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.
A hyperplane in $n$-dimensional vector space $\R^n$ is defined to be the set of vectors
\[\begin{bmatrix}
x_1 \\
x_2 \\
\vdots \\
x_n
\end{bmatrix}\in \R^n\]
satisfying the linear equation of the form
\[a_1x_1+a_2x_2+\cdots+a_nx_n=b,\]
where $a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n$ (at least one of $a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n$ is nonzero) and $b$ are real numbers.
Here at least one of $a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n$ is nonzero.
Consider the hyperplane $P$ in $\R^n$ described by the linear equation
\[a_1x_1+a_2x_2+\cdots+a_nx_n=0,\]
where $a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n$ are some fixed real numbers and not all of these are zero.
(The constant term $b$ is zero.)
Then prove that the hyperplane $P$ is a subspace of $R^{n}$ of dimension $n-1$.
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Let $T:\R^n \to \R$ be a non-zero linear transformation.
Prove the followings.
(a) The nullity of $T$ is $n-1$. That is, the dimension of the nullspace of $T$ is $n-1$.
(b) Let $B=\{\mathbf{v}_1, \cdots, \mathbf{v}_{n-1}\}$ be a basis of the nullspace $\calN(T)$ of $T$.
Let $\mathbf{w}$ be the $n$-dimensional vector that is not in $\calN(T)$. Then
\[B’=\{\mathbf{v}_1, \cdots, \mathbf{v}_{n-1}, \mathbf{w}\}\]
is a basis of $\R^n$.
(c) Each vector $\mathbf{u}\in \R^n$ can be expressed as
\[\mathbf{u}=\mathbf{v}+\frac{T(\mathbf{u})}{T(\mathbf{w})}\mathbf{w}\]
for some vector $\mathbf{v}\in \calN(T)$.
(a) Let $A=\begin{bmatrix}
1 & 3 & 0 & 0 \\
1 &3 & 1 & 2 \\
1 & 3 & 1 & 2
\end{bmatrix}$.
Find a basis for the range $\calR(A)$ of $A$ that consists of columns of $A$.
(b) Find the rank and nullity of the matrix $A$ in part (a).
Let $A$ be a real $7\times 3$ matrix such that its null space is spanned by the vectors
\[\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
2 \\
0
\end{bmatrix}, \begin{bmatrix}
2 \\
1 \\
0
\end{bmatrix}, \text{ and } \begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
-1 \\
0
\end{bmatrix}.\]
Then find the rank of the matrix $A$.
(Purdue University, Linear Algebra Final Exam Problem)
Let $A$ be an $m\times n$ matrix. The nullspace of $A$ is denoted by $\calN(A)$.
The dimension of the nullspace of $A$ is called the nullity of $A$.
Prove the followings.
For which choice(s) of the constant $k$ is the following matrix invertible?
\[A=\begin{bmatrix}
1 & 1 & 1 \\
1 &2 &k \\
1 & 4 & k^2
\end{bmatrix}.\]
(Johns Hopkins University, Linear Algebra Exam)