VECTOR SPACES.
DEFINITION: Suppose that F is a field. A vector space V over F is a nonempty set with
two operations, “addition” and “scalar multiplication” satisfying certain requirements.
Addition is a map V × V −→ V : (v1 , v2 ) −→ v1 + v2 .
Scalar multiplication is a map F × V −→ V : (f, v) −→ f v.
The requirements are:
(i) V is an abelian group under the addition operation +.
(ii) f (v1 + v2 ) = f v1 + f v2 for all f ∈ F and v1 , v2 ∈ V .
(iii) (f1 + f2 )v = f1 v + f2 v for all f1 , f2 ∈ F and v ∈ V .
(iv) f1 (f2 v) = (f1 f2 )v for all f1 , f2 ∈ F and v ∈ V .
(v) 1F v = v for all v ∈ V .
Easy results:
(1) f 0V = 0V for all f ∈ F .
(2) 0F v = 0V for all v ∈ V .
(3) (−f )v = −(f v) for all f ∈ F and v ∈ V .
(4) Assume that f ∈ F and v ∈ V . The f v = 0V =⇒ f = 0F or v = 0V .
DEFINITION: Suppose that V is a vector space over a field F and that W is a subset
of V . We say that W is a “subspace of V ” if (1) W contains 0V , (2) W is closed under
addition, and (3) W is closed under scalar multiplication, i.e., f w ∈ W for all f ∈ F and
w ∈ W.
DEFINITION: Suppose that V is a vector space over a field F and that S = {v1 , ..., vn }
is a finite sequence of elements of V . We say that “S is a generating set for V over F ” if,
for every element v ∈ V , there exist elements f1 , ..., fn ∈ F such that v = f1 v1 + ... + fn vn .
If such a finite sequence S exists, then we say that “V is a finitely generated vector space
over F .” We then say that “S generates V over F .” One might also say that “S spans V
over F ” or that “S is a spanning set for V over F .”
DEFINITION: Suppose that V is a vector space over a field F and that S = {v1 , ..., vn }
is a finite sequence of elements of V . We say that “S is linearly dependent over F ” if there
exist elements f1 , ..., fn ∈ F , not all equal to 0F , such that f1 vn + ... + fn vn = 0V . We say
that “S is linearly independent over F ” if, for f1 , ...fn ∈ F ,
f1 v1 + ... + fn vn = 0V =⇒ f1 = ... = fn = 0F .
DEFINITION: Suppose that v1 , ..., vn ∈ V . Let S = {v1 , ..., vn }. We say that S is a basis
for V ” if S is a generating set for V over F and S is also a linearly independent set over F .
DEFINITION: Suppose that V is a finitely generated vector space over a field F . Suppose
that V has a generating set over F of cardinality d, but does not have a generating set over
F of cardinality d − 1. We then say that “V has dimension d over F .” We will write
d = dimF (V ).
IMPORTANT PROPOSITIONS.
We assume that V is a finitely generated vector space over a field F .
Proposition 1. Suppose that S is a finite generating set for V over F and that T is a subset
of V which is linearly independent over F . Then |T | ≤ |S|.
Proposition 2. Let d = dimF (V ). Every generating set for V over F has cardinality at
least d. Every linearly independent subset of V over F has cardinality at most d.
Proposition 3. If S is a basis for V over F , then S has cardinality equal to d.
Proposition 4. Let v1 , ..., vn ∈ V and let S = {v1 , ..., vn }. Consider the following three
statements:
(a) S is linearly independent over F .
(b) S is a generating set for V over F .
(c) n = d.
Any two of these three statements imply the third and that S is a basis for V over F .
Proposition 5. Suppose that W is a subspace of V . Then W is also finitely generated over
F . Furthermore, dimF (W ) ≤ dimF (V ) and equality holds if and only if W = V .