which is a eigen
vector of T .

5. Let A =  
6 −3 −2
 4 −1 −2 .
 

10 −5 −3
Is A similar over R to a diagonal matrix? Is A similar over C to a diagonal matrix?