Homework & Tutorial 8

MATS2202, Second Semester 2022 (Due on Wednesday 18 May)

Turn in solutions for at least 10 problems.

From Friedberg.etal pp 447-451 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Label the following statements as true or false.

(a) Every quadratic form is a bilinear form.

(b) If two matrices are congruent, they have the same eigenvalues.
(c) Symmetric bilinear forms have symmetric matrix representations.
(d) Any symmetric matrix is congruent to a diagonal matrix.
(e) The sum of two symmetric bilinear forms is a symmetric bilinear form.
(f) Two symmetric matrices with the same characteristic polynomial are matrix representations of
the same bilinear form.
(g) There exists a bilinear form H such that H(x, y) ̸= 0 for all x and y.
(h) If V is a vector space of dimension n, then dim(B(V )) = 2n.
(i) Let H be a bilinear form on a finite-dimensional vector space V with dim(V ) > 1. For any
x ∈ V , there exists y ∈ V such that y ̸= 0, but H(x, y) = 0.
(j) If H is any bilinear form on a finite-dimensional real inner product space V , then there exists
an ordered basis β for V such that ψβ (H) is a diagonal matrix.

2. (a) Prove that the sum of two bilinear forms is a bilinear form.
(b) Prove that the product of a scalar and a bilinear form is a bilinear form.
(c) Prove the following theorem: For any vector space V , the sum of two bilinear forms and the
product of a scalar and a bilinear form on V are again bilinear forms on V . Furthermore, B(V )
is a vector space with respect to these operations.

3. Determine which of the mappings that follow are bilinear forms. Justify your answers.

(a) Let V = C[0, 1] be the space of continuous real-valued functions on the closed interval [0, 1].
For f, g ∈ V , define Z 1
H(f, g) = f (t)g(t)dt.
0

(b) Let V be a vector space over F , and let J ∈ B(V ) be nonzero. Define H : V × V → F by

H(x, y) = [J(x, y)]2 for all x, y ∈ V.

(c) Define H : R × R → R by H(t1 , t2 ) = t1 + 2t2 .

(d) Consider the vectors of R2 as column vectors, and let H : R2 → R be the function defined by
H(x, y) = det(x, y), the determinant of the 2 × 2 matrix with columns x and y.
(e) Let V be a real inner product space, and let H : V × V → R be the function defined by
H(x, y) = ⟨x, y⟩ for x, y ∈ V .
(f) Let V be a complex inner product space, and let H : V × V → C be the function defined by
H(x, y) = ⟨x, y⟩ for x, y ∈ V .

4. Verify that each of the given mappings is a bilinear form. Then compute its matrix representation
with respect to the given ordered basis β.

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 (a) H : R3 × R3 → R, where
   
a1 b1
H  a2  ,  b2  = a1 b1 − 2a1 b2 + a2 b1 − a3 b3
a3 b3

and      
 1 1 0 
β =  0 , 0 , 1  .
1 −1 0
 

(b) Let V = M2×2 (R) and

       
1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
β= , , , .
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

Define H : V × V → R by H(A, B) = tr(A) · tr(B).

(c) Let β = {cos t, sin t, cos 2t, sin 2t}. Then β is an ordered basis for V = span(β), a four-
dimensional subspace of the space of all continuous functions on R. Let H : V × V → R
be the function defined by H(f, g) = f ′ (0) · g ′′ (0).

5. Let H : R2 → R be the function defined by

       
a1 b1 a1 b1
H , = a1 b2 + a2 b1 for , ∈ R2 .
a2 b2 a2 b2

(a) Prove that H is a bilinear form.

(b) Find the 2 × 2 matrix A such that H(x, y) = xt Ay for all x, y ∈ R2 .

For a 2 × 2 matrix M with columns x and y, the bilinear form H(M ) = H(x, y) is called the
permanent of M .

6. Let V and W be vector spaces over the same field, and let T : V → W be a linear transformation.
For any H ∈ B(W ), define Tb(H) : V × V → F by Tb(H)(x, y) = H(T (x), T (y)) for all x, y ∈ V .
Prove the following results.

(a) If H ∈ B(W ), then Tb(H) ∈ B(V ).

(b) Tb : B(W ) → B(V ) is a linear transformation.
(c) If T is an isomorphism, then so is Tb.

