Tagged: direct sum

Two Subspaces Intersecting Trivially, and the Direct Sum of Vector Spaces.

Problem 61

Let $V$ and $W$ be subspaces of $\R^n$ such that $V \cap W =\{\mathbf{0}\}$ and $\dim(V)+\dim(W)=n$.

(a) If $\mathbf{v}+\mathbf{w}=\mathbf{0}$, where $\mathbf{v}\in V$ and $\mathbf{w}\in W$, then show that $\mathbf{v}=\mathbf{0}$ and $\mathbf{w}=\mathbf{0}$.

(b) If $B_1$ is a basis for the subspace $V$ and $B_2$ is a basis for the subspace $W$, then show that the union $B_1\cup B_2$ is a basis for $R^n$.

(c) If $\mathbf{x}$ is in $\R^n$, then show that $\mathbf{x}$ can be written in the form $\mathbf{x}=\mathbf{v}+\mathbf{w}$, where $\mathbf{v}\in V$ and $\mathbf{w} \in W$.

(d) Show that the representation obtained in part (c) is unique.

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