Lecture 6

Vector Space and Its Properties

Definition 1. Let F be a field with binary operations + (addition) and · (multiplication). A non empty
set V is called a vector space over the field F if there exist two operations, called vector addition ⊕ and
scalar multiplication ,

⊕ : V × V −→ V and : F × V −→ V,

such that the following conditions are satisfied.

1. Vector addition is associative, i.e., v1 ⊕ (v2 ⊕ v3 ) = (v1 ⊕ v2 ) ⊕ v3 for all v1 , v2 , v3 ∈ V ;

2. There is a unique vector 0 ∈ V , called the zero vector, such that v ⊕ 0 = v = 0 ⊕ v for all v ∈ V ;

3. For each vector v ∈ V there is a unique vector −v ∈ V such that v ⊕ (−v) = 0;

4. Vector addition is commutative, i.e., v1 ⊕ v2 = v2 ⊕ v1 for all v1 , v2 ∈ V ;

5. α (v1 ⊕ v2 ) = α v1 ⊕ α v2 for all v1 , v2 ∈ V and α ∈ F;

6. (α + β) v=α v⊕β v for all v ∈ V and α, β ∈ F;

7. (α · β) v=α (β v) for all v ∈ V and α, β ∈ F;

8. 1 v = v, where 1 is the multiplicative identity of the field F.

If V is a vector space over the field F, we denote it by V (F). The elements of V are called vectors
and elements of F are called scalars.

Example 2. 1. R(R), C(C) and C(R) are vector spaces under their usual addition and scalar multipli-
cation.

2. Let V = Fn = {(x1 , . . . , xn ) | x1 , . . . , xn ∈ F}. Then V forms a vector space over F under the
following operations:
(x1 , . . . , xn ) ⊕ (y1 , . . . , yn ) = (x1 + y1 , . . . , xn + yn ),

α (x1 , . . . , xn ) = (αx1 , . . . , αxn )

for all (x1 , . . . , xn ), (y1 , . . . , yn ) ∈ V and α ∈ F.

3. The set of all m × n matrices Mm×n (F) with entries from the field F is a vector space over the field
F under the following operations:

(aij ) ⊕ (bij ) = (aij + bij ), and α (aij ) = (αaij ),

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for all A = (aij ), B = (bij ) ∈ Mm×n (F) and α ∈ F.

4. Let X be a non-empty set. Let V be the set of all the functions from X to R. Then V forms a
vector space over R under the following operations: (f ⊕ g)(x) = f (x) + g(x) and (α f )(x) = αf (x),
for all x ∈ X, f, g ∈ V , and α ∈ R.

5. Let Pn = {a0 + a1 x + . . . + an xn | a0 , a1 , . . . , an ∈ F}. The set Pn forms a vector space over F under
the following operations:

(a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn ) ⊕ (b0 + b1 x + . . . + bn xn ) = (a0 + b0 ) + (a1 + b1 )x + · · · + (an + bn )xn

α (a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn ) = (αa0 + αa1 x + · · · + αan xn )

for all (a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn ), (b0 + b1 x + · · · + bn xn ) ∈ Pn and α ∈ F.

6. R2 over R is not a vector space with respect to the following operations

(x1 , y1 ) ⊕ (x2 , y2 ) = (x1 + x2 + 1, y1 + y2 + 1)

α (x, y) = (αx, αy),

where (x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ), (x, y) ∈ R2 and α ∈ R. To see this, we need to find which property is not satisfied.
Let (x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ) ∈ R2 and α ∈ R. Then

α ((x1 , y1 ) ⊕ (x2 , y2 )) = α (x1 + x2 + 1, y1 + y2 + 1)

= (α(x1 + x2 + 1), α(y1 + y2 + 1))
= (αx1 + αx2 + α, αy1 + αy2 + α)
6= α (x1 , y1 ) ⊕ α (x2 , y2 )

Take α = 2 and (x1 , y1 ) = (1, 1) = (x2 , y2 ).

Remark 3. If F1 is a subfield of F, then F(F1 ) forms a vector space but converse is not true. For example,
C(R) is a vector space but R(C) is not a vector space.

Note: If there is no confusion between the operations on a vector space and the operations on the
field, we simply write ⊕ by + and by ·.

Theorem 4. Let V be a vector space over F. Then

1. 0 · v = 0, where 0 and 0 are additive identity of F and V respectively, and v ∈ V .

