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SIM2002
LINEAR ALGEBRA

Semester 1, Session 2022/2023

A Note to Students

Why Linear Algebra ? Linear algebra is the branch of mathematics concerned with the study
of linearity in algebraic systems, which is one of the most important subjects in mathematics due to its
widespread applications in statistics, natural science, engineering, computer science, data analysis, social
science, business, economics and etc. The basic notions of linear algebra are linear systems, matrices,
vectors, linear spaces, inner product spaces, linear transformations, determinants, eigenvalues, eigenvectors,
decompositions, tensors and etc. In linear algebra, the concepts are as important as the computations.
Solving systems of linear equations adepts matrix computations, and at the same time, it will simultaneously
develop abstract reasoning skill. Its balance of computation and mathematical abstraction makes linear
algebra unique among mathematics. For those who make use of pure and applied mathematics in their
professional careers, an understanding and appreciation of linear algebra is indispensable.
The major prerequisite of the mathematical background required for an understanding of linear algebra
is not a specific list of courses in mathematics, but rather the ability to reason abstractly, to proceed logically
from hypothesis to conclusion. Anyone who processes this quality is capable of understanding the material
presented in this course.
Chapter 0

Chapter Zero

In this chapter we briefly summarize some basic mathematical techniques and recall the background knowl-
edge that are required throughout the study of this course.

1. George Polya’s “How to Solve it” List

Solving a mathematical problem by your own means will challenge your curiosity and bring into play your
inventive faculties. You will experience the tension and enjoy the triumph of discovery. In 1945, George
Polya in his book “How to Solve It” suggested the following wise advice on solving mathematical problems:
(a) Understanding the problem - What are the data ? What is the hypothesis of the problem ? What is
the conclusion ? You may draw a figure or introduce suitable notation.
(b) Devising a plan - Have you seen a similar problem before ? Find a connection between the hypothesis
and the conclusion. Could you restate the problem ? Do you know a theorem that could be useful ?
You should obtain eventually a plan of the solution.
(b) Carrying out the plan - You should carry out your plan of the solution and check each step carefully.
(c) Looking back - You must examine the solution obtained and check each step of your argument rigorously
and carefully. Can you derive/prove the result differently ?
More details, see [19].

2. Mathematical Proof
Every rigorous study of mathematics begins with certain undefined concepts, primitive notions on which the
theory based on. Every mathematical result has hypotheses and a conclusion. In general, there are three
main methods of proof.
(a) Mathematical Induction - a special method for proving statements which depend on positive integer,
see [18, Chapter 6].
(b) Deductive Proof - a mathematical proof starting from hypotheses and proceeding step by step to the
desired conclusion. Each step is rigorously justified by a hypothesis or a mathematical result that has
already been justified and proved, see [18, Chapters 3 and 4] and [17, Section 1.5.1].
(c) Proof by Contradiction - a proving technique that starts with the hypotheses, supposes the conclusion
to be false, and works step by step deductively until a contradiction occurs. The phrase “suppose
to the contrary”always indicates a proof by contradiction. More details, see [18, Chapter 5] and [17,
Section 1.5.4].

3. Some Standard Number Systems

(a) The set of all integers Z := {. . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, . . . }.
(b) The set of all positive integers or counting numbers N := {1, 2, . . . }.
(c) The set of all rational numbers Q := { pq : p, q ∈ Z, q ̸= 0 }.

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(d) R denotes the set of all real numbers, see [17, Chapter 2].
(e) The set of all complex numbers C := {a + bi : a, b ∈ R }, where i2 = −1.

The real number system (R, + , · ), under the usual addition ’ + ’ and multiplication ’ · ’, forms an ordered
field where the following properties hold:
(i) x + y and x · y are unique elements in R for any x, y ∈ R;
(ii) x + y = y + x and xy = yx for any x, y ∈ R.
(iii) x + (y + w) = (x + y) + w and x · (y · w) = (x · y) · w for any x, y, w ∈ R.
(iv) There exist unique real numbers 0 and 1 in R such that x + 0 = x and 1 · x = x for any x ∈ R.
(v) For each x ∈ R, there exists a unique element −x ∈ R, called the additive inverse of x, such that
x + (−x) = 0.
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(vi) For each nonzero x ∈ R, there exists a unique element x ∈ R, called the multiplicative inverse of x,
such that x · ( x1 ) = 1.
(vii) x · (y + w) = x · y + x · w and (x + y) · w = x · w + y · w for any x, y, w ∈ R.
(viii) For any real numbers x, y ∈ R, one and only one the relations holds:

y > x, x = y, and x > y.

