Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

Lecture 12
Linear Transformations and Bases

July 6, 2016

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Change of Basis
Suppose we have two different bases B = {b1 , , bn } and
C = {c1 , , cn } then the coordinates of a vector v in the two bases are
related by
[v]C = PCB [v]B
The matrix PCB is called the change of basis matrix. If
v = 1 b1 + + n bn
then
[v]C = 1 [b1 ]C + + n [bn ]C

= [[b1 ]C | |[b1 ]C ] ...

n
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So the columns of the change of basis matrix are just the coordinates of
the basis you are changing from in the basis you are changing to.
For example: Find the components of
the basis B

1
b1 = 0
b2 =
1

the vector v = 15e1 e2 + 2e3 in

2
1
1

3
b3 = 1
0

Denoting the standard basis by E

15
1 2 3
v1
1 = PEB [v]B = 0 1 1 v2
v3 B
2
1 1 0
E

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To recover the components with respect to B we just multiply on the right

by the inverse matrix (which must exist). In the example using the inverse
matrix gives

v1
1 2 3
15
v2 = 0 1 1 1
v3 B
1 1 0
2

1 3
5
15
2
1
1 3 1 1 = 4
=
4
1
1 1
2
3

Checking

1
2
3
15
2 0 + 4 1 + 3 1 = 1
1
1
0
2
as it should.
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Linear independence and bases

If we are given a set of n vectors, when is this a basis for Rn ?. They will
form a basis if they are linearly independent.
Foe example are the following vectors

1
2
1 1

4 6
0
2

a basis for

1
2

7
1

R4 .

3
1

1
3

They will be if the matrix B is non singular where B is

2
1 4 2
1 1 6 0

B=
1 2 7 1
3
1
1 3
We could take the determinant but that wont tell us how many of the
vectors are linearly independent.
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So lets use row reduction.

R2 R1
1 1
6
0

R1 2R2 R2
0 3 16 2

0 1
R3 + R2 R3
1 1
R4 3R2 R4
0 4 17 3

1 1
6
0
R3 R2
0 1
1
1

R2 3R3 R3
0 0 13 1
R4 4R3 R4
0 0 13 1

1 1
6
0
0 1
1
1

R4 R3 R4
0 0 13 1
0 0
0
0
So only three of the vectors are linearly independent and they dont form a
basis for R4 ..
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Range and Null Space

Definition: The range of a linear transformation T : U V is the set of
all T(u) for u U. It is a subspace of V
Suppose v, w V are in the range of T. That means there are vectors
v? , w? U so that
T(v? ) = v
T(w? ) = w
Now consider the vector
z = v + w = T(v? ) + T(w? ) = T(v? + w? )
thus z is in the range of T and so the range of T is a subspace of V.
Definition: The null space (or kernel) of a linear transformation
T : U V, Null(T) is the set of all u U so that T(u) = 0. It is a
subspace of U.
If v, w Null(T) then if z = v + w then
T(z) = T(v + w) = T(v) + T(w) = 0
so Null(T) is a subspace.
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Finding the kernel(null space)

Let us consider a m n matrix A and search for solutions of the
homogeneous equation
Ax = 0
The set of solutions x will be the null space for A.
As an example consider solutions of

3
1

1
2

2 5 2 4

1 1 1 1

0 3 4 6

3 0 3 1

x1
x2
x3
x4
x5

0
=
0

Using Gaussian elimination

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R2 R1
1
0
R1 3R2 R2

0
R3 R1 R3
R4 2R1 R4
0

1
(1)R2 R2
0
R2 R3 R3
0
R4 + R2 R4
0

1 1 1
1
1 2 1 1

1 2 3
5
1
2
1 1

1 1 1 1
1 2 1 1

0 0 4 4
0 0 0 0

The pivot columns are those in the echelon matrix that have the first
nonzero element in the row. The variables corresponding to those columns
can be written in terms of the other (free) variables.

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In our example the free variables are x3 and x5 and the reduced system can
be back solved
x1 = 3x3 2x5

x2 = 2x5 2x3

so the null space consists of vectors

3
2

x = x3
1
0
0

of the form

+ x5 0

1
1

x4 = x5

and so the null space is the 2 dimensional space spanned by the two
vectors above.

