3.

3 Linear transformations in R3

Def. A mapping L from a vector space V into

a vector space W is said to be a linear trans-
formation if for all ~v1, ~v2 ∈ V and for all scalars
α and β,

L(α~v1 + β~v2) = αL(~v1) + βL(~v2),

or equivalently, if for all ~v1, ~v2 ∈ V and for all
scalar α,

L(~v1 + ~v2) = L(~v1) + L(~v2), L(α~v1) = α~v1.

This is denoted by L : V → W . When V = W ,
L is referred to as a linear operator on V .

1
Ordinary linear operators: a stretching or shrink-
ing by a factor, projections, reflections and ro-
tations.

Example 1: L(~ x) = 3~
x; L(~ 1~
x) = 2 x;
Example 2: L(~ x ∈ R2, a projection
x) = x1~e1, ~
onto the x1 axis.
Example 3: in R2 L(~ x) = (x1, −x2)T , a reflec-
tion about the x1 axis.
Example 4:L : R2 → R2, L(~ x) = (x1 cos θ −
x2 sin θ, x1 sin θ +x2 cos θ)T . Rotation by an an-
gle θ in the counterclockwise.
L(~x) = (x2, −x1)T is a rotation by π/2 in the
clockwise direction.

2
 Def. A linear transformation is called one-to-
one, if and only if L(~v1) = L(~v2) implies ~v1 =
~v2;
A linear transformation is said to map V onto
W if and only if L(V ) = W

Property: 1) Let L1 : U → V , and L2 : V → W

be linear transformations and let L = L2 ◦ L1
defined by L(~u) = L2(L1(~ u)), ∀~
u ∈ U . Then
L : U → W is a linear transformation.

2) Let L : V → V be a linear operator, define

Ln(n ≥ 1) recursively by L1 = L, Lk+1(~v ) =
L(Lk (~v )). Then Ln is a linear operator on V .

Composition and powers of a linear operator.

3
Def. L : V → W . The kernel of L, denoted by
Ker(L), is defined by Ker(L) = {~v ∈ V |L(~v ) =
~
0w }.

Def. L : V → W . S ⊂ V is a subset. The

image of S, denoted by L(S), is defined by
L(S) = {w ~ ∈ W |w~ = L(~v ), f or some ~v ∈ S}.
L(V ) is called the range of L.

Theorem. L : V → W is a transformation.
Ker(L) is a subspace of V , L(S) is a subspace
of W .

4
3.4 Inner product space and orthogonality

Def. Let ~
x and ~y be vectors in R3 or R2. The
inner product of ~
x and ~
y is defined as
(
x1y1 + x2y2 + x3y3, in R3
(~
x, ~ xT ~
y) = ~ y=
x1y1 + x2y2, in R2.
With this product, R3 or R2 forms an inner
product space.

The inner product has the properties:

I. (~
x, ~
x) ≥ 0 with equality if and only if ~ x=~ 0;
II. (~
x, ~
y ) = (~
y, ~
x) for all ~
x and ~y in V ;
III. (α~x + β~y, ~
z ) = α(~
x, ~
z ) + β(~
y, ~
z ), for all ~
x, ~y
and ~ z in V and all scalars α, β.

Def. In terms of the inner product Euclidean

length of a vector ~
x (norm) in R 3 or R2 is de-
q q
xk = x1 + x2 + x3 or x2
fined as k~ 2 2 2
1 + x 2.
2

5
Def. The angle between ~ x and ~ y , ∠(~
x, ~
y ), is
defined the angle between the line segments.

Def. The distance between ~

x and ~
y is defined
to be the number k~
x−~y k.

Theorem. If ~ x and ~
y are two nonzero vectors in
either R2 and R3, and θ = ∠(~ x, ~
y ) is the angle
between them, then (~ x, ~
y ) = k~
xk · k~y k · cos θ.
If the unit vector ~u = ~ x/k~
xk and ~v = ~ y /k~yk

are defined as the direction vector of ~

x and ~
y
respectively, then cos θ = (~
u, ~v ).

The proof is seen on Page 212.

6
Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. If ~ x and ~
y are vec-
tors in R2 or R3, then |(~
x, ~
y )| ≤ k~
xkk~
y k.

Def.(orthogonality) The vectors ~x and ~ y in R2

or R3 are said to be orthogonal if (~
x, ~
y ) = 0.

For example, (a) ~ 0 is orthogonal to every vec-

tor in R2; (b) (2, −3, 1)T and (1, 1, 1) in R3.

7
Def.(scalar and vector projections). For any
nonzero vectors ~ y in R2 or R3, the scalar
x and ~
projection of ~
x onto ~
y is
(~
x, ~
y) xT ~
~ y
α= = .
k~yk k~yk
The vector projection of ~
x onto ~
y is
~
y (~
x, ~
y)
p
~ = α~
u=α = ~
y.
k~
yk k~yk

By the definitions of projections we can solve

problems in geometry.

Example 1(See Page 214-215): The point Q is

1 x that is closest to
the point on the line y = 3
the point P (1, 4). Determine the coordinates
of Q.

8
Example 2(Find equations of planes) Let the
plane passing through the point (2, −1, 3) and
normal to the vector (2, 3, 4)T .

Theorem: Any equation of first degree in x, y, x

represents a plane.

Example 3 Find the distance from the point

(2, 0, 0) to the plane x + 2y + 2z = 0.

9
Def. (orthogonal subspaces). Two subspaces
X and Y of R3 are said to be orthogonal if
(~
x, ~ xT ~
y) = ~ y = 0 for every ~x ∈ X and every
~
y ∈ Y , which is denoted by X ⊥ Y .

Example 1. In R3, X = Span(~e1), Y = Span(~e2),

then X ⊥ Y .

Example 2. In R3, X = Span(~e1, ~

x2), Y =
Span(~e3), then X ⊥ Y .

Pythagorean Law In an inner space if ~

x and ~ y
are orthogonal, then k~ y k2 = k~
x+~ xk2 + k~
y k2 .

Exercise:

10
Def. Let Y be s subspace of R3. The set of
all vectors in R3 that are orthogonal to every
vector in Y will be denoted Y ⊥,

Y ⊥ = {~
x ∈ R3|(~
x, ~ xT ~
y) = ~ y = 0, ∀~
y ∈ Y }.
The set Y ⊥ is called the orthogonal comple-
ment of Y .

Example: In R3, X = Span(~e1), Y = Span(~e2),

then

X ⊥ = Span(~e2, ~e3), Y ⊥ = Span(~e1, ~e3).

Remarks: 1) If X and Y are orthogonal sub-

spaces of R3, then X ∩ Y = {~
0}.
2) If Y is subspace of R3, then Y ⊥ is also a
subspace of R3, and DimY + DimY ⊥ = 3.

11
Def. If U and V are subspaces of a vector space
W and each w ~ ∈ W can be written uniquely as
a sum ~ u + ~v , where ~
u ∈ U and ~v ∈ V , then we
say that W is a direct sun of U and V , and we
L
write W = U V .

12
Definition(Inner product):An inner product on
a vector space V is an operation on V that
assigns to each pair of vectors ~ x and ~ y in V a
real number (~ x, ~y ) satisfying the following con-
ditions:
I. (~
x, ~
x) ≥ 0 with equality if and only if ~ x=~ 0;
II. (~
x, ~
y ) = (~
y, ~
x) for all ~ x and ~y in V ;
III. (α~x + β~y, ~
z ) = α(~ x, ~
z ) + β(~
y, ~
z ), for all ~
x, ~y
and ~ z in V and all scalars α, β.

A vector space with an inner product is called

an inner product space.

13