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Change of Basis: Preliminary Notions
Change of Basis: Preliminary Notions
Although the symbol R used below can be taken to mean the field of
real numbers, the results are valid if R is replaced by any field F.
Although the terminology of vector spaces is used below, the results
discussed hold whenever R is a commutative ring and vector space is
everywhere replaced with free R-module.
Contents
Preliminary notions A vector
Transformation matrix represented by two
different bases
Uniqueness of linear transformations
(purple and red
Theorem
arrows).
Coordinate isomorphism
Matrix of a set of vectors
Change of coordinates of a vector
Two dimensions
Three dimensions
General case
The matrix of a linear transformation
Change of basis
The matrix of an endomorphism
Change of basis
The matrix of a bilinear form
Change of basis
Important instances
See also
Notes
References
External links
Preliminary notions
Transformation matrix
The standard basis for is the ordered sequence , where is the element of with in the
place and s elsewhere. For example, the standard basis for would be
If is a linear transformation, the matrix associated with is the matrix whose jth column is
, for , that is
In this case we have , , where we regard as a column vector and the multiplication on the right
side is matrix multiplication. It is a basic fact in linear algebra that the vector space Hom( ) of all linear
transformations from to is naturally isomorphic to the space of matrices over ; that is, a linear
transformation is for all intents and purposes equivalent to its matrix .
Theorem
Let and be vector spaces, let be a basis for , and let be any vectors in
. Then there exists a unique linear transformation with , for .
Of course, if happens to be a basis for , then is bijective as well as linear; in other words, is an
isomorphism. If in this case we also have , then is said to be an automorphism.
Coordinate isomorphism
Now let be a vector space over and suppose is a basis for . By definition, if is a vector in ,
then for a unique choice of scalars called the coordinates of relative to the
ordered basis . The vector is called the coordinate tuple of relative to .
The unique linear map with for is called the coordinate isomorphism for and
the basis . Thus if and only if .
Two dimensions
This means that given a matrix whose columns are the vectors of the new basis of the space (described in terms of the
original basis) (new basis matrix), the new coordinates for a column vector are given by the matrix product . For
this reason, it is said that ordinary vectors are contravariant objects.
Any finite set of vectors can be represented by a matrix in which its columns are the coordinates of the given vectors. As an
example in dimension 2, a pair of vectors obtained by rotating the standard basis counterclockwise for 45°. The matrix
whose columns are the coordinates of these vectors is
If we want to change any vector of the space to this new basis, we only need to left-multiply its components by the inverse
of this matrix.[11]
Three dimensions
For example, let R be a new basis given by its Euler angles. The matrix of the basis will have as columns the components
of each vector. Therefore, this matrix will be (See Euler angles article):
Again, any vector of the space can be changed to this new basis by left-multiplying its components by the inverse of this
matrix.
General case
Suppose and are two ordered bases for an n-dimensional vector space V over a
field K. Let φA and φB be the corresponding coordinate isomorphisms (linear maps) from Kn to V, i.e. and
th
for i = 1, …, n, where ei denotes the n-tuple with i entry equal to 1, and all other entries equal to 0.
If is the coordinate n-tuple of a vector v in V with respect to the basis A, so that , then the
coordinate tuple of v with respect to B is the tuple y such that , i.e. , so that for any
vector in V, the map maps its coordinate tuple with respect to A to its coordinate tuple with respect to B. Since
this map is an automorphism on Kn , it therefore has an associated square matrix C. Moreover, the i th column of C is
, that is, the coordinate tuple of αi with respect to B.
Thus, for any vector v in V, if x is the coordinate tuple of v with respect to A, then the tuple is the
coordinate tuple of v with respect to B. The matrix C is called the transition matrix from A to B.
The matrix of a linear transformation
Now suppose T : V → W is a linear transformation, {α1 , …, αn } is a basis for V and {β1 , …, βm} is a basis for W. Let φ
and ψ be the coordinate isomorphisms for V and W, respectively, relative to the given bases. Then the map
T1 = ψ−1 ∘ T ∘ φ is a linear transformation from Rn to Rm, and therefore has a matrix t; its jth column is ψ−1 (T(αj)) for
j = 1, …, n. This matrix is called the matrix of T with respect to the ordered bases {α1 , …, αn } and {β1 , …, βm}. If η = T(ξ)
and y and x are the coordinate tuples of η and ξ, then y = ψ−1 (T(φ(x))) = tx. Conversely, if ξ is in V and x = φ−1 (ξ) is the
coordinate tuple of ξ with respect to {α1 , …, αn }, and we set y = tx and η = ψ(y), then η = ψ(T1 (x)) = T(ξ). That is, if ξ is
in V and η is in W and x and y are their coordinate tuples, then y = tx if and only if η = T(ξ).
Theorem Suppose U, V and W are vector spaces of finite dimension and an ordered basis is chosen for each. If T : U → V
and S : V → W are linear transformations with matrices s and t, then the matrix of the linear transformation S ∘ T : U → W
(with respect to the given bases) is st.
