Math 235 Term Test 1 Solutions

1. Short Answer Problems

[1] a) State the denition of the nullspace of a linear mapping L : V W.
Solution: Null(L) = v V [ L(v) =

0
[2] b) State the denition of an inner product on a vector space V.
Solution: An inner product on V is a function , : V V R such that
1) < v, v > 0 for all v V , and < v, v >= 0 only if v =

0.
2) < v, w >=< w, v > for any v, w V .
3) < v, a w +z >= a < v, w > +b < v, z > for any v, w, z V and a, b R.
[2] c) On P
2
dene the inner product p, q = p(1)q(1) + p(0)q(0) + p(1)q(1). Determine
1 + x
2
, x + x
2
.
Solution: 1 + x
2
, x + x
2
= 2(0) + 1(0) + 2(2) = 4
[2] d) Prove that if P is an orthogonal matrix, then det P = 1.
Solution: We have P
T
P = I. Hence,
1 = det I = det P
T
P = det P
T
det P = (det P)
2
Hence det P = 1.
1
[3] 2. Let tr : M(n, n) R be dened by tr(A) =

n
i=1
(A)
ii
. Then tr is a linear mapping
(called the trace of a matrix). What is the nullity of tr?
Solution: For each t R, the n n matrix A where all entries are 0 except a
11
= t has
trace t. So the range of tr is R, which has dimension 1. Since M(n, n) has dimension n
2
,
by the Rank-Nullity Theorem, the nullity of tr is n
2
1.
3. Consider the linear operator L on P
2
where L(p(x)) = p(0) + p(1)x + p(2)x
2
.
Let o = 1, x, x
2
be the standard basis for P
2
.
[3] a) Determine [L]
S
.
Solution: We need to determine [L(1)]
S
, [L(x)]
S
, [L(x
2
)]
S
:
[L(1)]
S
= [1+x+x
2
]
S
=

1
1
1

[L(x)]
S
= [0+x2x
2
]
S
=

0
1
2

[L(x
2
)]
S
= [0+x+4x
2
]
S
=

0
1
4

Hence, [L]
S
=

1 0 0
1 1 1
1 2 4

.
[3] b) Let B = 1 + x + x
2
, x + x
2
, x + 2x
2
. Determine [L]
B
.
Solution: We have
[L(1 + x + x
2
)]
B
= [1 + x + x
2
]
B
=

1
0
0

[L(x + x
2
)]
B
= [0 + 2x + 2x
2
]
B
=

0
2
0

[L(x + 2x
2
)]
B
= [0 + 3x + 6x
2
]
B
=

0
0
3

Hence,
[L]
B
=

1 0 0
0 2 0
0 0 3

.
ALTERNATE SOLUTION: The change of coordinates matrix from B-coordinates to
o-coordinates is P =

1 0 0
1 1 1
1 1 2

. We nd that P
1
=

1 0 0
1 2 1
0 1 1

, then
P
1
[L]
S
P =

1 0 0
0 2 0
0 0 3

2
4. Let U be the subspace of M(2, 2) that contains all upper-triangular 2 2 matrices.
[3] a) Dene an explicit isomorphism between U and P
2
to establish that the two spaces
are isomorphic. Prove that your mapping is an isomorphism.
Solution: We dene a mapping L : U P
2
by
L

a b
0 c

= a + bx + cx
2
.
We need to prove that L is linear, 1-1 and onto. Let A =

a
1
b
1
0 c
1

, B =

a
2
b
2
0 c
2

be
two matrices in U.
Linear: Let t R. Then
L(tA + B) = L

ta
1
+ a
2
tb
1
+ b
2
0 tc
1
+ c
2

= (ta
1
+ a
2
) + (tb
1
+ b
2
)x + (tc
1
+ c
2
)x
2
= t(a
1
+ b
2
x + c
1
x
2
) + (a
2
+ b
2
x + c
2
x
2
)
= tL(A) + L(B).
Hence L is linear.
one-to-one: Suppose that L(A) = L(B). Then
a
1
+ b
1
x + c
1
x
2
= a
2
+ b
2
x + c
2
x
2
.
By comparing the coecients, we see that a
1
= a
2
, b
1
= b
2
, c
1
= c
2
. Hence A = B, and L
is 1-1.
Onto: Let a + bx + cx
2
be any vector in P
2
. Then
L

a b
0 c

= a + bx + cx
2
.
Hence L is onto.
[2] b) Below is a list of two dierent vector spaces over R. Determine which ones are
isomorphic to U, and briey explain your answer.
A. Any plane through the origin in R
3
.
B. The solution set of x
1
+ x
2
+ x
3
+ x
4
= 0 in R
4
.
Solution: Vector space U has dimension 3 and hence it is isomorphic to the solution set of
x
1
+ x
2
+ x
3
+ x
4
= 0 in R
4
since it also has dimension 3. It is not isomorphic to a plane
since a plane has dimension 2.
3
5. Let V be a vector space of dimension n over R, and let L be the set of all linear
operators on V. Suppose that x V is not the zero vector. Dene a mapping
T : L V by T(L) = L(x).
[1] a) Describe the zero vector for L.
Solution: The zero vector for L is the mapping O : V V such that O(v) =

