MA 631, Fall 2014

Homework for Linear Algebra, Set 5

Due: October 21, 2014
Problem 1: Prove that the set L(V, W) of linear transformations T : V W is
a linear space itself when T
1
+ T
2
and cT is dened as (T
1
+ T
2
)u = T
1
u + T
2
u,
(cT)u = c(Tu).
Problem 2: Let V,W,Z be vector spaces over F. If T L(V, W) and U L(W, Z).
Prove that the composition U T is in L(V, Z).
Problem 3: Let U, V and W be nite-dimensional vector spaces over F. Let
T L(V, W) and S L(U, V ).
(i) Show that rank(TS) min(rank(T), rank(S)).
(ii) Let m and n be positive integers with m < n. Let A F
nm
and B F
mn
.
Use the result of (i) to show that the matrix A B is not invertible.
Problem 4: Let V be a nite dimensional vector space. Prove that the following
are equivalent:
(i) TS = ST for all T, S GL(V )
(ii) dimV = 1
In Problems 5 and 6 let V = R[x]
2
, the vector space of real polynomials of
degree at most 2. Let D L(V, V ) and T L(V, V ) be dened by D(f) = f

and
T(f)(x) = f(x + 1).
Problem 5: Find [D]
B,B
and [T]
B,B
, where B = {f
0
, f
1
, f
2
} and f
j
(x) = x
j
.
Problem 6: Prove that B

= {g
0
, g
1
, g
2
} with g
j
(x) = (x +1)
j
is a basis of V and
nd [D]
B

,B
and [D]
B,B
.
Problem 7

(JPE 9/04): For a matrix A R

nn
we dene its transpose ma-
trix A
t
R
nn
by A
t
jk
= A
kj
, 1 j, k n. Let T : R
nn
R
nn
be the
transformation dened by T(A) = (A+A
t
)/2.
(i) Prove that T is linear.
(ii) Find a basis of the null space of T and determine its dimension.
Problem 8

: Give a simple description of the set of all matrices A F

nn
with
the property that AB = BA for all B F
nn
(and prove that you have found all
such matrices).
Problem 9

: Let A =

1 0 0
0 0
0 0
2

, where =
1+

3i
2
.
Let S = span{I, A, A
2
, A
3
, . . .} as a subspace of C
33
. What is the dimension of
S? State and prove a generalization of this.
Note: Problems 7,8,9 each can be substituted for one of the other problems in the
past, present or future homework. They are strongly recommended for those who
plan to take JPE.
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