7. Let V be an n-dimensional vector space over F , β a basis for V , and ψβ : B(V ) → M atn×n (F ) the
map such that ψβ (H) is the matrix representation of H with respect to β.

(a) Prove that for any ordered basis β, ψβ is linear.

(b) Let β be an ordered basis for an n-dimensional space V over F , and let ϕβ : V → F n be the
standard representation of V with respect to β. For A ∈ Mn×n (F ), define H : V × V → F
by H(x, y) = [ϕβ (x)]t A[ϕβ (y)]. Prove that H ∈ B(V ). Can you establish this as a corollary to
Exercise 6?
(c) Prove the converse of (b): Let H be a bilinear form on V . If

A = ψβ (H), then H(x, y) = [ϕβ (x)]t A[ϕβ (y)].

8. For a finite-dimensional vector space V , describe a method for finding an ordered basis for B(V ).

9. Prove that the relation of congruence is an equivalence relation.

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10. Let V be a finite-dimensional vector space and H ∈ B(V ). Prove that, for any ordered bases β and
γ of V , rank(ψβ (H)) = rank(ψγ (H)).

11. Prove the following results.

(a) Any square diagonal matrix is symmetric.

(b) Any matrix congruent to a diagonal matrix is symmetric.
(c) Every symmetric bilinear form on a finite-dim vector space V is diagonalizable.

12. Let V be a vector space over a field F not of characteristic two, and let H be a symmetric bilinear
form on V . Prove that if K(x) = H(x, x) is the quadratic form associated with H, then, for all
x, y ∈ V ,
H(x, y) = 12 [K(x + y) − K(x) − K(y)].

13. For each of the given quadratic forms K on a real inner product space V , find a symmetric bilinear
form H such that K(x) = H(x, x) for all x ∈ V . Then find an orthonormal basis β for V such that
ψβ (H) is a diagonal matrix.
 
2 t1
(a) K : R → R defined by K = −2t21 + 4t1 t2 + t22
t2
 
2 t1
(b) K : R → R defined by K = 7t21 − 8t1 t2 + t22
t2
 
t1
(c) K : R3 → R defined by K  t2  = 3t21 + 3t22 + 3t23 − 2t1 t3
t3

14. Let S be the set of all (t1 , t2 , t3 ) ∈ R3 for which

√
3t21 + 3t22 + 3t23 − 2t1 t3 + 2 2(t1 + t3 ) + 1 = 0.

Find an orthonormal basis β for R3 for which the equation relating the coordinates of points of S
relative to β is simpler. Describe S geometrically.

15. Let A and E be in Mn×n (F ), with E an elementary matrix. (i) Show that AE can be obtained from
A by means of an elementary column operation. (ii) Prove that E t A can be obtained by means of
the same elementary operation performed on the rows rather than on the columns of A. Hint: Note
that E t A = (At E)t .

16. For each of the following matrices A with entries from R, find a diagonal matrix D and an invertible
matrix Q such that Qt AQ = D.
 
    3 1 2
1 3 0 1
(a) (b) (c)  1 4 0 
3 2 1 0
2 0 −1

Hint for (b): Use an elementary operation other than interchanging columns.

17. Prove that if the diagonal entries of a diagonal matrix are permuted, then the resulting diagonal
matrix is congruent to the original one.

18. Let T be a linear operator on a real inner product space V , and define H : V × V → R by
H(x, y) = ⟨x, T (y)⟩ for all x, y ∈ V .

(a) Prove that H is a bilinear form.

(b) Prove that H is symmetric if and only if T is self-adjoint.

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 (c) What properties must T have for H to be an inner product on V ?
(d) Explain why H may fail to be a bilinear form if V is a complex inner product space.

19. Prove the converse to Exercise 18a: Let V be a finite-dimensional real inner product space, and
let H be a bilinear form on V . Then there exists a unique linear operator T on V such that
H(x, y) = ⟨x, T (y)⟩ for all x, y ∈ V . Hint: Choose an orthonormal basis β for V , let A = ψβ (H),
and let T be the linear operator on V such that [T ]β = A. Apply Exercise 7c.

20. Prove that the number of distinct equivalence classes of congruent n × n real symmetric matrices is
(n+1)(n+2)
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