Lecture 10

Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

5th February 2025

Rahul Dattatraya Kitture

Quick Revision:

▶ Choose correct options:

Given set S = {v1 , . . . , vk } of vectors in a space V , span(S) is

(i) Subspace of V ;
(ii) Subspace of V containing S;
(iii) largest subspace of V containing S;
(iv) smallest subspace of V containing S.

▶ Span of all rows of a matrix A is called .........

Revision:

▶ Span of empty set in R3 is .......

▶ Span of zero vector is ........

▶ Span of {(1, 0)} is R2 is .......

▶ Span of {(1, 0), (−1, 0)} is R2 is.......

▶ (T/F) (1, 0) is in the span of {(2, 0)}.

▶ (T/F) (3, 0) is in the span of {(0, 3)}.

Spanning set for a vector space:

Given a vector space V over R, we say that a subset

S = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vk }

is a spanning set for V if every vector in V is a linear

combination of vectors v1 , v2 , . . . , vk .

Quick Examples:

▶ For vector space R, the subset {1} is a spanning set.

▶ For vector space R, the subset {0} is NOT a spanning set.
▶ For R, if a is any non-zero real number, then {a} is a
spanning set.
More Examples:

▶ For the real vector space R2

{(1, 0), (0, 1)}

is a spanning set, since any vector (a, b) can be written as

a(1, 0) + b(0, 1).

▶ In general, for the real vector space Rn

{(1, 0, . . . , 0), (0, 1, . . . , 0), ..., (0, . . . , 0, 1)}

is a spanning set, since any vector (a1 , a2 , . . . , an ) can be written as

a1 (1, 0, . . . 0) + a2 (0, 1, . . . , 0) + · · · + an (0, . . . , 0, 1).

Examples:

For the vector space of 2 × 2 matrices over R, the set

         
1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
, , ,
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

is a spanning set since

         
a b 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
=a +b +c +d
c d 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

Question: For vector space of 3 × 4 matrices, can you obtain a

similar type of spanning set? What is its cardinality?
Examples:

Let Pn := vector space of all the polynomials of degree ≤ n. Then

1, x, x 2 , . . . , x n

is a spanning set for Pn : any polynomial of degree n is of the form

a0 1 + a1 x + a2 x 2 + · · · + an x n .
Spanning set in general (Finite/Infinite):

Given a vector space V over R, and a subset S of V :

we say that S spans V if

each vector in V is a finite linear combination of vectors in

S.

▶ Example: Let P be the real vector space of all polynomials over

R in variable x of all degrees.

Then
{1, x, x 2 , . . .}
is a spanning set for P.
Think on this!

Let V be the vector space of all differentiable functions from R to

R.
Does the function sin x belong to span of {1, x, x 2 , . . . , }?
Why are we studying spanning sets?

Question: Find all solutions of

x − 2y = 0.

Ans: For any value of y , say y = c, we get x = 2c. Hence

(2c, c) (where c ∈ R is arbitrary)

are all the solutions of above equation.

A better way to say this: observe that each solution is in the span
of (2, 1). Hence

span{(2, 1)} in R2 gives all the solutions of above (homoge-

neous) linear equation.
Example:
 
  x  
1 0 2 3  y 0
Find all solutions of   = .
1 4 4 0 z  0
w
 
1 0 2 3 | 0
Ans: We find RREF of augmented matrix: .
1 4 4 0 | 0
 
1 0 2 3 | 0
We get RREF as .
0 1 1/2 −3/4 | 0
So (solutions of given system) ≡ (solutions of reduced system):

x + 2z + 3w = 0
1 3
y + z − w = 0.
2 4
Put z = c & w = d: ⇒ (x = −2c − 3d and y = − 12 c + 43 d).
(Continued)

So  1 3 
− 2c − 3d, − c + d, c, d c, d ∈ R
2 4
are all the solutions of given system
 
  x  
1 0 2 3  y  = 0 .

