Category: Linear Algebra

Determine Whether Given Subsets in $\R^4$ are Subspaces or Not

Problem 480

(a) Let $S$ be the subset of $\R^4$ consisting of vectors $\begin{bmatrix}
x \\
y \\
z \\
w
\end{bmatrix}$ satisfying
\[2x+4y+3z+7w+1=0.\] Determine whether $S$ is a subspace of $\R^4$. If so prove it. If not, explain why it is not a subspace.

(b) Let $S$ be the subset of $\R^4$ consisting of vectors $\begin{bmatrix}
x \\
y \\
z \\
w
\end{bmatrix}$ satisfying
\[2x+4y+3z+7w=0.\] Determine whether $S$ is a subspace of $\R^4$. If so prove it. If not, explain why it is not a subspace.

(These two problems look similar but note that the equations are different.)

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Final Exam Problem)
 
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Find an Orthonormal Basis of the Range of a Linear Transformation

Problem 478

Let $T:\R^2 \to \R^3$ be a linear transformation given by
\[T\left(\, \begin{bmatrix}
x_1 \\
x_2
\end{bmatrix} \,\right)
=
\begin{bmatrix}
x_1-x_2 \\
x_2 \\
x_1+ x_2
\end{bmatrix}.\] Find an orthonormal basis of the range of $T$.

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Final Exam Problem)

 
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A Linear Transformation Preserves Exactly Two Lines If and Only If There are Two Real Non-Zero Eigenvalues

Problem 472

Let $T:\R^2 \to \R^2$ be a linear transformation and let $A$ be the matrix representation of $T$ with respect to the standard basis of $\R^2$.

Prove that the following two statements are equivalent.

(a) There are exactly two distinct lines $L_1, L_2$ in $\R^2$ passing through the origin that are mapped onto themselves:
\[T(L_1)=L_1 \text{ and } T(L_2)=L_2.\]

(b) The matrix $A$ has two distinct nonzero real eigenvalues.

 
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Use the Cayley-Hamilton Theorem to Compute the Power $A^{100}$

Problem 471

Let $A$ be a $3\times 3$ real orthogonal matrix with $\det(A)=1$.

(a) If $\frac{-1+\sqrt{3}i}{2}$ is one of the eigenvalues of $A$, then find the all the eigenvalues of $A$.

(b) Let
\[A^{100}=aA^2+bA+cI,\] where $I$ is the $3\times 3$ identity matrix.
Using the Cayley-Hamilton theorem, determine $a, b, c$.

(Kyushu University, Linear Algebra Exam Problem)
 
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Diagonalize a 2 by 2 Matrix $A$ and Calculate the Power $A^{100}$

Problem 466

Let
\[A=\begin{bmatrix}
1 & 2\\
4& 3
\end{bmatrix}.\]

(a) Find eigenvalues of the matrix $A$.

(b) Find eigenvectors for each eigenvalue of $A$.

(c) Diagonalize the matrix $A$. That is, find an invertible matrix $S$ and a diagonal matrix $D$ such that $S^{-1}AS=D$.

(d) Diagonalize the matrix $A^3-5A^2+3A+I$, where $I$ is the $2\times 2$ identity matrix.

(e) Calculate $A^{100}$. (You do not have to compute $5^{100}$.)

(f) Calculate
\[(A^3-5A^2+3A+I)^{100}.\] Let $w=2^{100}$. Express the solution in terms of $w$.

 
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Are Linear Transformations of Derivatives and Integrations Linearly Independent?

Problem 463

Let $W=C^{\infty}(\R)$ be the vector space of all $C^{\infty}$ real-valued functions (smooth function, differentiable for all degrees of differentiation).
Let $V$ be the vector space of all linear transformations from $W$ to $W$.
The addition and the scalar multiplication of $V$ are given by those of linear transformations.

Let $T_1, T_2, T_3$ be the elements in $V$ defined by
\begin{align*}
T_1\left(\, f(x) \,\right)&=\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}x}f(x)\\[6pt] T_2\left(\, f(x) \,\right)&=\frac{\mathrm{d}^2}{\mathrm{d}x^2}f(x)\\[6pt] T_3\left(\, f(x) \,\right)&=\int_{0}^x \! f(t)\,\mathrm{d}t.
\end{align*}
Then determine whether the set $\{T_1, T_2, T_3\}$ are linearly independent or linearly dependent.

