Exam 2020 - Linear Algebra 1 for Computer Scientists

1. Consider the matrices

   
−4 −2 1 −1 −4 −2 1
A= 3 2 1 −3 , B =  3 2 1 .
1 1 −2 0 1 1 −2

a) Write matrix A in row reduced echelon form.

 
−1
b) Is the vector −3 in the span of the column vectors of B?
0
c) Does the homogeneous system given by Bx = 0 have a non trivial
solution?
2. Consider the matrices
   
0 1 1 −1 −2 3 2 0
 2 −1 −1 2 −1 3 2 −1
A= ,B =  .
1 3 −2 1 −1 1 3 3
−3 0 2 −3 −2 −1 −1 2

a) Calculate the determinant of A.

b) Calculate the determinant of B.
c) What is the determinant of A−1 ?
d) What is the determinant of A2 B 3 ?
3. Determine whether the following transformations are linear. Justify your
answer (give a counter example when the transformation is not linear or
give a small proof if the transformation is linear).
 
2 2 1 2
a) T1 : R → R maps a vector v to v.
3 4
b) T2 : R2 → R2 maps every vector v to the zero vector in R2 .
   
2 2 x |x|
c) T3 : R → R maps to (|x| is the absolute value of x).
y y
d) T4 = T1 ◦ T2
e) T5 = T2 ◦ T3
4. Let G be the graph given by:
1 2

5 4

a) Determine the Laplacian matrix L of G.

b) Determine the (2, 2)−cofactor of L.

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 c) How many spanning trees does G have?
d) Draw all spanning trees of G.

5. Let S be the set of vectors in R2 given by

   
2 1
S= ,
−1 a

with a a real number.

a) Determine for which values of a the set S is linearly independent.
b) For which values of a do the vectors in S span all of R2 ?

Consider the set of vectors in R3 given by

     
 2 −1 4 
T = 1 ,  0  ,  1  .
1 1 −1
 

c) Does the set T span all of R3 ?

6. For each statement below, indicate wheter it is true or false. Provide a
reason to justify your answer (by giving a counter example if the statement
is false and a short proof if the statement is true). Try some examples in
case you are not sure.
a) If u and v are solutions of the homogeneous system given by Ax = 0,
then is u + v also a solution.
b) If A and B are both 3 × 3 matrices and AB is the zero matrix, then
A or B has to be the zero matrix.
c) If A is an invertable 4 × 4 matrix, then det(2A) = 2 det(A).

d) Every linear transformation T : R3 → R2 is onto.

e) There exists a linear transformation T : R2 → R3 that is onto.

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Solutions
1. a) reduced
 row echelon
 form:
1 0 0 2
0 1 0 −4
0 0 1 −1
 
−1
b) Yes, A is the augmented matrix of the equation Bx = −3.
0
Solution exists, because the last column is not a pivot column.
c) No, B does have a pivot in every column, so there are no free variable,
so the trivial solution is the only solution of Bx = 0.
     
0 1 1 −1 0 1 1 −1 0 1 1 −1
 2 −1 −1 2  −1 −1 1 −1 0 2 −1 0 
2. a) det    = det   = det   =
 1 3 −2 1   1 3 −2 1  1 3 −2 1 
 −3 0 2
 −3 0 9 −4 0 0 9 −4 0
1 1 −1  
2 −1
det 2 −1 0  = − det = −(−8 + 9) = −1
9 −4
9 −4 0
   
−2 3 2 0 −2 3 2 0
−1 3 2 −1  = det −1 3 2 −1
  
b) det(B) = det  
−1 1
 =
3 3    0 −2 1 4 

−2 −1 −1 2 0 −4 −3 2
 
0 −3 −2 2    
−1 3 −3 −2 2 −3 −2 2
2 −1 
−2 1 4 = det −2 1
det  
 0 −2 1 = det 4 =
4 
−4 −3 2 −1 −1 0
0 −4−3 2 
−2 2 −3 2
− det + det = −(−8 − 2) + (−12 + 4) =
1 4 −2 4
10 − 8 = 2
c) det(A−1 ) = 1
det(A) = 1
−1 = −1
d) det(A B ) = (det(A)) (det(B))3 = (−1)2 23 = 8
2 3 2

3. a) Yes, linear. Matrix multiplication with a vector is linear.

b) Yes, linear.
T2 (x + y) = 0, T2 (x) + T2 (y) = 0 + 0 = 0
T2 (cx) = 0, cT2 (x) = c0 = 0.
      
1 −1 1
c) No, not linear. T3 − = T3 = , but
     1 −1 −1
1 1 −1
−T3 =− = .
1 1 −1
d) T4 (x) = T1 (T2 (x)) = T1 (0) = 0, so T4 = T2 and that is a linear
transformation (see (b)).
e) T5 (x) = T2 (T3 (x)) = 0, thus T5 = T2 so linear.

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  
1 −1 0 0 0
−1 3 −1 0 −1
 
4.  0 −1
a) L =  2 −1 0  
0 0 −1 2 −1
0 −1 0 −1 2
 
1 0 0 0  
2 −1 0
 0 2 −1 0 
b) C22 = (−1)2+2 det 
0 −1 2 −1 = det
  −1 2 −1 =
0 −1 2
0 0 −1 2
   
2 −1 −1 −1
2 det + det = 2(4 − 1) + (−2) = 4.
−1 2 0 2
c) G has 4 spanning trees.
1 2 1 2 1 2

3 3 3

5 4 5 4 5 4
d)
1 2

5 4
 
2 1
5. a) S is linearly independent ⇐⇒ has a pivot in every column.
 −1 a
1 −a
Row reduction gives , so S is linearly independent if 1 +
0 1 + 2a
2a 6= 0 ⇐⇒ a 6= − 21 .
 
2 1
b) S spans all of R2 ⇐⇒ has a pivot in every row. Row
−1 a
 
1 −a
reduction gives , so pivot in every row if a 6= − 12 .
0 1 + 2a
 
2 −1 4
c) T spans all of R3 ⇐⇒ 1 0 1  has a pivot in every row.
1 1 −1
Row
 reduction gives:
   
2 −1 4 0 −1 2 0 −1 2
1 0 1  → 1 0 1  → 1 0 1
1 1 −1 0 1 −2 0 0 0
There is no pivot in the last row, so T does not span all of R3 .
6. a) True: A[u + v] = Au + Av = 0 + 0 = 0,
so u + v is a solution of Ax = 0.
    
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
b) False: 0 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 0, but A 6= 0 and B 6= 0.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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  
2 0 0 0
0 2 0 0 
c) False: A = I4 gives det(2A) = det  
0
 = 16 and
0 2 0
  0 0 0 2
1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 
2 det(A) = 2 det 
0
 = 2.
0 1 0
0 0 0 1
d) False: T (v) = 0 for all v ∈ R3 is linear and not onto.
e) False: Every linear transformation T : R2 → R3 has as standard
matrix a 3 × 2 matrix. This matrix does never have a pivot in every
row, so T is never onto.