Math 540 - Additional Homework Problems

Acknowledgement. Some of these problems (sometimes in slightly modified form) are from Linear Algebra Done Wrong, S. Treil, © 2004, 2009.

Problem # A.1: (a) Check that the vectors \(\mathbf{v}=(1,2,1)\) and \(\mathbf{w}=(8,4,-1)\) are solutions to the linear equation \[ 2x_1 - 3x_2 + 4x_3 = 0. \qquad\text{(1)} \]
(b) The vector \(\mathbf{u}=(-37,-14,8)\) is also a solution to equation (1). Find real numbers \(a,b\in\mathbf{R}\) so that \[ \mathbf{u} = a\mathbf{v}+b\mathbf{w}. \]
(c) Prove the following general result. If the vector \(\mathbf{z}=(z_1,z_2,z_3)\in\mathbf{R}^3\) is a solution to equation (1), then there are scalars \(a,b\in\mathbf{R}\) so that \[ \mathbf{z} = a\mathbf{v}+b\mathbf{w}. \qquad\text{(2)} \]
(d) In (c), prove that for a given vector \(\mathbf{z}\), there is only one choice for \(a\) and \(b\) that makes equation (2) true.


Problem # A.2: An \(m\)-by-\(n\) matrix with coefficients in a field \(\mathbb{F}\) is defined to be an \(m\)-by-\(n\) array of elements of \(\mathbb{F}\). We write \(M_{m,n}(\mathbb{F})\) for the set of all such matrices, so an element \(A\in M_{m,n}(\mathbb{F})\) looks like \[ A = \begin{pmatrix} a_{11} & a_{12} & \cdots & a_{1n} \\ a_{21} & a_{22} & \cdots & a_{2n} \\ \vdots & & \ddots & \vdots \\ a_{m1} & a_{m2} & \cdots & a_{mn} \\ \end{pmatrix} \] We make \(M_{m,n}(\mathbb{F})\) into a vector space in the obvious way: \[ \begin{pmatrix} a_{11} & \cdots & a_{1n} \\ \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ a_{m1} & \cdots & a_{mn} \\ \end{pmatrix} + \begin{pmatrix} b_{11} & \cdots & b_{1n} \\ \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ b_{m1} & \cdots & b_{mn} \\ \end{pmatrix} = \begin{pmatrix} a_{11}+b_{11} & \cdots & a_{1n}+b_{1n} \\ \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ a_{m1}+b_{m1} & \cdots & a_{mn}+b_{mn} \\ \end{pmatrix} \] and \[ c \begin{pmatrix} a_{11} & \cdots & a_{1n} \\ \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ a_{m1} & \cdots & a_{mn} \\ \end{pmatrix} = \begin{pmatrix} ca_{11} & \cdots & ca_{1n} \\ \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ ca_{m1} & \cdots & ca_{mn} \\ \end{pmatrix} \]
(a) Write down a basis for the \(\mathbb{F}\)-vector space \(M_{3,2}(\mathbb{F})\) of 3-by-2 matrices. What is the dimension of \(M_{3,2}(\mathbb{F})\)?
(b) More generally, what is the dimension of \(M_{m,n}(\mathbb{F})\)?


Problem # A.3: The transpose of a (square) matrix \(A\), denoted \(A^*\), is obtained by flipping the entries across the main diagonal. So for example \[ \begin{pmatrix} 1&2&3\\ 4&5&6\\ 7&8&9\\ \end{pmatrix}^* = \begin{pmatrix} 1&4&7\\ 2&5&8\\ 3&6&9\\ \end{pmatrix}. \] A matrix \(A\) is symmetric if \(A^*=A\) and it is anti-symmetric if \(A^*=-A\).
(a) Prove that the set of \(n\)-by-\(n\) symmetric matrices is a vector subspace of \(M_{n,n}(\mathbb{F})\).
(b) Find a basis for the space of 2-by-2 symmetric matrices. What is its dimension?
(c) Generalize by describing a basis for the space of \(n\)-by-\(n\) symmetric matrices and computing its dimension. (It might help to start with 3-by-3.)
(d) Prove that the set of \(n\)-by-\(n\) anti-symmetric matrices is also a vector subspace of \(M_{n,n}(\mathbb{F})\), describe a basis, and compute its dimension.
(e) (Bonus) Let's write \(M_{n,n}(\mathbb{F})^{\text{sym}}\) for the space of symmetric matrices and \(M_{n,n}(\mathbb{F})^{\text{anti-sym}}\) for the space of anti-symmetric matrices. Prove that \[ M_{n,n}(\mathbb{F}) = M_{n,n}(\mathbb{F})^{\text{sym}} + M_{n,n}(\mathbb{F})^{\text{anti-sym}}. \] Is this a direct sum of vector spaces?


Problem # A.4: Find the matrix associated to each of the following linear transformations relative to the given bases.
(a) \(T:\mathbb{F}^3\to\mathbb{F}^3\) defined by \(T(x,y,z)=(2x-3y,3x+5z,7x+2y-z)\), using the standard basis for \(\mathbb{F}^3\).
(b) \(T:\mathbb{F}^2\to\mathbb{F}^3\) defined by \(T(x,y,z)=(2x-3y,3x+5y,-x)\), using the standard bases for \(\mathbb{F}^2\) and \(\mathbb{F}^3\).
(c) Let \(\mathcal{P}_n(\mathbb{F})\) be the \(\mathbb{F}\)-vector space of polynomials of degree at most \(n\) with coefficients in \(\mathbb{F}\). Use the basis \(\{1,t,t^2,\ldots,t^n\}\). What is the matrix associated to the linear transformation \(T:\mathcal{P}_n(\mathbb{F})\to\mathcal{P}_n(\mathbb{F})\) defined by differentiation \(T(f(t)) = f'(t)\)? [Hint. If you don't see immediately how to do it, try doing \(n=2\) and \(n=3\) to get an idea what's going on.]
(d) Continuing with the notation from (c), what is the matrix for the linear transformation \(T:\mathcal{P}_n(\mathbb{F})\to\mathcal{P}_{n+2}(\mathbb{F})\) defined \(T(f(t))=(t^2+1)f(t)\)?
(e) Let \(V\) be the real vector space consisting of all functions of the form \(f(t)=ae^{2t}+bte^{2t}\) with \(a\) and \(b\) in \(\mathbb{R}\). Using the basis \(\{e^{2t},te^{2t}\}\), what is the matrix associated to the linear transformation \(T:V\to V\) defined by \(T(f(t))=f'(t)\)?


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