Chapter 1: Linear Equations in Linear Algebra
Week 3
Section 1.7: Linear Independence
Definition
An indexed set of vectors {v1 , v2 , ..., vp } in Rn is said to be
linearly independent if the vector equation
x1 v1 + x2 v2 + ... + xp vp = 0
has only the trivial solution. The set is said to be linearly
dependent if there is a nontrivial solution.
Examples of linearly independent and dependent
vectors
Relationship to Matrix Equation
Theorem
The matrix A has linearly independent columns if and only if the
matrix equation Ax = 0 has only the trivial solution.
Tests for independence with sets of different sizes
Theorem
If S is a set of two vectors, the set is linearly independent if and
only if ...
Theorem
An indexed set S = {v1 , v2 , ..., vp } of two or more vectors is
linearly dependent if and only if at lest one of the vectors in S is
a linear combination of the others. In fact, if S is linearly
dependent and v1 6= 0, then some vj is a linear combination of
the preceding vectors.
Theorems regarding linear independence
Theorem
If a set contains more vectors than there are entries in each
vector, then the set is linearly dependent.
Theorem
If a set S contains the zero vector, it is always linearly
dependent.
True/False examples from problem section
Section 1.8: Introduction to Linear Transformations
We have introduced matrices as a way to represent a system of
linear equations. However, that is not the end of the story. In all
different branches of mathematics we study not only static
objects, but ways to move between one object to another,
usually by functions. Recall the definition of a function:
Definition
Let A and B be any sets, we say that f is a function from A to B
if f is some rule that assigns a unique value of b ∈ B to every
a ∈ A.
Definition
A transformation T from Rn to Rm is a function between these
two sets, called the domain and codomain respectively. A
matrix transformation is a transformation defined by x 7→ Ax.
That is to say, A acts on an input vector x to get the output
vector Ax.
The range of this transformation is the same thing as the span
of the columns of A.
Definition of Linear Transformation
Definition
We say that a transformation is linear if:
1. T (u + v) = T (u) + T (v)
2. T (cu) = cT (v)
We have already shown that matrix transformations are linear
transformations.
Linear transformations in the plane
Example
1. T (x) = cx
0 1
2. T (x) =
1 0
1 1
3. T (x) =
1 0
0 −1
4. T (x) =
1 0
Using Linear Transformations
Example
Find a vector x so that the image of x under the transformation
given by the matrix A is b.
1 0 −2 −1
1. A = −2 1
6 ,b= 7
3 −2 −5 −3
1 −5 −7 −2
2. A = ,b=
−3 7 5 −2
Reconstructing a Transformation from less data
Example
1 0 2
Suppose that e1 = and e2 = . If T (e1 ) = and
0 1 5
−1 5
T (e2 ) = . Find the image of
6 −3
Section 1.9: The Matrix of a Linear Transformation
Often times we would like to obtain a formula for how a function
(or linear transformation) works. Think back to algebra, when
you had a function like f (x) = sin(x) or g(x) = ex . You were
able to calculate values quickly, and even examine other
properties. We can do the same thing for linear transformations
by observing only what the transformation does on certain
vectors.
Theorem
Let T : Rn → Rm be a linear transformation. Then there exists a
unique matrix A such that
T (x) = Ax
for all x ∈ Rn . In fact, A is the m × n matrix whose jth column is
the vector T (ej ), where ej is the jth column of the identity
matrix in Rn :
A = [T (e1 )T (e2 )...T (en )]
This matrix is called the standard matrix for the linear
transformation T .
Common matrices for linear transformations
1. Reflecting around an axis
2. Reflecting around x2 = x1
3. Reflecting around x2 = −x1
4. Reflecting through the origin
5. Contractions and expansions
6. Shears
7. Rotations
8. Projections
Examples of the standard matrix for a linear
transformation
Example
Find the standard matrix for the linear transformations below:
1. T : R2 → R4 , T (ei ) = (3, 1, 3, 1) and T (e2 ) = (−5, 2, 0, 0)
2. T : R2 → R2 , where points are reflected through the x1
axis and then rotated π/2 radians.
Definition
A transformation is said to be onto if every b in the range is the
codomain of at least one x in the domain.
Definition
A transformation is said to be one-to-one if there is only one x
which T maps on a fixed b.
Theorem
Let T : Rn → Rm be a linear transformation. Then T is
one-to-one if and only if the equation T (x) = 0 has exactly one
solution.
Theorem
Let T : Rn → Rm be a linear transformation, and let A be the
standard matrix for T . Then:
I T maps Rn onto Rm if and only if the columns of A span
Rm ;
I T is one-to-one if and only if the columns of A are linearly
independent.