Department of Mathematics, IIT Guwahati
MA 522: Linear Algebra
Tutorial Sheet- III
July-November 2025
• For a vector space V over F , we deonte the dual space L(V, F ) of V by V 0 or V ∗ .
• Given a linear map T ∈ L(V, W ), its dual is denoted by T 0 or T ∗ which is a map in L(W 0 , V 0 ).
1. Let U1 and U2 be subspaces of a vector space V . Let
Ui0 = {f ∈ V 0 | f (x) = 0 ∀ x ∈ Ui }.
Show that
(i) (U1 + U2 )0 = U10 ∩ U20 (ii) (U1 ∩ U2 )0 = U10 + U20 .
2. (i) Given a basis {1 + x + x2 , x + x2 , 1 + x2 } of V = P2 (R), find its dual basis.
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(ii) If W = Span(1 + 2x + 3x2 ), find W 0 .
(iii) Find the subspace W of V given W 0 = Span{f1 , f2 } where f1 : a + bx + cx2 7→ a + 2b and
f2 : a + bx + cx2 7→ a + c. =#aGH^I^狤3b3G狤H#狢GI#狢c
3. Let n ∈ N. Let W = {[x1 . . . xn ]t ∈ F n |x1 + · · · + xn = 0}.
n
(i) Show that W 0 consists of all linear functionals f of the form f (x1 , . . . , xn ) = c
P
xi .
i=1
∗
(ii) Show that the dual space W of W can be ‘naturally’ identified with the linear functionals
n
ci xi on F n which satisfy c1 + . . . + cn = 0.
P
f (x1 , . . . , xn ) =
i=1
4. Let D : Pn (R) −→ Pn (R) be the differential operator. Find a basis for the kernel of D∗ . a>Tc
5. Let α1 , α2 , . . . , αn be distinct real numbers. Show that the functions eα1 t , eα1 t , . . . , eαn t are
linearly independent over R. ZGQK3JKXO\GZO\K3GTJ3[YK3Y[HSOYYOUT3LUXS33ZU3VXU\K3SGZXO^3NGY32/3\KIZUXY
:^_`#^狢狢
6. Give example of two linear operators T and S on R3 such that T S = 0 but ST 6= 0. 9^_`#狢^狢
7. Let V be a vector space over a field F and T a linear operator on V such that T 2 = 0. What can you
say about the relation between range(T ) and null(T )? Give an example of an operator on R3 such
that T 2 = 0 6= T . XGTMK:"Y[HYKZ#T[RR: :^_`#_狢狢
8. Let T be a linear operator on a finite dimensional vector space V over F . If rank(T 2 ) = rank(T ),
show that range(T ) and null(T ) are linearly disjoint, i.e., range(T ) ∩ null(T ) = {0}.
9. Let T : V −→ V be a linear operator on a finite dimensional vector space V . Let B be any basis of
V and [T ]B be the matrix of T with respect to B. Show that tr[T ]B is independent of the choice of
the basis B. (Hence we can define the trace of a linear operator on a finite dimensional vector space
as the trace of any matrix representing it with respect to some basis.)
10. Let D : P10 (R) −→ P10 (R) be the differential operator. Show that tr(D) = 0.