0 for all v V.
[2] b) Prove that T is linear.
Solution: Let L, M be two linear operators of V, and let t R. Then
T(tL + M) = (tL + M)(x) = tL(x) + M(x) = tT(L) + T(M).
Hence T is linear.
[2] c) Prove that T is onto.
Solution: For each v V, we need to dene a linear operator L
v
such that L
v
(x) = v.
Extend x to a basis x = v
1
, v
2
, . . . , v
n
for V. Dene L
v
by
L
v
(c
1
v
1
+ + c
n
v
n
) = c
1
v
For any y, z V and t R we have
L
v
(ty +z) = L
v

(tc
1
+ d
1
)v
1
+ + (tc
n
+ d
n
)v
n

= (tc
1
+ d
1
)v
= tc
1
v + d
1
v
= tL
v
(y) + L
v
(z)
Hence L Is linear.
Since for each v V, T(L
v
) = L
v
(x) = L
v
(v
1
) = v, L is onto.
[1] d) Determine rank(T).
Solution: Since T is onto, rank(T) = dim(V) = n.
[2] e) Given that dimL = n
2
, determine if T one-to-one? Justify.
Solution: By the Rank-Nullity Theorem, Nullity(T) = n
2
n, so T is not one-to-one.
4
6. Let V be a nite dimensional inner product space. Let L : V V be a linear operator.
[2] a) If B = v
1
, . . . , v
n
is an orthonormal basis for V, then prove that the ij-th entry of
[L]
B
is L(v
j
), v
i
.
Solution: By denition, the j-th column of [L]
B
is [L(v
j
)]
B
. Thus, the ij-th entry of [L]
B
is
the coecient of v
i
when we write L(v
j
) as a linear combination of the vectors in B. Since
B is an orthonormal basis, we get
L(v
j
) = L(v
j
), v
1
v
1
+ + L(v
j
), v
i
v
i
+ + L(v
j
), v
n
v
n
Thus, the coecient of v
i
is L(v
j
), v
i
as required.
[2] b) Prove that if v, L( w) = L(v), w for all v, w V, then for any orthonormal basis (
of V, we have that [L]
C
is symmetric (that is, ([L]
C
)
ij
= ([L]
C
)
ji
).
Solution: Let ( = w
1
, . . . , w
n
be any orthonormal basis for V. Then we have
([L]
C
)
ij
= L(v
j
), v
i
by part a)
= v
j
, L(v
i
) by denition of L
= L(v
i
), v
j
since the inner product is symmetric
= ([L]
C
)
ji
by part a)
as required.
5
[3] 7. Let S be a subspace of an n-dimensional vector space V. Prove that there exists a
linear operator L : V V such that Null(L) = S.
Solution: Let B = v
1
, . . . , v
k
be a basis for S. Extend v
1
, . . . , v
k
to a basis ( =
v
1
, . . . , v
k
, v
k+1
, . . . , v
n
for V. Dene a mapping L by
L(c
1
v
1
+ + c
n
v
n
) = c
k+1
v
k+1
+ + c
n
v
n
For any x, y V and t R we have
L(tx + y) = L

(tc
1
+ d
1
)v
1
+ + (tc
n
+ d
n
)v
n

= (tc
k+1
+ d
k+1
)v
k+1
+ + (tc
n
+ d
n
)v
n
= t(c
k+1
v
k+1
+ + c
n
v
n
) + d
k+1
v
k+1
+ + d
n
v
n
= tL(x) + L(y)
Hence L is linear.
If x Null(L), then

0 = L(x) = L(c
1
v
1
+ + c
n
v
n
) = c
k+1
v
k+1
+ + c
n
v
n
Hence, c
k+1
= = c
n
= 0, since v
k+1
, . . . , v
n
is linearly independent. Thus, x
Spanv
1
, . . . , v
k
= S.
If x S, then x = c
1
v
1
+ + c
k
v
k
and
L(x) = L(c
1
v
1
+ + c
k
v
k
) =

0
Therefore, x Null(L).
Thus, Null(L) = S as required.
6
8. Suppose that V and W are nite dimensional vector spaces. For each statement,
either prove that it is true or provide a counter example to show that it is false.
[1] a) If L : V V is a linear operator, then L is an isomorphism.
Solution: FALSE. L : V V dened by L(v) =

0 is not an isomorphism.
[1] b) If a linear mapping L : V W is one-to-one, then rank(L) = dim(V).
Solution: TRUE. If L is one-to-one, then Nullity(L) = 0. Hence, by the Rank-Nullity
Theorem, we get
rank(L) = dim(V) Nullity(L) = dim(V)
[1] c) If L : V W is an onto linear mapping and v
1
, . . . , v
k
is linearly independent in V,
then L(v
1
), . . . , L(v
k
) is linearly independent in W.
Solution: FALSE. Let W =

0. Then, L : V W dened by L(v) =

0 is onto, but
L(v
1
), . . . , L(v
k
) =

0 is linearly dependent.
[1] d) If u, v, w is an orthonormal set in an inner product space V, then u +v and v + w
are not orthogonal in V.
Solution: TRUE. We have
u +v, v + w = u +v, v + u +v, w
= u, v + v, v + u, w + v, w
= 0 + |v|
2
+ 0 + 0
= 1
So, they are not orthogonal.
7