Mid-Term Solutions

1. Let  
3 −1 2
A= 2 1 1  .
1 −3 0
For which triples (y1 , y2 , y3 ) does AX = Y have a solution?
Solution. The following sequence of elementary row operations:
R1 → R1 /3, R1 → −2R1 + R2 , R3 → −R1 + R3 , R2 → (3/5)R2 ,
R1 = (1/3)R2 + R1 , R3 = (8/3)R2 + R3 , R3 ↔ (−5/6)R3 , R1 =
(−3/5)R3 + R1 , R2 = (1/5)R3 + R2
reduces the augmented matrix to its row-reduced echelon form given
below Let
1 0 0 − 21 (y1 − 2y2 − y3 )
 
 0 1 0 − 1 (y1 − 2y2 + y3 )  .
6
0 0 1 61 (y1 − 8y2 − 5y3 )

Therefore, a general solution to this system is given by

1 1 1
(x1 , x2 , x3 ) = (− (y1 − 2y2 − y3 ), − (y1 − 2y2 + y3 ), (y1 − 8y2 − 5y3 )) .
2 6 6

2. In each of following, verify whether the S forms a basis for the vector
space V .

(a) S = {(2, 5, −1), (4, −1, 2), (6, 4, 1)}, V = R3 .

(b) S = {(1, 0, −i), (1 + i, 1 − i, 1), (i, i, i)}, V = C3 .

Solution. (a) Since (2, 5, −1) + (4, −1, 2) = (6, 4, 1), S is a linearly
dependent set, and hence cannot form a basis for R3 .
(b) Suppose that there exists a, b, c ∈ C such that

a(1, 0, −i) + b(1 + i, 1 − i, 1) + c(i, i, i) = (0, 0, 0) .

Then we get the follwing system of linear equations:

a + (1 + i)b + ic = 0
(1 − i)b + ic = 0 (1)
−ia + b + ic = 0

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 Multiplying the first equation in system (1) with i and adding to the
third, we obtain:
ib + (i − 1)c = 0 (2)

Using equation (2) and the second equation of (1), we can conclude
that b = c = 0, which upon substitution in the first equation in system
(1) yields a = 0. Thus S is a linearly independent set of three vectors
in C3 , and consequently S forms a basis for C3 .

3. Let V, W be finite dimensional vector spaces over a field K. Let T :

V → W be a linear map.

(a) Define Ker T .

(b) Prove that T is injective if and only if Ker T = {0}.

Solution. (a) Let V, W be finite dimensional vector spaces over a field

K. Let T : V → W be a linear map. Then the kernel of T , denoted by
Ker T , is defined by Ker T = {v ∈ V : T (v) = 0}.
(b) Suppose that T is injective and T (v) = 0. Then v = 0, which would
imply that Ker T = {0}. Conversely, let us assume that Ker T = {0}.
If for v, w ∈ V we have that T (v) = T (w), then T (v − w) = 0, that
is v − w ∈ Ker T . Since Ker T = {0}, this would imply that v = w,
thereby showing that T is injective.

4. Let V, W be finite dimensional vector spaces over a field K. Let T :

V → W be a linear map.

(a) State the Rank-Nullity Theorem for T .

(b) Let dim V = dim W . Show that T −1 exists if and only if T is
either injective or surjective.

Solution. (a) Rank-Nullity Theorem: Let V, W be finite dimen-

sional vector spaces over a field K. Let T : V → W be a linear map.
Then
dim V = dim(Ker T ) + dim(Im T ) .

(b) If T −1 exists, then T has to be a bijective map. Conversely, let us

assume that T is injective. Then Ker T = {0} and by the Rank-Nullity
Theorem dim V = dim (Im T ). Since dim V = dim W , we have that

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 dim (Im T ) = dim W , which would imply that W = Im T , that is, T is
surjective.
Alternatively, if we assume that T is surjective, then W = Im T , and
since dim V = dim W , the Rank-Nullity Theorem would imply that
Ker T = {0}, which shows that T is injective.

5. Let M = {A : A = (Aij )n×n and Aij ∈ R}, and let tr : M → R be

n
X
defined as tr(A) = Aii , for A ∈ M.
i=1

(a) Show that tr is a linear map.

(b) Show that tr(AB) = tr(BA), for A, B ∈ M.
(c) If B is invertible, then show that tr(B −1 AB) = tr(A).

Solution. (a) By definition,

n
X n
X n
X Xn
tr(A+B) = (A+B)ii = (Aii +Bii ) = Aii + Bii = tr A+tr B ,
i=1 i=1 i=1 i=1

∀A, B ∈ M. Also,
n
X n
X
tr(cA) = (cA)ii = c Aii = ctr A ,
i=1 i=1

∀c ∈ R and A ∈ M. Therefore, T is a linear map.

(b) For all A, B ∈ M, we have that
n
X n X
X n n X
X n n
X
tr(AB) = (AB)ii = Aik Bki = Bki Aik = (BA)kk = tr(BA) ,
i=1 i=1 k=1 k=1 i=1 k=1

which proves the result.

