## Problem 677

Let $C (\mathbb{R})$ be the vector space of real functions. Define the map $T$ by $T(f)(x) = (f(x))^2$ for $f \in C(\mathbb{R})$.

Determine if $T$ is a linear transformation or not. If it is, determine the range of $T$.

## Problem 676

Let $V$ be the vector space of $2 \times 2$ matrices with real entries, and $\mathrm{P}_3$ the vector space of real polynomials of degree 3 or less. Define the linear transformation $T : V \rightarrow \mathrm{P}_3$ by
$T \left( \begin{bmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{bmatrix} \right) = 2a + (b-d)x – (a+c)x^2 + (a+b-c-d)x^3.$

Find the rank and nullity of $T$.

## Problem 675

The space $C^{\infty} (\mathbb{R})$ is the vector space of real functions which are infinitely differentiable. Let $T : C^{\infty} (\mathbb{R}) \rightarrow \mathrm{P}_3$ be the map which takes $f \in C^{\infty}(\mathbb{R})$ to its third order Taylor polynomial, specifically defined by
$T(f)(x) = f(0) + f'(0) x + \frac{f^{\prime\prime}(0)}{2} x^2 + \frac{f^{\prime \prime \prime}(0)}{6} x^3.$ Here, $f’, f^{\prime\prime}$ and $f^{\prime \prime \prime}$ denote the first, second, and third derivatives of $f$, respectively.

Prove that $T$ is a linear transformation.

## Problem 674

Let $\mathrm{P}_n$ be the vector space of polynomials of degree at most $n$. The set $B = \{ 1 , x , x^2 , \cdots , x^n \}$ is a basis of $\mathrm{P}_n$, called the standard basis. Let $T : \mathrm{P}_4 \rightarrow \mathrm{P}_{4}$ be the map defined by, for $f \in \mathrm{P}_4$,
$T (f) (x) = f(x) – x – 1.$

Determine if $T(x)$ is a linear transformation. If it is, find the matrix representation of $T$ relative to the standard basis of $\mathrm{P}_4$.

## Problem 673

Let $\mathrm{P}_n$ be the vector space of polynomials of degree at most $n$. The set $B = \{ 1 , x , x^2 , \cdots , x^n \}$ is a basis of $\mathrm{P}_n$, called the standard basis.

Let $T : \mathrm{P}_3 \rightarrow \mathrm{P}_{5}$ be the map defined by, for $f \in \mathrm{P}_3$,
$T (f) (x) = ( x^2 – 2) f(x).$

Determine if $T(x)$ is a linear transformation. If it is, find the matrix representation of $T$ relative to the standard basis of $\mathrm{P}_3$ and $\mathrm{P}_{5}$.

## Problem 672

For an integer $n > 0$, let $\mathrm{P}_n$ be the vector space of polynomials of degree at most $n$. The set $B = \{ 1 , x , x^2 , \cdots , x^n \}$ is a basis of $\mathrm{P}_n$, called the standard basis.

Let $T : \mathrm{P}_n \rightarrow \mathrm{P}_{n+1}$ be the map defined by, for $f \in \mathrm{P}_n$,
$T (f) (x) = x f(x).$

Prove that $T$ is a linear transformation, and find its range and nullspace.

## Problem 671

Determine whether the following matrices are nonsingular or not.

(a) $A=\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 & 1 \\ 2 &1 &2 \\ 1 & 0 & -1 \end{bmatrix}$.

(b) $B=\begin{bmatrix} 2 & 1 & 2 \\ 1 &0 &1 \\ 4 & 1 & 4 \end{bmatrix}$.

## Problem 670

Determine the values of a real number $a$ such that the matrix
$A=\begin{bmatrix} 3 & 0 & a \\ 2 &3 &0 \\ 0 & 18a & a+1 \end{bmatrix}$ is nonsingular.

## Problem 669

(a) Suppose that a $3\times 3$ system of linear equations is inconsistent. Is the coefficient matrix of the system nonsingular?

(b) Suppose that a $3\times 3$ homogeneous system of linear equations has a solution $x_1=0, x_2=-3, x_3=5$. Is the coefficient matrix of the system nonsingular?

(c) Let $A$ be a $4\times 4$ matrix and let
$\mathbf{v}=\begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 2 \\ 3 \\ 4 \end{bmatrix} \text{ and } \mathbf{w}=\begin{bmatrix} 4 \\ 3 \\ 2 \\ 1 \end{bmatrix}.$ Suppose that we have $A\mathbf{v}=A\mathbf{w}$. Is the matrix $A$ nonsingular?

