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Let $G$ be a finite group and let $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$.
Suppose that the order $n$ of $N$ is relatively prime to the index $|G:N|=m$.
(a) Prove that $N=\{a\in G \mid a^n=e\}$.
(b) Prove that $N=\{b^m \mid b\in G\}$.
Add to solve later Is it true that a set of nilpotent elements in a ring $R$ is an ideal of $R$?
If so, prove it. Otherwise give a counterexample.
Add to solve later Let $R$ be a commutative ring with $1$ such that every element $x$ in $R$ is idempotent, that is, $x^2=x$. (Such a ring is called a Boolean ring.)
(a) Prove that $x^n=x$ for any positive integer $n$.
(b) Prove that $R$ does not have a nonzero nilpotent element.
Add to solve later Let $R$ be a commutative ring with $1$.
Suppose that the localization $R_{\mathfrak{p}}$ is a Noetherian ring for every prime ideal $\mathfrak{p}$ of $R$.
Is it true that $A$ is also a Noetherian ring?
Add to solve later Suppose that $p$ is a prime number greater than $3$.
Consider the multiplicative group $G=(\Zmod{p})^*$ of order $p-1$.
(a) Prove that the set of squares $S=\{x^2\mid x\in G\}$ is a subgroup of the multiplicative group $G$.
(b) Determine the index $[G : S]$.
(c) Assume that $-1\notin S$. Then prove that for each $a\in G$ we have either $a\in S$ or $-a\in S$.
Add to solve later Let $R$ be a ring and assume that whenever $ab=ca$ for some elements $a, b, c\in R$, we have $b=c$.
Then prove that $R$ is a commutative ring.
Add to solve later Let $G$ be a finite group. Let $S$ be the set of elements $g$ such that $g^5=e$, where $e$ is the identity element in the group $G$.
Prove that the number of elements in $S$ is odd.
Add to solve later Let $m$ and $n$ be positive integers such that $m \mid n$.
(a) Prove that the map $\phi:\Zmod{n} \to \Zmod{m}$ sending $a+n\Z$ to $a+m\Z$ for any $a\in \Z$ is well-defined.
(b) Prove that $\phi$ is a group homomorphism.
(c) Prove that $\phi$ is surjective.
(d) Determine the group structure of the kernel of $\phi$.
Add to solve later Let $C[-2\pi, 2\pi]$ be the vector space of all real-valued continuous functions defined on the interval $[-2\pi, 2\pi]$.
Consider the subspace $W=\Span\{\sin^2(x), \cos^2(x)\}$ spanned by functions $\sin^2(x)$ and $\cos^2(x)$.
(a) Prove that the set $B=\{\sin^2(x), \cos^2(x)\}$ is a basis for $W$.
(b) Prove that the set $\{\sin^2(x)-\cos^2(x), 1\}$ is a basis for $W$.
Add to solve later An $n\times n$ matrix $A$ is called orthogonal if $A^{\trans}A=I$.
Let $V$ be the vector space of all real $2\times 2$ matrices.
Consider the subset
\[W:=\{A\in V \mid \text{$A$ is an orthogonal matrix}\}.\]
Prove or disprove that $W$ is a subspace of $V$.
Add to solve later Let $T:\R^2\to \R^2$ be a linear transformation such that it maps the vectors $\mathbf{v}_1, \mathbf{v}_2$ as indicated in the figure below.
Find the matrix representation $A$ of the linear transformation $T$.
Add to solve later Let $A$ be a $2\times 2$ real symmetric matrix.
Prove that all the eigenvalues of $A$ are real numbers by considering the characteristic polynomial of $A$.
Add to solve later Let $A$ and $B$ be $n\times n$ matrices and assume that they commute: $AB=BA$.
Then prove that the matrices $A$ and $B$ share at least one common eigenvector.
Add to solve later 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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Add to solve later 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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Add to solve later 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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Add to solve later 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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Add to solve later 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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Add to solve later Let $W$ be a subspace of $\R^4$ with a basis
\[\left\{\, \begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
0 \\
1 \\
1
\end{bmatrix}, \begin{bmatrix}
0 \\
1 \\
1 \\
1
\end{bmatrix} \,\right\}.\]
Find an orthonormal basis of $W$.
(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Midterm)
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