MA-106 Linear Algebra

Ananthnarayan H.

Department of Mathematics
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Powai, Mumbai - 76

13th January, 2015

D2 - Lecture 5

Ananthnarayan H. D2 - Lecture 5 13th January, 2015 1/9

Echelon Form
Recall: If A is an n × n matrix, then P A = LU , where P is a
permutation matrix, L is lower triangular, U is upper triangular, and
all of size n × n.
Q: What  happens whenA is not a square matrix?
1 2 3 5
Let A = 2 4 8 12 . By elimination, we see:
 3 6 7 13   
1 2 3 5 1 2 3 5
A → 0 0 2 2  → 0 0 2 2 = U .
0 0 −2 −2 0 0 0 0  
1 0 0
Thus A = LU , where L = E21 (2)E31 (3)E32 (−1) = 2 1 0 .
3 −1 1

Ananthnarayan H. D2 - Lecture 5 13th January, 2015 2/9

Echelon Form

If A is m × n, we can find P , L and U as before. In this case, L and

P will be m × m and U will be m × n.
U has the following properties:
1. Pivots are the 1st nonzero entries in their rows.
2. Entries below pivots are zero, by elimination.
3. Each pivot lies to the right of the pivot in the row above.
4. Zero rows are at the bottom of the matrix.
U is called the echelon form of A.
Possible
  2 × 2 echelon
  forms: Let  •= pivot
 entry.
• ∗ • ∗ 0 • 0 0
, , , and .
0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0

Ananthnarayan H. D2 - Lecture 5 13th January, 2015 3/9

Row Reduced Form
To obtain the row reduced form R of a matrix A:
1) Get the echelon form U . 2) Make the pivots 1.
3) Make the entries above the pivots 0.
Ex: Find all possible 2 × 2 row reduced forms.
   
1 2 3 5 1 2 3 5
Example. Let A = 2 4 8 12 . Then U =  0 0 2 2 .
 3 6 7 13 0 0 0 0
1 2 3 5
Divide by pivots:  0 0 1 1 .
0 0 0 0 
1 2 0 2
Row reduced form of A: R =  0 0 1 1
0 0 0 0
U and R are used to solve Ax = 0 and Ax = b.
Ananthnarayan H. D2 - Lecture 5 13th January, 2015 4/9
Null Space: Solution of Ax = 0
Note: From now on, vectors will be denoted b, x, etc.
Let A be m × n. The Null Space of A, denoted N (A),
is the set of all vectors x in Rn such that Ax = 0.
Key Point: Ax = 0 has the same solutions as U x = 0,
which has the same solutions as R x = 0, i.e.,
N (A) = N (U ) = N (R) .
Example:  
    t
1 2 3 5 1 2 0 2 u
A = 2 4 8 12 . R x =  0 0 1 1  .
v 
3 6 7 13 0 0 0 0
w
R x = 0 gives t + 2u + 2w = 0 and v + w = 0.
i.e., t = −2u − 2w and v = −w.

Ananthnarayan H. D2 - Lecture 5 13th January, 2015 5/9

Null Space: Solution of Ax = 0
R x = 0 gives t = −2u − 2w and v = −w,
t and v are dependent on the values of u and w.
u and w are free and independent, i.e., we can choose any value for
these two variables.
Special solutions:

T
u = 1 and w = 0, gives x = −2 1 0 0 .

T
u = 0 and w = 1, gives x = −2 0 −1 1 .
The null space contains all possible linear combinations of the special
solutions:
       
t −2u − 2w −2 −2
u  u  = u 1  + w 0 .
    
x=  =
 v   −w  0 −1
w w 0 1

Ananthnarayan H. D2 - Lecture 5 13th January, 2015 6/9

Rank of A
Ax = 0 always has a solution: the trivial one, i.e., x = 0.
Main Q1: When does Ax = 0 have a non-zero solution?
A: When there is at least one free variable,
i.e., not every column of R contains a pivot.
To keep track of this, we define:
rank(A) = number of columns containing pivots in R .
If A is m × n and rank(A) = r, then
• rank(A) ≤ min{m, n}.
• no. of dependent variables = r.
• no. of free variables = n − r.
• Ax = 0 has only the 0 solution ⇔ r = n.
• m < n ⇒ Ax = 0 has non-zero solutions.
True/False: If m ≥ n, then Ax = 0 has only the 0 solution.

Ananthnarayan H. D2 - Lecture 5 13th January, 2015 7/9

Rank of A
Comment: This slide and the next have not been covered in class
today. I will go through them quickly in the next class. Please go
through them before coming to class on Thursday.
   
1 2 0 2 1 2 3 5
Example: R = 0 0 1 1 when A = 2 4 8 12 .
0 0 0 0 3 6 7 13
The number of columns containing pivots in R is 2. So, rank(A) = 2.
R contains a 2 × 2 identity matrix, namely the rows and columns
corresponding to the pivots.  
1 3
This is the row reduced form of the corresponding submatrix
2 8
of A, which is invertible, since it has 2 pivots.
Thus, rank(A) = r ⇒ A has an r × r invertible submatrix.

Ananthnarayan H. D2 - Lecture 5 13th January, 2015 8/9

Linear Combinations in N (A)
   
  −2 −2
1 2 3 5 1 0
Example: Ax = 2
 4 8 12 x =   0 , y = −1 are in
  
3 6 7 13
0 1
N (A). Check that the following vectors in N (A):

T
T
x + y = −4 1 −1 1 , −3 · x = 6 −3 0 0 .
Remark: Let A be an m × n matrix, u, v be real numbers.
• The null space of A, N (A) contains vectors from Rn ,
• If x, y are in N (A), i.e., Ax = 0 and Ay = 0, then
A(ux + vy) = u(Ax) + v(Ay) = 0, i.e., ux + vy is in N (A).
i.e., a linear combination of vectors in N (A) is also in N (A).
Thus N (A) is closed under linear combinations .

Ananthnarayan H. D2 - Lecture 5 13th January, 2015 9/9