Linear Algebra and its Applications

Assignment 1
Due: 18 January 2023

(Note: Each question is worth 10 marks)

1. Let p > 1 be any prime number. Consider the set of all residues modulo p, i.e.,

Zp := {0, 1, . . . , p − 1}.

Prove that Zp is a field (make sure that you clearly demonstrate the operations and verify
all the axioms).

2. Let V, W be two vectorspaces over R. Show that, Hom(V, W), the set of all linear trans-
formations from V to W is a vector space. (Bonus Determine its dimension by exhibiting
a basis.)

3. Let n be a natural number and let Rn [x] be the set of all those real polynomials whose
degeree is at most n. It is known that Rn [x] is isomorphic to Rk for some value of k.
Determine the value of k by providing an explicit isomorphism, give all the details.

4. For each of the following vector spaces explicitly write down a basis.

(a) The vector space, R[x2 ], of real polynomials in x2 .

√
(b) The (rational) vector space of real numbers of the form {a + b 2 | a, b ∈ Q} (Q is
the set of all rational numbers).
(c) The vector space, R[n] , of all functions

{1, . . . , n} → R,

equipped with pointwise addition and scalar multiplication.

5. Let f : R3 → R3 be the linear transformation that maps

(1, 1, −7) 7→ (3, 3, 3)

(−1, 0, 6) 7→ (1, 2, 3)
(0, −1, 2) 7→ (1, 3, −1)

Find the matrix of f with respect to the standard basis.