## Problem 668

Consider the system of differential equations
\begin{align*}
\frac{\mathrm{d} x_1(t)}{\mathrm{d}t} & = 2 x_1(t) -x_2(t) -x_3(t)\\
\frac{\mathrm{d}x_2(t)}{\mathrm{d}t} & = -x_1(t)+2x_2(t) -x_3(t)\\
\frac{\mathrm{d}x_3(t)}{\mathrm{d}t} & = -x_1(t) -x_2(t) +2x_3(t)
\end{align*}

(a) Express the system in the matrix form.

(b) Find the general solution of the system.

(c) Find the solution of the system with the initial value $x_1=0, x_2=1, x_3=5$.

## Problem 667

(a) Find all solutions of the linear dynamical system
$\frac{\mathrm{d}\mathbf{x}}{\mathrm{d}t} =\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0\\ 0& 3 \end{bmatrix}\mathbf{x},$ where $\mathbf{x}(t)=\mathbf{x}=\begin{bmatrix} x_1 \\ x_2 \end{bmatrix}$ is a function of the variable $t$.

(b) Solve the linear dynamical system
$\frac{\mathrm{d}\mathbf{x}}{\mathrm{d}t}=\begin{bmatrix} 2 & -1\\ -1& 2 \end{bmatrix}\mathbf{x}$ with the initial value $\mathbf{x}(0)=\begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 3 \end{bmatrix}$.

## Mathematics About the Number 2018

Happy New Year 2018!!

Here are several mathematical facts about the number 2018.

## Problem 665

Let $\mathbf{P}_2$ be the vector space of polynomials of degree $2$ or less.

(a) Prove that the set $\{ 1 , 1 + x , (1 + x)^2 \}$ is a basis for $\mathbf{P}_2$.

(b) Write the polynomial $f(x) = 2 + 3x – x^2$ as a linear combination of the basis $\{ 1 , 1+x , (1+x)^2 \}$.

## Problem 664

Let $V$ be the vector space of $k \times k$ matrices. Then for fixed matrices $R, S \in V$, define the subset $W = \{ R A S \mid A \in V \}$.

Prove that $W$ is a vector subspace of $V$.

## Problem 663

Let $\R^2$ be the $x$-$y$-plane. Then $\R^2$ is a vector space. A line $\ell \subset \mathbb{R}^2$ with slope $m$ and $y$-intercept $b$ is defined by
$\ell = \{ (x, y) \in \mathbb{R}^2 \mid y = mx + b \} .$

Prove that $\ell$ is a subspace of $\mathbb{R}^2$ if and only if $b = 0$.

## Problem 662

For what real values of $a$ is the set
$W_a = \{ f \in C(\mathbb{R}) \mid f(0) = a \}$ a subspace of the vector space $C(\mathbb{R})$ of all real-valued functions?

## Problem 661

Let $C(\mathbb{R})$ be the vector space of real-valued functions on $\mathbb{R}$.

Consider the set of functions $W = \{ f(x) = a + b \cos(x) + c \cos(2x) \mid a, b, c \in \mathbb{R} \}$.

Prove that $W$ is a vector subspace of $C(\mathbb{R})$.

## Problem 660

Let $V$ be the vector space of $n \times n$ matrices, and $M \in V$ a fixed matrix. Define
$W = \{ A \in V \mid AM = MA \}.$ The set $W$ here is called the centralizer of $M$ in $V$.

Prove that $W$ is a subspace of $V$.

## Problem 659

Fix the row vector $\mathbf{b} = \begin{bmatrix} -1 & 3 & -1 \end{bmatrix}$, and let $\R^3$ be the vector space of $3 \times 1$ column vectors. Define
$W = \{ \mathbf{v} \in \R^3 \mid \mathbf{b} \mathbf{v} = 0 \}.$ Prove that $W$ is a vector subspace of $\R^3$.

## Problem 658

Let $V$ be the vector space of $n \times n$ matrices with real coefficients, and define
$W = \{ \mathbf{v} \in V \mid \mathbf{v} \mathbf{w} = \mathbf{w} \mathbf{v} \mbox{ for all } \mathbf{w} \in V \}.$ The set $W$ is called the center of $V$.

Prove that $W$ is a subspace of $V$.