The relation > is trichotomous. Recall that y > x means y − x is a positive real number.
(ix) If x, y, w ∈ R with y > x and x > w, then y > w.
(x) If x, y ∈ R with y > x, then y + w > x + w for any w ∈ R.
(xi) If x, y ∈ R with x > 0 and y > 0, then xy > 0.
More details, see Calculus.

4. Functions
Let X and Y be nonempty sets. A function (or map) f from X into Y denoted by

f :X→Y

is a set of ordered pairs contained in X × Y such that for each x ∈ X, there exists a unique y ∈ Y such that
(x, y) ∈ f . In other words, if f : X → Y is a function, then (x, y) ∈ f and (x, y ′ ) ∈ f imply that y = y ′ .
Also, it is often to denote (x, y) ∈ f by the notation f (x) = y.

(a) A function f : X → Y is well defined if and only if x1 = x2 in X ⇒ f (x1 ) = f (x2 ).

(b) A function f : X → Y is one-to-one (or injective) if one of the following holds:
– if x1 , x2 ∈ X for which f (x1 ) = f (x2 ), then x1 = x2 .
– if x1 ̸= x2 in X, then f (x1 ) ̸= f (x2 ).
– for any y ∈ Y , there exists at most an element x ∈ X such that f (x) = y.
(c) A function f : X → Y is onto (or surjective) if one of the following holds:
– Im f = Y , where Im f := {f (x) : x ∈ X} is the set of all images under f .
– for any y ∈ Y , there exists at least an element x ∈ X such that f (x) = y.

(d) A function f : X → Y is one-to-one onto (or bijective) if f is injective and surjective.

(e) A function f : X → Y is invertible if f has an (unique) inverse f −1 : Y → X such that f −1 ◦ f = IX
and f ◦ f −1 = IY . Here, IX and IY are the identity maps on X and Y , respectively.
(f) A function f : X → Y is invertible if and only if f is bijective.
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(g) Let A be a subset of X. The image set of A under f is defined by

f (A) := {f (a) : a ∈ A},

which is a subset of Y . Clearly, Im f = f (X) and f (∅) = ∅. It can be verified that if A and B are
subsets of X, then f (A ∪ B) = f (A) ∪ f (B), f (A ∩ B) ⊆ f (A) ∩ f (B), and f (A) ⊆ f (B) whenever
A ⊆ B.
(h) Let S be a subset of Y . The pre-image of S by f is defined by

f −1 (S) := {x ∈ X : f (x) ∈ S}.

It is essential to note that using the notation f −1 (S) does not presume that f is invertible (or bijective).
Trivially, a ∈ f −1 (S) if and only if f (a) ∈ S. Also, we see that f −1 (∅) = ∅. It can be proved that if
S and T are subsets of Y , then f −1 (S ∪ T ) = f −1 (S) ∪ f −1 (T ) and f −1 (S ∩ T ) = f −1 (S) ∩ f −1 (T ).
More details, see Calculus.
5. Elementary Row Operations
(a) Interchanging the i-th and j-th rows: Ri ↔ Rj .
(b) Multiplying the i-th row by a nonzero scalar α: Ri → αRi .
(c) Adding λ times the j-th row to the i-th row to produce a new i-th row: Ri → Ri + λRj .
Here Ri stands for the i-th row of the augmented matrix of a linear system. More details, see [5, 6, 8]

6. Elementary Column Operations

(a) Interchanging the i-th and j-th columns: Ci ↔ Cj .
(b) Multiplying the i-th column by a nonzero scalar α: Ci → αCi .
(c) Adding λ times the j-th column to the i-th column to produce a new i-th column: Ci → Ci + λCj .
Here Ci denotes the i-th column of the augmented matrix of a linear system. More details, see [5, 6, 8]

7. Basic Properties of Matrices

Let H = (hij ) ∈ Mm,n (F) and K = (kij ) ∈ Mp,q (F). Then H = K if and only if (m, n) = (p, q) and hij = kij
for all 1 ⩽ i ⩽ m and 1 ⩽ j ⩽ n.
Let A, B, C ∈ Mm,n (F) and α, β ∈ F. Then the following properties hold.
(a) A + B = B + A.
(b) A + (B + C) = (A + B) + C.
(c) A + 0m,n = A = 0m,n + A.
(d) A − A = A + (−A) = −A + A = 0m,n .
(e) α(A + B) = αA + αB.
(f) (α + β)A = αA + βA.
(g) (αβ)A = α(βA).
(h) 1A = A.
(i) 0A = 0m,n .
(j) α0m,n = 0m,n .
(k) −A = (−1)A, −(−A) = A and −(A + B) = −A − B.
(l) −(αA) = (−α)A = α(−A).
(m) α(A − B) = αA − αB.
(n) (α − β)A = αA − βB.
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(o) A + C = B + C if and only if A = B.