2. α · 0 = 0 ∀α ∈ F.

3. (−1) · v = −v.

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 4. if α ∈ F and v ∈ V such that α · v = 0, then either α = 0 or v = 0.

Proof: For the first statement, we write 0 = 0 + 0 so that

0 · v = (0 + 0) · v
0·v =0·v+0·v (Condition 6.)
0 · v + (−0 · v) = 0 · v + 0 · v + (−0 · v) (using additive inverse)
0 · v + (−0 · v) = 0 · v + (0 · v + (−0 · v)) (using additive inverse and additive associativity)
0 = 0 · v + 0 = 0 · v.

For the second statement, write 0 = 0 + 0 so that

α · 0 = α · (0 + 0)
α · 0 = α · 0 + α · 0 (Condition 5.)
α · 0 + (−α · 0) = α · 0 + α · 0 + (−α · 0) (using additive inverse)
α · 0 + (−α · 0) = α · 0 + (α · 0 + (−α · 0)) (using additive inverse and additive associativity)
0 = α · 0 + 0 = α · 0.

For the third statement, we write 0 = (−1) + 1 so that

0 · v = ((−1) + (1)) · v
0 · v = (−1) · v + 1 · v (using Condition 5.)
0 = (−1) · v + v (using the first statement and Condition 8.)
0 + (−v) = (−1) · v + (v + (−v)) (ussing additive inverse and associativity)
−v = (−1) · v + 0 = (−1) · v.

Prove the fourth statement yourself.

Definition 5. Let V be a vector space over the field F. A subspace of V is a non-empty subset W of V
which is itself a vector space over F with the operations of vector addition and scalar multiplication on
V.

Example The subsets {0} and V are subspaces of a vector space V . These subspaces are called trivial
subspaces of V .

Theorem 6. Let V be a vector space over the field F and W ⊆ V . Then W is subspace of V if and only
if αw1 + βw2 ∈ W , for all w1 , w2 ∈ W and α, β ∈ F.

Proof: Direct part follows from the definition of subspace. Conversely, if α = 1 and β = 1, then we
see that w1 + w2 ∈ W ∀w1 , w2 ∈ W , also if β = 0, then αw1 ∈ V ∀α ∈ F and w1 ∈ W . Thus, W is closed
under vector addition and scalar multiplication. Further, let α = β = −1 and w1 = w2 . Then 0 ∈ W ,

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i.e., zero vector of V lies in W . The rest of the properties trivially true as the elements are from vector
space V . Thus, W is a vector space over F. 

Example 7. 1. A line passing through origin is a subspace of R2 over R.

2. Let A be an m × n matrix over F. Then the set of all n × 1 (column) matrices x over F such that
Ax = 0 is a subspace of the space of all n × 1 matrices over F or Fn . To see this we need to show that
A(αx + y) = 0, when Ax = 0, Ay = 0, and α is an arbitrary scalar in F.

3. The solution set of a system of non-homogeneous linear equations is not a subspace of Fn over F.

4. The collection of polynomial of degree less than or equal to n over R with the constant term 0
forms a subspace of the space of polynomials of degree less than or equal to n.

5. The collection of polynomial of degree n over R is not a subspace of the space of polynomials of
degree less than or equal to n.

Theorem 8. Let W1 and W2 be subspaces of a vector space V over F. Then W1 ∩ W2 is a subspace of

V.

Proof: Since W1 and W2 are subspaces, 0 ∈ W1 ∩ W2 so that W1 ∩ W2 is a non-empty set. Let

w, w0 ∈ W1 ∩ W2 and α, β ∈ F. Then αw + βw0 ∈ W1 as W1 is a subspace of V and w, w0 ∈ W1 . Similarly,
αw + βw0 ∈ W2 . Thus, αw + βw0 ∈ W1 ∩ W2 . By Theorem 6, W1 ∩ W2 is a subspace of V .

Remark 9. The above theorem can be generalized for any number of subspaces. However, the union of
two subspaces need not be a subspace. Let V = R2 , W = X-axis and W 0 = Y -axis. Then (1, 0) ∈ W
and (0, 1) ∈ W 0 but (1, 0) + (0, 1) = (1, 1) 6∈ W ∪ W 0 . The union of two subspaces is a subspace if one is
contained in other.