1 4 4 0 z  0
w

We can express the solution set in nice form as

n 1 3 o
span (−2, − , 1, 0), (−3, , 0, 1)
2 4
Linearly Independent Vectors:

Vectors v1 , v2 , . . . , vk in a space are called linearly independent if

(c1 v1 + c2 v2 + · · · + ck vk ) = 0 =⇒ (ci = 0 for all i).

Question: Is (1, 2, 3) linearly independent in R3 ?

Ans: Yes, since

c(1, 2, 3) = (0, 0, 0) =⇒ (c, 2c, 3c) = (0, 0, 0) =⇒ c = 0.

Question: Are (1, 1) and (−2, −2) linearly independent in R2 ?

Ans: No. Since

2(1, 1) + 1(−2, −2) = (0, 0) but not all coefficients are 0.

Important:

Question: Is zero vector 0 linearly independent?

Ans: No, since

10 = 0 but coefficients are not 0.

Tutorial: Chapter 3 (11):
Are the following matrices linearly independent in M2 (R)?
       
1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
, , , .
0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1

Sol. Suppose their scalar combination is zero (matrix):

         
1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
α + β + γ + δ = .
0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0

Expanding sum and equating terms in both sides, we get

α+β+γ+δ =0
β+γ+δ =0
γ+δ =0
δ = 0.

So α = β = γ = δ = 0; given 4 matrices are linearly independent.

Some important facts:
▶ A single vector v (or singleton set {v}) in any vector space V is
linearly independent if and only if v ̸= 0.
▶ Two vectors u, v in any vector space V is linearly independent
if and only if

none of the vector is scalar multiple of other.

▶ For more than two vectors, there is similar criteria, but

practically it is not always easy to apply.
▶ Two vectors inR2 , say
 (a, b) and (c, d) are linearly independent
a b
if and only if det ̸= 0
c d
▶ Three vectors in R3 , say (a, b, c), (d,
 e, f ) and (g , h, i) are
a b c
linearly independent if and only if det d e
 f  ̸= 0
g h i
Examples and Exercise:

▶ More examples: see page 187-189 in Text-book for linearly

independent sets, and how to show their independence.

▶ Check whether following matrices are linearly independent?

     
0 2 0 1 0 0
, ,
3 0 0 0 −1 0

▶ Solve Exercises 43 to 56 in Text book, p. 273 to 274.

BASIS of a vector space (p.196):

Atoms ⇝ Building blocks of matter

Basis ⇝ Building blocks for vector spaces

Some remarks on basis (from ”Intr. to Linear Algebra” by Strang., p.115)

Intuitive Example:

◦ • ◦

▶ Blue line: Vector space

▶ Your car: Standing at origin.

(You are allowed to travel forward, and backward.)

Question: Suppose NO direction is given to you.

Can you reach at spotted places?

No! Because no direction is given, means no vector is in your

spanning set, means empty set does not span your space!
Modification 1:

◦ • ◦

▶ Blue line: Vector space

▶ Your car: Standing at origin.

(You are allowed to travel forward, and backward.)

Question: Suppose direction is given to you by red color vector.

Can you reach at spotted places?

Yes; travel forward or backward in given direction!

This means, the given vector (direction) spans the vector
space!
Modification 2:

◦ •

▶ Blue space: Vector space

▶ Car: Standing at origin (can travel in forward, and backward
directions.)
Question: For direction given by red color vector, can you reach
at spotted places?
No! ⇒ the given vector (direction) doesn’t spans vector space!
Further Modification:

◦ •

▶ Blue space: Vector space

▶ Car: Standing at origin (can travel in forward, and backward
directions.)
Question: For directions given by red color vectors, can you reach
at spotted places?
Yes! In fact, we can reach to any spotted place! ⇒ The two given
vectors (direction) span whole vector space!
Further Modification:

◦ •
Basis of a vector space: One Definition

In a vector space V , a basis is

a minimal set of vectors, which can span the whole space!

There are at least four definitions of basis of a vector space.

We will see one of them, which is practically useful.