1.5.

BASIS AND DIMENSION

Basis: A set of vectors = { , , … , } in a vector space ( ) is said to be a
basis of ( ), if it satisfies the following properties:

i) is linearly independent
ii) spans

Examples

1) Show that the vectors = (1, 0, 0, … , 0), = (0, 1, 0, … ,0), … ,

= (0, 0, 0, … , 1) is a basis of .

Solution: Let ={ , ,…, } be a subset of . Then

i) If there exist scalars , , … , such that + + ⋯+ =0

⟹ (1, 0, 0, … , 0) + (0, 1, 0, … ,0) + ⋯ + (0, 0, 0, … , 1) = (0, 0, 0, … , 0)
⟹ = = ⋯ = = 0 ⟹ is linearly independent
ii) Any vector = ( , , … , ) ∈ can expressed as a linear combination of
the vectors in . That is,
( , , … , ) = (1, 0, 0, … , 0) + (0, 1, 0, … ,0) + ⋯ + (0, 0, 0, … , 1)
⟹ ( , , … , ) = ( , 0, 0, … , 0) + (0, , 0, … ,0) + ⋯ + (0, 0, 0, … , )
⟹ = , = ,…, =
⟹ = + + ⋯+
Thus, spans .Therefore, is a basis of .
Note:
i) The set of vectors { , , … , } is said to be a standard basis of
ii) The set of vectors {(1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)} is a standard basis of
iii) An infinite set may also be a basis of a vector space
iv) A vector space may have more than one basis. Notice that each of the following set of
vectors forms a basis of the vector space :
 {(1, −1, 0), (0, 1, −1), (0, 0, 1)}
 {(1, −1, 0), (0, 0, 1), (1, 2, 3)}
 {(2, 2, 0), (3, 0, 2), (2, −2, 2)}
2) Let × ( ) be a vector space whose elements are 2 × 3 matrices. Then the
following set with six matrices forms a basis of × ( ):
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
= , , , , ,
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

3) Show that the set {(1, 0, −1), (1, 1, 1), (1, 2, 4)} is a basis for .

Solution: If there exist scalars , , such that

(1,0, −1) + (1,1,1) + (1,2,4) = (0,0,0)

Equating like coefficients on both sides we get

+ + =0 ; +2 =0 ; − + +4 =0

Solving we have = 0, = 0, and = 0 (do it!!). Thus, the given set of

vectors is linearly independent.

Let ( , , ) be an arbitrary element of . If there exist scalars , , such

that ( , , ) = (1,0, −1) + (1,1,1) + (1,2,4)

Equating the like coefficients on both sides we get

+ + = ; +2 = ; − + +4 =

Solving we have

=2 −3 + ; = −2 +5 −2 ; = −2 + (do it !!)

Thus, the given set of vectors spans .

Therefore, the set {(1,0, −1), (1,1,1), (1,2,4)} forms a basis for .

Dimension of a vector space

If ( ) be a vector space which consists a basis with elements, then the
dimension of ( ), denoted by ( ), is .

Example: Since the set of vectors { , , … , } is a standard basis with

elements of , we have ( )= .
Note:

i) If the dimension of the vector space ( ) is finite, say , then ( ) is said to be

Finite Dimensional Vector Space (FDVS) or -dimensional vector space.
ii) The dimension of a zero vector space { } is said to be zero.
iii) Suppose a vector space ( ) has an infinite basis, then is said to be of
Infinite dimension, that is, ( ) = ∞.

THEOREM 1: Let = { , , … , } is a basis of a vector space ( ) of finite

dimension . If the set = { , , … , } consisting of more than vectors
in ( ), then prove that is linearly dependent.

(OR)

Prove that every set of ( + 1) or more vectors in an -dimensional vector space is

linearly dependent.

Proof: To show that is linearly dependent, it is enough to show that there exist
scalars , , … , ∈ , not all zero, such that

+ + ⋯+ =0 … (1)

Since is a basis of ( ), each of the vectors in can be expressed as a linear

combination of the vectors in . That is, there exist scalars ∈ such that

= + + ⋯+
= + + ⋯.+
… …. …
= + + ⋯.+
Substituting these values in (1) and rearranging, we get
( + +⋯+ )+ ( + + ⋯.+ )+⋯
+ ( + + ⋯.+ )=0

⟹( + +⋯+ ) +( + +⋯+ ) +⋯
+( + + ⋯+ ) =0

Since is a basis and hence , ,…, are linearly independent, we have

 + +⋯+ =0
+ +⋯+ =0
… … …
+ + ⋯+ =0

Notice that the above system of homogeneous linear equations has unknowns
and linear equations. Since > , that is, the number of unknowns is greater
than the number of equations, the above system of equations has infinite number
of solutions. Thus, there exist nonzero scalars in such that

+ + ⋯+ =0

Therefore, the set is linearly dependent. Hence be proved.

Note: The largest linearly independent subset of a finite dimensional vector space
of dimension is a basis.

THEOREM 2: Let ( ) be a finite dimensional vector space. Then any two bases
of have the same number of elements.

THEOREM 3: Let = { , , … , } is a basis of a vector space ( ). Then each

vector in can be expressed uniquely as a linear combination of the vectors in .

LEMMA 1: Let be a linearly independent subset of a vector space ( ). Suppose

is a vector in which is not in the subspace spanned by . Then the set obtained
by adjoining to , that is, ∪ { } is linearly independent.

THEOREM 4: Basis Extension Theorem

If is a subspace of finite-dimensional vector space ( ), then prove that every
linearly independent subset of is finite and is part of a basis for .