(c) Since B is invertible, we have that B −1 exists. Since tr(AB) =
tr(BA), we have that

tr(B −1 AB) = tr(B −1 (AB)) = tr((AB) B −1 ) = tr(A(BB −1 )) = tr(AIn ) = tr(A) ,

thereby proving the result.

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6. Prove or disprove the following statements.

(a) Let V and W be finite dimensional vector spaces over a field K

such that dim V 6= dim W . Then any linear map T : V → W has
a nonzero kernel.
(b) Any subset of a linearly independent set is linearly independent.
(c) Any subset of a linearly dependent set is linearly dependent.

Solution. (a) This statement is false. For n < m, consider the injective
linear map T : K n → K m defined by T (x1 , . . . , xn ) = (x1 , . . . xn , xn+1 , . . . xm ).
Since ker T = {0}, T is clearly a counterexample to the statement.
(b) This statement is true. Let A = {v1 , . . . vn } be a linearly indepen-
dent set in a vector space V over a field K. Without loss of generality,
for k < n, let B = {v1 , . . . vk } be a subset of A. Suppose we as-
sume on the contrary that B is linearly dependent. Then there exists
c1 , . . . , ck ∈ K, with not all ci = 0, such that c1 v1 + . . . + ck vk = 0. Let
ci = 0, for k+1 ≤ i ≤ n. Then c1 v1 +. . . ck vk +ck+1 vk+1 +. . .+cn vn = 0,
with not all ci = 0, which implies that A is a linearly dependent set.
But this contradicts our earlier assumption that A is a linearly inde-
pendent set.
(c) This statement is false. Let V be a vector space of dimension n
over a field K and let B = {v1 , . . . , vn } be a basis for V . If we take a
nonzero vector v ∈ V \ B, then the maximal linear independence of B
would imply that A = {v, v1 , . . . , vn } is a linearly dependent set. Since
B ⊂ A, this is an apparent counterexample to the statement.
(Bonus). Answer any one of the following questions.

(a) Let V be a vector space over a field K and let T be a linear

operator on V such that T 2 = T . Prove that V = Ker T ⊕ Im T .
Solution. We are given a linear map T : V → V such that
T 2 (v) = (T ◦ T )(v) = T (T (v)) = T (v), ∀v ∈ V . In other words,
T (v − T (v)) = 0, that is, v − T (v) ∈ Ker T , ∀v ∈ V . Now
every v ∈ V can be expressed v = (v − T (v)) + T (v), where
v − T (v) ∈ Ker T and T (v) ∈ Im T . Since both Im T and Ker T
are subspaces of T , we have that V = Im T + Ker T .
It remains to show that V = Im T ∩ Ker T = {0}. Suppose we
assume on the contrary that there is a nonzero v ∈ V . Since v ∈

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 Ker T , we have that T (v) = 0. Also, since v ∈ Im T , there exists
nonzero u ∈ V such that T (u) = v, that is, T (u) − v = 0. Wde
can see that 0 = T (0) = T (T (u) − v) = T 2 (u) − T (v) = T (u) = v.
Hence v = 0, which is true for any v ∈ Im T ∩ Ker T . Therefore,
Im T ∩ Ker T = {0} and V = Ker T ⊕ Im T .
(b) Give a counterexample to show that 4(b) does not hold good for
infinite dimensional vector spaces.
Solution. Example 1. Let V = R∞ , or the vector space of
all sequences in R. (Note that proving R∞ is a vector space
over R is analogous to the proof for Rn . Therefore, this is left
as an exercise). Consider the map T : V → V defined by
T ((x1 , x2 , x3 , . . .)) = (x2 , x3 , x4 , . . .), or more formally, if a = {an }∞ n=1 ∈
V , then T (a) = {an+1 }∞ n=1 . For a, b ∈ V and c ∈ R, we have that
T (a + b) = {an + bn }∞ ∞ ∞
n=1 = {an }n=1 + {bn }n=1 = T (a) + T (b), and
∞ ∞
T (ca) = {can }n=1 = c{an }n=1 = cT (a). Therefore, T is a linear
map.
For any x = {xn }∞ n=1 ∈ V , T ((a, x1 , x2 , x3 , . . .)) = (x1 , x2 , x3 , . . .),
∀a ∈ R, which shows that T is surjective but not injective. There-
fore, T is a counterexample to 4(b) for the infinite dimensional
case.
Example 2. Alternatively, in the same setting as above, the map
T ((x1 , x2 , x3 , . . .)) = (0, x1 , x2 , x3 , . . .) is an injective map but not
a surjective map.
Example 3. Let V be denote vector space of all real-valued dif-
ferentiable functions on [a, b], where a, b ∈ R and a < b. The
derivative operator D on V is clearly not injective as the deriva-
tive of any constant is 0. However, D is surjective as any f ∈ V
has an antiderivative F by the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.