 
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A Matrix Equation of a Symmetric Matrix and the Limit of its Solution

Problem 457

Let $A$ be a real symmetric $n\times n$ matrix with $0$ as a simple eigenvalue (that is, the algebraic multiplicity of the eigenvalue $0$ is $1$), and let us fix a vector $\mathbf{v}\in \R^n$.

(a) Prove that for sufficiently small positive real $\epsilon$, the equation
\[A\mathbf{x}+\epsilon\mathbf{x}=\mathbf{v}\] has a unique solution $\mathbf{x}=\mathbf{x}(\epsilon) \in \R^n$.

(b) Evaluate
\[\lim_{\epsilon \to 0^+} \epsilon \mathbf{x}(\epsilon)\] in terms of $\mathbf{v}$, the eigenvectors of $A$, and the inner product $\langle\, ,\,\rangle$ on $\R^n$.

 
(University of California, Berkeley, Linear Algebra Qualifying Exam)

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Differentiating Linear Transformation is Nilpotent

Problem 453

Let $P_n$ be the vector space of all polynomials with real coefficients of degree $n$ or less.
Consider the differentiation linear transformation $T: P_n\to P_n$ defined by
\[T\left(\, f(x) \,\right)=\frac{d}{dx}f(x).\]

(a) Consider the case $n=2$. Let $B=\{1, x, x^2\}$ be a basis of $P_2$. Find the matrix representation $A$ of the linear transformation $T$ with respect to the basis $B$.

(b) Compute $A^3$, where $A$ is the matrix obtained in part (a).

(c) If you computed $A^3$ in part (b) directly, then is there any theoretical explanation of your result?

(d) Now we consider the general case. Let $B$ be any basis of the vector space of $P_n$ and let $A$ be the matrix representation of the linear transformation $T$ with respect to the basis $B$.
Prove that without any calculation that the matrix $A$ is nilpotent.

 
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Eigenvalues of Similarity Transformations

Problem 452

Let $A$ be an $n\times n$ complex matrix.
Let $S$ be an invertible matrix.

(a) If $SAS^{-1}=\lambda A$ for some complex number $\lambda$, then prove that either $\lambda^n=1$ or $A$ is a singular matrix.

(b) If $n$ is odd and $SAS^{-1}=-A$, then prove that $0$ is an eigenvalue of $A$.

(c) Suppose that all the eigenvalues of $A$ are integers and $\det(A) > 0$. If $n$ is odd and $SAS^{-1}=A^{-1}$, then prove that $1$ is an eigenvalue of $A$.

 
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Null Space, Nullity, Range, Rank of a Projection Linear Transformation

Problem 450

Let $\mathbf{u}=\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
1 \\
0
\end{bmatrix}$ and $T:\R^3 \to \R^3$ be the linear transformation
\[T(\mathbf{x})=\proj_{\mathbf{u}}\mathbf{x}=\left(\, \frac{\mathbf{u}\cdot \mathbf{x}}{\mathbf{u}\cdot \mathbf{u}} \,\right)\mathbf{u}.\]

(a) Calculate the null space $\calN(T)$, a basis for $\calN(T)$ and nullity of $T$.

(b) Only by using part (a) and no other calculations, find $\det(A)$, where $A$ is the matrix representation of $T$ with respect to the standard basis of $\R^3$.

(c) Calculate the range $\calR(T)$, a basis for $\calR(T)$ and the rank of $T$.

(d) Calculate the matrix $A$ representing $T$ with respect to the standard basis for $\R^3$.

(e) Let
\[B=\left\{\, \begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
0 \\
0
\end{bmatrix}, \begin{bmatrix}
-1 \\
1 \\
0
\end{bmatrix}, \begin{bmatrix}
0 \\
-1 \\
1
\end{bmatrix} \,\right\}\] be a basis for $\R^3$.
Calculate the coordinates of $\begin{bmatrix}
x \\
y \\
z
\end{bmatrix}$ with respect to $B$.

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Exam Problem)

 
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