Tagged: subspace criteria

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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The Subspace of Linear Combinations whose Sums of Coefficients are zero

Problem 581

Let $V$ be a vector space over a scalar field $K$.
Let $\mathbf{v}_1, \mathbf{v}_2, \dots, \mathbf{v}_k$ be vectors in $V$ and consider the subset
\[W=\{a_1\mathbf{v}_1+a_2\mathbf{v}_2+\cdots+ a_k\mathbf{v}_k \mid a_1, a_2, \dots, a_k \in K \text{ and } a_1+a_2+\cdots+a_k=0\}.\] So each element of $W$ is a linear combination of vectors $\mathbf{v}_1, \dots, \mathbf{v}_k$ such that the sum of the coefficients is zero.

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

 
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Determine Whether Given Subsets in $\R^4$ are Subspaces or Not

Problem 480

(a) Let $S$ be the subset of $\R^4$ consisting of vectors $\begin{bmatrix}
x \\
y \\
z \\
w
\end{bmatrix}$ satisfying
\[2x+4y+3z+7w+1=0.\] Determine whether $S$ is a subspace of $\R^4$. If so prove it. If not, explain why it is not a subspace.

(b) Let $S$ be the subset of $\R^4$ consisting of vectors $\begin{bmatrix}
x \\
y \\
z \\
w
\end{bmatrix}$ satisfying
\[2x+4y+3z+7w=0.\] Determine whether $S$ is a subspace of $\R^4$. If so prove it. If not, explain why it is not a subspace.

(These two problems look similar but note that the equations are different.)

(The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Final Exam Problem)
 
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12 Examples of Subsets that Are Not Subspaces of Vector Spaces

Problem 338

Each of the following sets are not a subspace of the specified vector space. For each set, give a reason why it is not a subspace.
(1) \[S_1=\left \{\, \begin{bmatrix}
x_1 \\
x_2 \\
x_3
\end{bmatrix} \in \R^3 \quad \middle | \quad x_1\geq 0 \,\right \}\] in the vector space $\R^3$.


(2) \[S_2=\left \{\, \begin{bmatrix}
x_1 \\
x_2 \\
x_3
\end{bmatrix} \in \R^3 \quad \middle | \quad x_1-4x_2+5x_3=2 \,\right \}\] in the vector space $\R^3$.


(3) \[S_3=\left \{\, \begin{bmatrix}
x \\
y
\end{bmatrix}\in \R^2 \quad \middle | \quad y=x^2 \quad \,\right \}\] in the vector space $\R^2$.


(4) Let $P_4$ be the vector space of all polynomials of degree $4$ or less with real coefficients.
\[S_4=\{ f(x)\in P_4 \mid f(1) \text{ is an integer}\}\] in the vector space $P_4$.


(5) \[S_5=\{ f(x)\in P_4 \mid f(1) \text{ is a rational number}\}\] in the vector space $P_4$.


(6) Let $M_{2 \times 2}$ be the vector space of all $2\times 2$ real matrices.
\[S_6=\{ A\in M_{2\times 2} \mid \det(A) \neq 0\} \] in the vector space $M_{2\times 2}$.


(7) \[S_7=\{ A\in M_{2\times 2} \mid \det(A)=0\} \] in the vector space $M_{2\times 2}$.

(Linear Algebra Exam Problem, the Ohio State University)


(8) Let $C[-1, 1]$ be the vector space of all real continuous functions defined on the interval $[a, b]$.
\[S_8=\{ f(x)\in C[-2,2] \mid f(-1)f(1)=0\} \] in the vector space $C[-2, 2]$.


(9) \[S_9=\{ f(x) \in C[-1, 1] \mid f(x)\geq 0 \text{ for all } -1\leq x \leq 1\}\] in the vector space $C[-1, 1]$.


(10) Let $C^2[a, b]$ be the vector space of all real-valued functions $f(x)$ defined on $[a, b]$, where $f(x), f'(x)$, and $f^{\prime\prime}(x)$ are continuous on $[a, b]$. Here $f'(x), f^{\prime\prime}(x)$ are the first and second derivative of $f(x)$.
\[S_{10}=\{ f(x) \in C^2[-1, 1] \mid f^{\prime\prime}(x)+f(x)=\sin(x) \text{ for all } -1\leq x \leq 1\}\] in the vector space $C[-1, 1]$.


(11) Let $S_{11}$ be the set of real polynomials of degree exactly $k$, where $k \geq 1$ is an integer, in the vector space $P_k$.