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Another example
Find the null space and range of the matrix A

1 1 1
2 3 1
3 5 1
First the null space

1 1 1
x1
0
2 3 1 x2 = 0
3 5 1
x3
0
Gaussian elimination gives the reduced matrix

1 1 1
x1
0
2
0 1 1 x2 = 0 x = x3 1
0 0 0
x3
0
1
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For the range we are trying to solve

1 1
2 3
3 5
Row reduction leads to the

1
0
0

Ax = b. Form the augmented matrix

1 b1
1 b2
1 b3

matrix

1 1
b1

b2 2b1
1 1
0 0 b3 + b1 2b2

which is consistent only if b3 = b1 + 2b2 = 0. So the range is

1
0

0
b = b1
+ b2 1
1
2

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Rank, Row and Column Spaces

When we considered an example of a

3 2
1 1
A=
1 0
2 3

homogeneous equation Ax = 0

5 2 4
1 1 1

3 4 6
0 3 1

We row reduced it to the echelon form

1 1 1
0 1 2
E=
0 0 0
0 0 0

1 1
1 1

1 1
0 0

and we found that the dimension of the null space of A was 2 and the
dimension of the range of A was 3.
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Row Space
A linear function from Rn Rm gives an m n matrix, A say. The row
space is the subspace of Rn spanned by the columns of AT . The row rank
of a matrix is the number of linearly independent rows (or linearly
independent columns of AT ) there are in the matrix, which of course is
equal to the number of non zero rows in the equivalent echelon matrix. In
our example the row rank is 3 and the row space is the subspace of R5
spanned by

1
0
0
1 1 0

1 2 0

1 1 1
1
1
1

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Column Space
The column space is the subspace spanned by the linearly independent
columns of the matrix. For an m n matrix, A, the column space is just
the range of A and the linearly independent column vectors are a basis for
the range.
The column rank is the dimension of this space. It is the number of
linearly independent columns in the matrix. It is the same as the number
of pivot columns. Since the number of pivot columns has to be equal to
the number of non zero rows the column rank is equal to the row rank and
we can just refer to the rank.
We cant use row operations to find a basis for the column space directly
Unfortunately row operations do not preserve the span of the columns.
But we can find them indirectly.

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If A is our original matrix and E is the equivalent row echelon matrix

Ax = 0

Ex = 0

will have the same solutions. If we choose only x values with the free
variables put equal to zero. The solution for the rest of the variables has
only the trivial solution (all the pivot columns in the echelon matrix are
linearly independent). So the same is true for the matrix A. The columns
in A that correspond to the pivot columns in the echelon matrix must also
be linearly independent, thus they are a basis for the range of A.
In our example the columns that correspond to the pivot columns give the
basis for the column space and thus for the range of A.

3
2
2
1 1 1

1 0 4
2
3
3
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The Dimension (Rank-Nullity) Theorem

If T : U V is a linear transformation then
dim(Null(T)) + dim(Range(T)) = dim(U)
Suppose dim(U)=n and dim(Null(T))=r . Let v1 , v2 , , vr be a basis for
Null(T). We can extend this a basis for U by adding n r vectors
vr +1 , vr +2 , , vn . Now let w Range(T) that is w = T(v) for some
vU
w = T(1 v1 + 2 v2 + + n vn )
= 1 T(v1 ) + 2 T(v2 ) + + n T(vn )
= r +1 T(vr +1 ) + r +2 T(vr +2 ) + + n T(vn )
since v1 , v2 , , vr Null(T).
Thus w span(T(vr +1 ), T(vr +2 ), , T(vn ))
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Now we need to show that T(vr +1 ), T(vr +2 ), , T(vn ) is a basis for

Range(T). Suppose
r +1 vr +1 + r +2 vr +2 + + n vn = 0
then
T(r +1 vr +1 + r +2 vr +2 + + n vn ) = 0
which implies r +1 vr +1 + r +2 vr +2 + + r vr Null(T) and we can
express it as
r +1 vr +1 + r +2 vr +2 + + n vn = 1 v1 + 2 v2 + + r vr
but v1 , v2 , , vn is a basis for U so
1 = 2 = = n = 0
so the vectors T(vr +1 ), T(vr +2 ), , T(vn ) are linearly independent and
so are a basis for Range(T). This implies
dim(Null(T)) + dim(Range(T)) = dim(U)

r + (n r ) = n

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