Lecture Notes by M. G. P.

Prasad, IITG

Class Notes for the Lectures on the Topic of Linear Transformations (MA102)

1 LinearTransformations
Definition 1.1. Let V and W be vector spaces over the field F . A linear transformation
from V into W is a function T : V → W such that

T (u + v) = T u + T v for all vectors u and v in V ,

T (α v) = α T u for all scalars α ∈ F and for all vectors v ∈ V .

The two conditions in the above definition can be written as a single condition as
follows:

T (αu + βv) = α T u + β T v for all vectors u, v ∈ V and for all scalars α, β ∈ F .

Examples:
• Let V and W be vector spaces over the field F . The Zero Tranformation 0 : V → W
defined by 0v = 0 for all v ∈ V , is a linear transformaton from V into W .
• Let V be a vector space over the field F . The Identity Transformation I : V → V
defined I(v) = v for all v ∈ V is a linear transformtion from V into V .
• Let P denote the vector space of all real polynomials over the real field. Let P (x) =
a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn ∈ P. Define a map T : P → P by
d
(T P )(x) = (P (x)) = a1 +2a2 x+· · ·+nan xn−1 for all x ∈ R, for each P ∈ P .
dx
Then, T is a linear transformation from P into P and it called differential transfor-
mation / operator.
• Let A be a fixed m × n matrix with entries in the field R. The function T : Rn → Rm
defined by T x = Ax for x = (x1 , . . . , xn )T ∈ Rn is a linear transformation from Rn
into Rm . The function S : Rm → Rn defined by Sx = xA for x = (x1 , . . . , xm ) ∈ Rm
is a linear transformation from Rm into Rn .
• Let C(R) = {f : R → R : f is continuous on R} denote the vector space of all con-
tinuous functions from R into R over the real field. Define T : C(R) → C(R) by
Z x
(T f ) (x) = f (t) dt for all x ∈ R, for each f ∈ C(R) .
0

Then T is a linear transformation from C(R) into C(R). The function T f is not only
continuous but it has a continuous derivative.

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• Let P denote the vector space of all real polynomials over the real field. Let P (x) =
a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn ∈ P. Define a map T : P → R by
(T P )(x) = P (3) for all x ∈ R, for each P ∈ P .
Then, T is a linear transformation from P into R.

Theorem 1.1. Let V and W be vector spaces over the field F . Let T be a linear transfro-
mation from V into W . Then
1. T (0) = 0.
2. T (−v) = −v for all v ∈ V .
3. T (u − v) = T u − T v for all u ∈ V and v ∈ V .
Proof.
Proof of (1):
Observe that
T (0) = T (0 + 0) = T (0) + T (0) (by Linearity property)
This gives that,
T (0) − T (0) = T (0) =⇒ 0 = T (0) .

Proof of (2):
Observe that for any vector v ∈ V ,
T (v) + T (−v) = T (v + (−v)) = T (0) = 0 .

Proof of (3):
Observe that for all u ∈ V and v ∈ V ,
T (u − v) = T (u + (−v)) = T (u) + T (−v) = T (u) + (−1)T (v) = T u − T v .

Question: Is T : R → R defined by T (x) = x + 1 for all x ∈ R linear transformation?

Answer: T (x) = x + 1 is not linear because T (0) = 1 6= 0.

Question: Can there be a linear transformation T : R2 → R2 satisfying T (1, 0) = (3, 2),

T (0, 1) = (2, 3) and T (1, 1) = (3, 3)?
Answer: Observe that T ((1, 0) + (0, 1)) = T (1, 0) + T (0, 1) = (3, 2) + (2, 3) = (5, 5). Also
observe that T (1, 1) = T ((1, 0) + (0, 1)) = (5, 5) 6= (3, 3) and hence no such linear tranfor-
mation exists.

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Theorem 1.2. Let V be finite dimensional vector space over the field F with dim (V ) = n.
Let B = {u1 , u2 , . . . , un } be an (ordered) basis for V . Let W be a vector space over the
same field F and let u1 , . . ., un be arbitrary vectors in W . There there is a unique linear
transformation T : V → W such that T (ui ) = wi for all i = 1, 2, . . ., n.

Proof. Let v ∈ V . Since B is an ordered basis for V , there exists scalars α1 , α2 , . . ., αn

such that n
X
v= αi ui .
i=1

Define a map T : V → W by
n n
!
X X
T (v) = αi wi for each v = αi ui ∈V .
i=1 i=1

Observe that T is well defined, because for each vector v, its coordinates [v]B = (α1 , . . . , αn )
with respect to the ordered basis B is unique.
Further T satisfies T (ui ) = wi for i = 1, 2, . . ., n.