(12) Let $V$ be a vector space and $W \subset V$ a vector subspace. Define the subset $S_{12}$ to be the complement of $W$,
\[ V \setminus W = \{ \mathbf{v} \in V \mid \mathbf{v} \not\in W \}.\]

 
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Quiz 8. Determine Subsets are Subspaces: Functions Taking Integer Values / Set of Skew-Symmetric Matrices

Problem 328

(a) Let $C[-1,1]$ be the vector space over $\R$ of all real-valued continuous functions defined on the interval $[-1, 1]$.
Consider the subset $F$ of $C[-1, 1]$ defined by
\[F=\{ f(x)\in C[-1, 1] \mid f(0) \text{ is an integer}\}.\] Prove or disprove that $F$ is a subspace of $C[-1, 1]$.

(b) Let $n$ be a positive integer.
An $n\times n$ matrix $A$ is called skew-symmetric if $A^{\trans}=-A$.
Let $M_{n\times n}$ be the vector space over $\R$ of all $n\times n$ real matrices.
Consider the subset $W$ of $M_{n\times n}$ defined by
\[W=\{A\in M_{n\times n} \mid A \text{ is skew-symmetric}\}.\] Prove or disprove that $W$ is a subspace of $M_{n\times n}$.

 
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Quiz 5: Example and Non-Example of Subspaces in 3-Dimensional Space

Problem 304

Problem 1 Let $W$ be the subset of the $3$-dimensional vector space $\R^3$ defined by
\[W=\left\{ \mathbf{x}=\begin{bmatrix}
x_1 \\
x_2 \\
x_3
\end{bmatrix}\in \R^3 \quad \middle| \quad 2x_1x_2=x_3 \right\}.\]

(a) Which of the following vectors are in the subset $W$? Choose all vectors that belong to $W$.
\[(1) \begin{bmatrix}
0 \\
0 \\
0
\end{bmatrix} \qquad(2) \begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
2 \\
2
\end{bmatrix} \qquad(3)\begin{bmatrix}
3 \\
0 \\
0
\end{bmatrix} \qquad(4) \begin{bmatrix}
0 \\
0
\end{bmatrix} \qquad(5) \begin{bmatrix}
1 & 2 & 4 \\
1 &2 &4
\end{bmatrix} \qquad(6) \begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
-1 \\
-2
\end{bmatrix}.\]

(b) Determine whether $W$ is a subspace of $\R^3$ or not.
 


Problem 2 Let $W$ be the subset of $\R^3$ defined by
\[W=\left\{ \mathbf{x}=\begin{bmatrix}
x_1 \\
x_2 \\
x_3
\end{bmatrix} \in \R^3 \quad \middle| \quad x_1=3x_2 \text{ and } x_3=0 \right\}.\] Determine whether the subset $W$ is a subspace of $\R^3$ or not.

 
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Subspace of Skew-Symmetric Matrices and Its Dimension

Problem 166

Let $V$ be the vector space of all $2\times 2$ matrices. Let $W$ be a subset of $V$ consisting of all $2\times 2$ skew-symmetric matrices. (Recall that a matrix $A$ is skew-symmetric if $A^{\trans}=-A$.)

(a) Prove that the subset $W$ is a subspace of $V$.

(b) Find the dimension of $W$.

(The Ohio State University Linear Algebra Exam Problem)
 
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Subspaces of Symmetric, Skew-Symmetric Matrices

Problem 143

Let $V$ be the vector space over $\R$ consisting of all $n\times n$ real matrices for some fixed integer $n$. Prove or disprove that the following subsets of $V$ are subspaces of $V$.

(a) The set $S$ consisting of all $n\times n$ symmetric matrices.

(b) The set $T$ consisting of all $n \times n$ skew-symmetric matrices.

(c) The set $U$ consisting of all $n\times n$ nonsingular matrices.

 
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The Vector Space Consisting of All Traceless Diagonal Matrices

Problem 79

Let $V$ be the set of all $n \times n$ diagonal matrices whose traces are zero.
That is,

\begin{equation*}
V:=\left\{ A=\begin{bmatrix}
a_{11} & 0 & \dots & 0 \\
0 &a_{22} & \dots & 0 \\
0 & 0 & \ddots & \vdots \\
0 & 0 & \dots & a_{nn}
\end{bmatrix} \quad \middle| \quad
\begin{array}{l}
a_{11}, \dots, a_{nn} \in \C,\\
\tr(A)=0 \\
\end{array}
\right\}
\end{equation*}

Let $E_{ij}$ denote the $n \times n$ matrix whose $(i,j)$-entry is $1$ and zero elsewhere.

(a) Show that $V$ is a subspace of the vector space $M_n$ over $\C$ of all $n\times n$ matrices. (You may assume without a proof that $M_n$ is a vector space.)

(b) Show that matrices
\[E_{11}-E_{22}, \, E_{22}-E_{33}, \, \dots,\, E_{n-1\, n-1}-E_{nn}\] are a basis for the vector space $V$.

(c) Find the dimension of $V$.
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