Change of basis
Now we ask what happens to the matrix of T : V → W when we change bases in V and W. Let {α1 , …, αn } and
{β1 , …, βm} be ordered bases for V and W respectively, and suppose we are given a second pair of bases {α′ 1 , …, α′ n } and
{β′ 1 , …, β′ m}. Let φ1 and φ2 be the coordinate isomorphisms taking the usual basis in Rn to the first and second bases for
V, and let ψ1 and ψ2 be the isomorphisms taking the usual basis in Rm to the first and second bases for W.
Let T1 = ψ1 −1 ∘ T ∘ φ1 , and T2 = ψ2 −1 ∘ T ∘ φ2 (both maps taking Rn to Rm), and let t1 and t2 be their respective
matrices. Let p and q be the matrices of the change-of-coordinates automorphisms φ2 −1 ∘ φ1 on Rn and ψ2 −1 ∘ ψ1 on Rm.
The relationships of these various maps to one another are illustrated in the following commutative diagram. Since we have
T2 = ψ2 −1 ∘ T ∘ φ2 = (ψ2 −1 ∘ ψ1 ) ∘ T1 ∘ (φ1 −1 ∘ φ2 ), and since composition of linear maps corresponds to matrix
multiplication, it follows that
t2 = q t1 p−1.
Given that the change of basis has once the basis matrix and once its inverse, these objects are said to be 1-co, 1-contra-
variant.
Change of basis
We apply the same change of basis, so that q = p and the change of basis formula becomes
t2 = p t1 p−1.
In this situation the invertible matrix p is called a change-of-basis matrix for the vector space V, and the equation above
says that the matrices t1 and t2 are similar.
If and are the expressions of vectors v, w with respect to this basis, then the bilinear form is
given by
The matrix will be symmetric if the bilinear form B is a symmetric bilinear form.
Change of basis
If P is the invertible matrix representing a change of basis from to then the Gram matrix
transforms by the matrix congruence
Important instances
In abstract vector space theory the change of basis concept is innocuous; it seems to add little to science. Yet there are cases
in associative algebras where a change of basis is sufficient to turn a caterpillar into a butterfly, figuratively speaking:
In the split-complex number plane there is an alternative "diagonal basis". The standard hyperbola
xx − yy = 1 becomes xy = 1 after the change of basis. Transformations of the plane that leave the
hyperbolae in place correspond to each other, modulo a change of basis. The contextual difference is
profound enough to then separate Lorentz boost from squeeze mapping. A panoramic view of the literature
of these mappings can be taken using the underlying change of basis.
With the 2 × 2 real matrices one finds the beginning of a catalogue of linear algebras due to Arthur Cayley.
His associate James Cockle put forward in 1849 his algebra of coquaternions or split-quaternions, which
are the same algebra as the 2 × 2 real matrices, just laid out on a different matrix basis. Once again it is the
concept of change of basis that synthesizes Cayley's matrix algebra and Cockle's coquaternions.
A change of basis turns a 2 × 2 complex matrix into a biquaternion.
See also
Coordinate vector
Integral transform, the continuous analogue of change of basis.
Active and passive transformation
Notes
1. Anton (1987, p. 171)
2. Beauregard & Fraleigh (1973, p. 93)
3. Nering (1970, p. 15)
4. Nering (1970, p. 15)
5. Anton (1987, pp. 74–76)
6. Beauregard & Fraleigh (1973, pp. 194–195)
7. Nering (1970, p. 15)
8. Anton (1987, pp. 221–237)
9. Beauregard & Fraleigh (1973, pp. 240–243)
10. Nering (1970, pp. 50–52)
11. "Change of Basis - HMC Calculus Tutorial" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160716213428/https://math.hm
c.edu/calculus/tutorials/changebasis/). www.math.hmc.edu. Archived from the original (https://www.math.h
mc.edu/calculus/tutorials/changebasis/) on 2016-07-16. Retrieved 2017-08-22. and the explanation / proof
"Why?" (https://www.math.hmc.edu/calculus/tutorials/changebasis/why.html). www.math.hmc.edu.
Retrieved 2017-08-22.
References
Anton, Howard (1987), Elementary Linear Algebra (5th ed.), New York: Wiley, ISBN 0-471-84819-0
Beauregard, Raymond A.; Fraleigh, John B. (1973), A First Course In Linear Algebra: with Optional
Introduction to Groups, Rings, and Fields (https://archive.org/details/firstcourseinlin0000beau), Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, ISBN 0-395-14017-X
Nering, Evar D. (1970), Linear Algebra and Matrix Theory (2nd ed.), New York: Wiley, LCCN 76091646 (htt
ps://lccn.loc.gov/76091646)
External links
MIT Linear Algebra Lecture on Change of Basis (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06-linear-alge
bra-spring-2010/video-lectures/lecture-31-change-of-basis-image-compression/), from MIT
OpenCourseWare
Khan Academy Lecture on Change of Basis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j5WnqwMdCk), from
Khan Academy
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