(p) A + B = C if and only if A = C − B. In particular, if A + B = 0m,n , then A = −B.
(q) αA = 0m,n if and only if either α = 0 or A = 0m.n .
(r) At A = 0n,n if and only if A = 0m,n .

Let A, A1 , A2 ∈ Mm,n (F), B, B1 , B2 ∈ Mn,p (F) and C ∈ Mp,q (F), and let α ∈ F.
Pn
(a) If A = (aij ) and B = (bij ), then the (i, j)-th entry of AB is s=1 ais bsj for every 1 ⩽ i ⩽ m and
1 ⩽ j ⩽ p.
(b) A0n,q = 0m,q and 0p,m A = 0p,n .
(c) AIn = A and Im A = A.
(d) A(BC) = (AB)C.
(e) A(B1 + B2 ) = AB1 + AB2 .
(f) (A1 + A2 )B = A1 B + A2 B.
(g) α(AB) = (αA)B = A(αB).
8. Invertible Matrices
Let F be a field and let m, n be positive integers. Let Mm,n (F) be the set of m × n matrices over F. We
write Mn (F) = Mm,n (F) when m = n. If A ∈ Mn (F), then the following assertions are equivalent.
(a) A is invertible.
(b) The homogeneous linear system AX = 0 has only the trivial solution.
(c) The linear system AX = B has a unique solution for each B ∈ Mn,1 (F).
(d) The reduced row echelon form of A is the identity In .
(e) A is row equivalent to In .
(f) A can be expressed as a product of elementary matrices.
(g) det A ̸= 0.
(h) At is invertible.
(i) adj A is invertible.
(j) A is of rank n.
(k) The row vectors of A are linearly independent in M1,n (F) := Fn .
(l) The column vectors of A are linearly independent in Mn,1 (F).
(m) Eigenvalues of A are nonzero.
(n) The constant term of the characteristic polynomial of A is nonzero.
Here, det A, At and adj A denote the determinant, the transpose and the classical adjoint of A, see SIM1001.

9. Elementary Properties of Transpose

Let A, B ∈ Mm,n (F) and α ∈ F. Then the following assertions hold.
(a) At ∈ Mn,m (F).
(b) (At )t = A.
(c) (A + B)t = At + B t .
(d) (αA)t = αAt .
(e) If C ∈ Mn,q (F), then (AC)t = C t At .
More details, see SIM1001.
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10. Elementary Properties of Determinant

Let A, B ∈ Mn (F) and α ∈ F.
(a) det(αA) = αn det A.
(b) det(AB) = det A det B.
(c) det(At ) = det A.
(d) det(A−1 ) = (det A)−1 whenever A is invertible.
(e) det(An ) = (det A)n for any positive integer n.
(f) det(P AP −1 ) = det A for any invertible matrix P ∈ Mn (F).
More details, see SIM1001.

11. Elementary Properties of Trace

Let A, B ∈ Mn (F) and α ∈ F.
(a) tr (A + B) = tr A + tr B.
(b) tr (αA) = αtr A.
(c) tr (AB) = tr (BA).
(d) tr (At ) = tr A.
(e) tr (P −1 AP ) = tr A for any invertible matrix P ∈ Mn (F).
Here, tr A denotes the trace of A. More details, see SIM1001.

12. Elementary Properties of Rank

Let A ∈ Mm,n (F). If E ∈ Mm,n (F) is a row echelon matrix of A, then the rank of A, denoted by rank (A),
is the number of nonzero rows of E.
(a) 0 ⩽ rank (A) ⩽ min{m, n} for any A ∈ Mm,n (F).
(b) rank (A) = 0 if and only if A = 0.
(c) rank (αA) = rank (A) for any A ∈ Mm,n (F) and nonzero α ∈ F.
(d) If A ∈ Mn (F), then rank (A) = n if and only if A is invertible.
More details, see SIM1001.
13. Elementary Properties of Classical Adjoint
Let A, B ∈ Mn (F) and α ∈ F.
(a) adj (αA) = αn−1 (adj A).
(b) adj (AB) = (adj B)(adj A).
(c) A(adj A) = (adj A)A = (det A)In .
(d) rank (adj A) = n when rank A = n.
(e) rank (adj A) = 1 when rank A = n − 1.
(f) rank (adj A) = 0 when rank A ⩽ n − 2.
(g) adj (adj A) = (det A)n−2 A.
(h) adj (P −1 AP ) = P (adj A)P for any invertible matrix P ∈ Mn (F).
Here, adj A denotes the adjugate of A or the classical adjoint of A. More details, see SIM1001.