Proof: Suppose is a linearly independent subset of . If is a linearly

independent subset of containing , then is also a linearly independent subset
of . Since is finite-dimensional, contains no more than ( ) elements.

We now extend S0 to a basis for W. If S0 spans W, then clearly S0 is basis for W.

If does not span , using Lemma 1 to find a vector in such that the set
= ∪ { } is linearly independent. If spans , then is an extended basis
of which contains . If not, again using Lemma 1 to find a vector β2 in such
that

= ∪{ }= ∪{ , }, is linearly independent.

If spans , then is an extended basis of which contains .

By continuing in this way (not more than ( ) steps), then we have a linearly
independent set = ∪ { , … , }, which is an extended basis for or is
a part of the basis of .

Note: If is a subspace of a vector space ( ), then any linearly independent

set of contains atmost elements only.

Suppose that a vector space is known to be a dimension . The following theorem

tells us that we have to check either linear independence or spanning conditions
to verify that a given set is a basis or not.

THEOREM 5: Let ( ) be a vector space of dimension .

a) If = { , , … , } is a set of linearly independent vectors in , then is a
basis for .
b) If = { , , … , } is a set of vectors that spans , then is a basis for .

Example: Show that the set {(1,0, −1), (1,1,1), (1,2,4)} is a basis for .

Solution: Notice that is a 3-dimensional vector space. To prove the set of

vectors = {(1,0, −1), (1,1,1), (1,2,4)}, it is enough to show that is either linear
independent or spans .

If there exist scalars , , such that

(1,0, −1) + (1,1,1) + (1,2,4) = (0,0,0)

Equating the like coefficients on both sides we get

+ + =0 ; +2 =0 ; − + +4 =0
Solving we have = 0, = 0, and = 0 (do it!!). Thus, is linearly
independent and hence it is a basis of .

THEOREM-6: Let ( ) be an - dimensional vector space and be a subspace

of ( ). Then prove that is a finite dimensional vector space with ( )≤ .
Proof:
Given ( ) = . Then any set with more than vectors is linearly dependent in
( ). Since is a subspace of ( ), any linearly independent set of will
contain atmost vectors.
That is, Let = { , , … , } be the largest linearly independent set of , with
≤ , then there exist scalars , , … , ∈ such that
+ + ⋯+ = 0, where = = ⋯ = =0 … (1)
To prove that ( ) = , it enough to show that is a basis of .
For any vector ∈ , consider the set = { , , … , , }.
Since is the largest linearly independent set, is linearly dependent in ( ).
Thus, there exist scalars , , … , , ∈ , not all zero, such that
+ + ⋯+ + =0 … (2)
If = 0, then + +⋯+ =0
From (1) is linearly independent, which is a contradiction and hence ≠ 0.
From (2), we have
=− − − ⋯− ⟹ =− − − ⋯−
⟹ spans .
Thus, is a basis of with dimension .
This shows that ( )= ≤ = ( ). That is, ( )≤ .
Hence be proved.

THEOREM 7: Let and are two finite dimensional subspaces of a vector

space ( ). Then prove that + is finite dimensional subspace and
( + )= ( )+ ( )− ( ∩ )
Proof: Given and be two finite dimensional subspaces of a vector space ( ).
⟹ ∩ is also a finite dimensional subspace of ( ).
Let ( ∩ ) = and = { , , … , } be a basis of ∩ .
Then ⊆ and ⊆ .
Since is linear independent and ⊆ , we can extend to form a basis of .
Let = { , , … , , , , … , } be a basis of and ( )= +
Since is linear independent and ⊆ , we can extend to form a basis of .
Let = , ,…, , , ,…, be a basis of and ( )= +
∴ ( )+ ( )− ( ∩ ) = + + + − = + + … (1)
We now prove that = , ,…, , , ,…, , , ,…, is basis
of + .
If there exist scalars , , … , , , , … , , , , … , ∈ , is a basis of
and is a basis of , we have
+ + ⋯+ + + +⋯+
+ + + ⋯+ = 0 … (2)
⟹ + + ⋯+
=− − − ⋯− − − − ⋯−
= linear combination of the vectors in

⟹ 1 1 + 2 2 + ⋯+ ∈ 1

Also, + +⋯+

= + + ⋯+ +0 +0 + ⋯+ 0 (since is linear independent)

= linear combination of the vectors in

⟹ 1 1 + 2 2 + ⋯+ ∈ 2

∴ + + ⋯+ ∈ ∩

Thus, the vector + + ⋯+ in ∩ can be expressed as a linear

combination of the vectors in as basis of ∩ . That is,

+ + ⋯+ = + + ⋯+

⟹ 1 1 + 2 2 + ⋯+ − 1 1 − 2 2 − ⋯− =0

⟹ linear combination of the vectors in =0

As is linear independent, we have

 = =⋯= = = =⋯= =0 … (3)

Substituting = =⋯= = 0 in (2), we have

+ +⋯+ + + + ⋯+ =0

⟹ linear combination of the vectors in =0

As is linear independent, we have

= =⋯= = = =⋯= =0 … (4)

From (3) and (4), we have the relation

= =⋯= = = =⋯= = = =⋯= = 0

This gives is linearly independent.

Now, for any vector ∈ + , we have = + , where ∈ and ∈

= +
ℎ ℎ

= +

= ,

= linear combination of the vectors in

This gives spans +

Therefore, is a basis of + and ( + )= + + … (5)

From (1) and (5), we have + is finite dimensional and

( + )= ( )+ ( )− ( ∩ )
Hence be proved.