Let $R$ be a ring with $1$ and let $M$ be an $R$-module. Let $I$ be an ideal of $R$.
Let $M’$ be the subset of elements $a$ of $M$ that are annihilated by some power $I^k$ of the ideal $I$, where the power $k$ may depend on $a$.
Prove that $M’$ is a submodule of $M$.
Let $R$ be a ring with $1$. Let $M$ be an $R$-module. Consider an ascending chain
\[N_1 \subset N_2 \subset \cdots\]
of submodules of $M$.
Prove that the union
\[\cup_{i=1}^{\infty} N_i\]
is a submodule of $M$.
(a) Let $R$ be a commutative ring. If we regard $R$ as a left $R$-module, then prove that any two distinct elements of the module $R$ are linearly dependent.
(b) Let $f: M\to M’$ be a left $R$-module homomorphism. Let $\{x_1, \dots, x_n\}$ be a subset in $M$. Prove that if the set $\{f(x_1), \dots, f(x_n)\}$ is linearly independent, then the set $\{x_1, \dots, x_n\}$ is also linearly independent.
Let $f:R\to R’$ be a ring homomorphism. Let $I’$ be an ideal of $R’$ and let $I=f^{-1}(I)$ be the preimage of $I$ by $f$. Prove that $I$ is an ideal of the ring $R$.
Let $R$ be a ring with $1$ and let $M$ be a left $R$-module.
Let $S$ be a subset of $M$. The annihilator of $S$ in $R$ is the subset of the ring $R$ defined to be
\[\Ann_R(S)=\{ r\in R\mid rx=0 \text{ for all } x\in S\}.\]
(If $rx=0, r\in R, x\in S$, then we say $r$ annihilates $x$.)
Suppose that $N$ is a submodule of $M$. Then prove that the annihilator
\[\Ann_R(N)=\{ r\in R\mid rn=0 \text{ for all } n\in N\}\]
of $M$ in $R$ is a $2$-sided ideal of $R$.
Let $R$ be a ring with $1$. An element of the $R$-module $M$ is called a torsion element if $rm=0$ for some nonzero element $r\in R$.
The set of torsion elements is denoted
\[\Tor(M)=\{m \in M \mid rm=0 \text{ for some nonzero} r\in R\}.\]
(a) Prove that if $R$ is an integral domain, then $\Tor(M)$ is a submodule of $M$.
(Remark: an integral domain is a commutative ring by definition.) In this case the submodule $\Tor(M)$ is called torsion submodule of $M$.
(b) Find an example of a ring $R$ and an $R$-module $M$ such that $\Tor(M)$ is not a submodule.
(c) If $R$ has nonzero zero divisors, then show that every nonzero $R$-module has nonzero torsion element.
Let $R$ be a ring with $1$ and $M$ be a left $R$-module.
(a) Prove that $0_Rm=0_M$ for all $m \in M$.
Here $0_R$ is the zero element in the ring $R$ and $0_M$ is the zero element in the module $M$, that is, the identity element of the additive group $M$.
To simplify the notations, we ignore the subscripts and simply write
\[0m=0.\]
You must be able to and must judge which zero elements are used from the context.
(b) Prove that $r0=0$ for all $s\in R$. Here both zeros are $0_M$.
(c) Prove that $(-1)m=-m$ for all $m \in M$.
(d) Assume that $rm=0$ for some $r\in R$ and some nonzero element $m\in M$. Prove that $r$ does not have a left inverse.
Let $A$ be an $n\times n$ matrix. Suppose that $\mathbf{y}$ is a nonzero row vector such that
\[\mathbf{y}A=\mathbf{y}.\]
(Here a row vector means a $1\times n$ matrix.)
Prove that there is a nonzero column vector $\mathbf{x}$ such that
\[A\mathbf{x}=\mathbf{x}.\]
(Here a column vector means an $n \times 1$ matrix.)
Recall that a complex matrix is called Hermitian if $A^*=A$, where $A^*=\bar{A}^{\trans}$.
Prove that every Hermitian matrix $A$ can be written as the sum
\[A=B+iC,\]
where $B$ is a real symmetric matrix and $C$ is a real skew-symmetric matrix.
Let $A$ be an $n\times n$ matrix. Suppose that $A$ has real eigenvalues $\lambda_1, \lambda_2, \dots, \lambda_n$ with corresponding eigenvectors $\mathbf{u}_1, \mathbf{u}_2, \dots, \mathbf{u}_n$.
Furthermore, suppose that
\[|\lambda_1| > |\lambda_2| \geq \cdots \geq |\lambda_n|.\]
Let
\[\mathbf{x}_0=c_1\mathbf{u}_1+c_2\mathbf{u}_2+\cdots+c_n\mathbf{u}_n\]
for some real numbers $c_1, c_2, \dots, c_n$ and $c_1\neq 0$.
Define
\[\mathbf{x}_{k+1}=A\mathbf{x}_k \text{ for } k=0, 1, 2,\dots\]
and let
\[\beta_k=\frac{\mathbf{x}_k\cdot \mathbf{x}_{k+1}}{\mathbf{x}_k \cdot \mathbf{x}_k}=\frac{\mathbf{x}_k^{\trans} \mathbf{x}_{k+1}}{\mathbf{x}_k^{\trans} \mathbf{x}_k}.\]
Prove that
\[\lim_{k\to \infty} \beta_k=\lambda_1.\]