Category: Linear Algebra

Find a Basis of the Subspace Spanned by Four Polynomials of Degree 3 or Less

Problem 607

Let $\calP_3$ be the vector space of all polynomials of degree $3$ or less.
Let
\[S=\{p_1(x), p_2(x), p_3(x), p_4(x)\},\] where
\begin{align*}
p_1(x)&=1+3x+2x^2-x^3 & p_2(x)&=x+x^3\\
p_3(x)&=x+x^2-x^3 & p_4(x)&=3+8x+8x^3.
\end{align*}

(a) Find a basis $Q$ of the span $\Span(S)$ consisting of polynomials in $S$.

(b) For each polynomial in $S$ that is not in $Q$, find the coordinate vector with respect to the basis $Q$.

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Midterm)
 
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Determine the Dimension of a Mysterious Vector Space From Coordinate Vectors

Problem 606

Let $V$ be a vector space and $B$ be a basis for $V$.
Let $\mathbf{w}_1, \mathbf{w}_2, \mathbf{w}_3, \mathbf{w}_4, \mathbf{w}_5$ be vectors in $V$.
Suppose that $A$ is the matrix whose columns are the coordinate vectors of $\mathbf{w}_1, \mathbf{w}_2, \mathbf{w}_3, \mathbf{w}_4, \mathbf{w}_5$ with respect to the basis $B$.

After applying the elementary row operations to $A$, we obtain the following matrix in reduced row echelon form
\[\begin{bmatrix}
1 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 0 \\
0 & 1 & 3 & 0 & 1 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0
\end{bmatrix}.\]

(a) What is the dimension of $V$?

(b) What is the dimension of $\Span\{\mathbf{w}_1, \mathbf{w}_2, \mathbf{w}_3, \mathbf{w}_4, \mathbf{w}_5\}$?

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Midterm)
 
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Matrix Representation, Rank, and Nullity of a Linear Transformation $T:\R^2\to \R^3$

Problem 605

Let $T:\R^2 \to \R^3$ be a linear transformation such that
\[T\left(\, \begin{bmatrix}
3 \\
2
\end{bmatrix} \,\right)
=\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
2 \\
3
\end{bmatrix} \text{ and }
T\left(\, \begin{bmatrix}
4\\
3
\end{bmatrix} \,\right)
=\begin{bmatrix}
0 \\
-5 \\
1
\end{bmatrix}.\]

(a) Find the matrix representation of $T$ (with respect to the standard basis for $\R^2$).

(b) Determine the rank and nullity of $T$.

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Midterm)
 
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Find Bases for the Null Space, Range, and the Row Space of a $5\times 4$ Matrix

Problem 604

Let
\[A=\begin{bmatrix}
1 & -1 & 0 & 0 \\
0 &1 & 1 & 1 \\
1 & -1 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 2 & 2 & 2\\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0
\end{bmatrix}.\]

(a) Find a basis for the null space $\calN(A)$.

(b) Find a basis of the range $\calR(A)$.

(c) Find a basis of the row space for $A$.

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Midterm)
 
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Are the Trigonometric Functions $\sin^2(x)$ and $\cos^2(x)$ Linearly Independent?

Problem 603

Let $C[-2\pi, 2\pi]$ be the vector space of all continuous functions defined on the interval $[-2\pi, 2\pi]$.
Consider the functions \[f(x)=\sin^2(x) \text{ and } g(x)=\cos^2(x)\] in $C[-2\pi, 2\pi]$.

Prove or disprove that the functions $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ are linearly independent.

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Midterm)
 
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Vector Space of 2 by 2 Traceless Matrices

Problem 601

Let $V$ be the vector space of all $2\times 2$ matrices whose entries are real numbers.
Let
\[W=\left\{\, A\in V \quad \middle | \quad A=\begin{bmatrix}
a & b\\
c& -a
\end{bmatrix} \text{ for any } a, b, c\in \R \,\right\}.\]

(a) Show that $W$ is a subspace of $V$.

(b) Find a basis of $W$.

(c) Find the dimension of $W$.

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Midterm)
 
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Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors of The Cross Product Linear Transformation

Problem 593

We fix a nonzero vector $\mathbf{a}$ in $\R^3$ and define a map $T:\R^3\to \R^3$ by
\[T(\mathbf{v})=\mathbf{a}\times \mathbf{v}\] for all $\mathbf{v}\in \R^3$.
Here the right-hand side is the cross product of $\mathbf{a}$ and $\mathbf{v}$.

(a) Prove that $T:\R^3\to \R^3$ is a linear transformation.

(b) Determine the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of $T$.

 
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An Orthogonal Transformation from $\R^n$ to $\R^n$ is an Isomorphism

Problem 592

Let $\R^n$ be an inner product space with inner product $\langle \mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}\rangle=\mathbf{x}^{\trans}\mathbf{y}$ for $\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}\in \R^n$.

A linear transformation $T:\R^n \to \R^n$ is called orthogonal transformation if for all $\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}\in \R^n$, it satisfies
\[\langle T(\mathbf{x}), T(\mathbf{y})\rangle=\langle\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y} \rangle.\]

Prove that if $T:\R^n\to \R^n$ is an orthogonal transformation, then $T$ is an isomorphism.

 
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Exponential Functions Form a Basis of a Vector Space

Problem 590

Let $C[-1, 1]$ be the vector space over $\R$ of all continuous functions defined on the interval $[-1, 1]$. Let
\[V:=\{f(x)\in C[-1,1] \mid f(x)=a e^x+b e^{2x}+c e^{3x}, a, b, c\in \R\}\] be a subset in $C[-1, 1]$.

(a) Prove that $V$ is a subspace of $C[-1, 1]$.

(b) Prove that the set $B=\{e^x, e^{2x}, e^{3x}\}$ is a basis of $V$.

(c) Prove that
\[B’=\{e^x-2e^{3x}, e^x+e^{2x}+2e^{3x}, 3e^{2x}+e^{3x}\}\] is a basis for $V$.

 
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Use Coordinate Vectors to Show a Set is a Basis for the Vector Space of Polynomials of Degree 2 or Less

Problem 588

Let $P_2$ be the vector space over $\R$ of all polynomials of degree $2$ or less.
Let $S=\{p_1(x), p_2(x), p_3(x)\}$, where
\[p_1(x)=x^2+1, \quad p_2(x)=6x^2+x+2, \quad p_3(x)=3x^2+x.\]

(a) Use the basis $B=\{x^2, x, 1\}$ of $P_2$ to prove that the set $S$ is a basis for $P_2$.

(b) Find the coordinate vector of $p(x)=x^2+2x+3\in P_2$ with respect to the basis $S$.

 
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Diagonalize the $2\times 2$ Hermitian Matrix by a Unitary Matrix

Problem 585

Consider the Hermitian matrix
\[A=\begin{bmatrix}
1 & i\\
-i& 1
\end{bmatrix}.\]

(a) Find the eigenvalues of $A$.

(b) For each eigenvalue of $A$, find the eigenvectors.

(c) Diagonalize the Hermitian matrix $A$ by a unitary matrix. Namely, find a diagonal matrix $D$ and a unitary matrix $U$ such that $U^{-1}AU=D$.

 
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