Claim: T is linear
Let u = α1 u1 + α2 u2 + · · · + αn un and v = β1 u1 + β2 u2 + · · · + βn un be any two vectors in
V and let a and b any two scalars in F . Then

au + bv = (aα1 + bβ1 ) u1 + · · · + (aαn + bβn ) un .

Now,
T (au + bv) = T ((aα1 + bβ1 ) u1 + · · · + (aαn + bβn ) un )
= (aα1 + bβ1 ) w1 + · · · + (aαn + bβn ) wn
= aα1 w1 + · · · + aαn wn + bβ1 w1 + · · · + bβn wn
= a (α1 w1 + · · · + αn wn ) + b (β1 w1 + · · · + βn wn )
= aT (u) + bT (v) .

Claim: T is unique
Let S be a linear transformation from V to W such that S(ui ) = wi for i = 1, 2, . . ., n.
For the vector v = ni=1 αi ui , we have
P

n
!
X
S(v) = S αi ui
i=1

n
X
= αi S(ui )
i=1

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Lecture Notes by M. G. P. Prasad, IITG

n
X
= αi w i
i=1

so that S is exactly the rule T which we defined above. This shows that the linear trans-
formation T with T (ui ) = wi for each i is unique.
This completes the proof.

Example: Find a unique linear transformation T : R2 → R3 such that T (1, 2) = (3, 2, 1)

and T (3, 4) = (6, 5, 4).
Observe that B = {u1 = (1, 2), u2 = (3, 4)} is an ordered basis for R2 . Then, by previous
theorem, there is a unique linear transformation from R2 into R3 such that T (ui ) = wi for
i = 1, 2. Here w1 = (3, 2, 1) and w2 = (6, 5, 4).
Step 1: Expressing Standard Ordered Basis Vectors in terms of given ordered basis.
Consider the standard ordered basis of R2 , namely, Bs = {e1 = (1, 0), e2 = (0, 1)}. Express
e1 and e2 as linear combination of vectors of the given ordered basis B as follows.

e1 = (1, 0) = −2u1 + u2 = −2(1, 2) + (3, 4) ,

       
3 −1 3 −1
e2 = (0, 1) = u1 + u2 = (1, 2) + (3, 4) .
2 2 2 2

Step 2: Finding T (ei ) for each i

T (e1 ) = T (−2u1 + u2 ) = −2T (u1 ) + u2 ) = −2(3, 2, 1) + (6, 5, 4) = (0, 1, 2) ,

T (e2 ) = T ((3/2)u1 + (−1/2)u2 ) = (3/2)T (u1 ) + (−1/2)T (u2 )
= (3/2)(3, 2, 1) + (−1/2)(6, 5, 4) = ((3/2), (1/2), (−1/2)) .

Step 3: Finding T (v)

Observe that any vector v = (x, y) ∈ R2 can be written as

v = (x, y) = xe1 + ye2 = x(1, 0) + y(0, 1) .

Therefore

T (v) = T (x, y) = T (xe1 + ye2 ) = xT (e1 ) + yT (e2 ) = x(0, 1, 2) + y ((3/2), (1/2), (−1/2))

T (x, y) = ((3/2)y, x + (1/2)y, 2x + (−1/2)y)

Example: Let P2 (R) denote the vector space of all real polynomials of degree atmost 2
over the real field. Let T be a linear transformation T : R2 → P2 (R) such that T (1, 0) =
2 − 3x + x2 and T (0, 1) = 1 − x2 . Then, find T (2, 3) and T (a, b)
Observe that
T (2, 3) = T (2(1, 0) + 3(0, 1)) = 2T (1, 0) + 3T (0, 1)

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= 2(2 − 3x + x2 ) + 3(1 − x2 ) = 7 − 6x − x2 .
Similarly,
T (a, b) = T (a(1, 0) + b(0, 1)) = aT (1, 0) + bT (0, 1)
= a(2 − 3x + x2 ) + b(1 − x2 ) = (2a + b) + (−3a)x + (a − b)x2 .

Definition 1.2. Let V and W be vector spaces over the field F and let T be a linear
transformation from V into W . Then, the range space of T , denoted by range (T ) and the
kernel of T , denoted by ker (T ) are defined as

Range of T = range (T ) = {T (v) ∈ W : v ∈ V } ,

Kernel of T = ker (T ) = {v ∈ V : T v = 0} .
The kernel of T is also called the null space of T .
Theorem 1.3. Let V and W be vector spaces over the field F and let T be a linear
transformation from V into W . Then, the kernel of T is a subspace of V . That is,
ker (T ) 4 V .
Proof.
Since T (0) = 0, we have 0 ∈ ker(T ) and hence the kernel of T is non-empty.
Let v1 and v2 be any two vectors in the kernel of T and let c be any scalar in F .
To show: cv1 + v2 is in the kernel of T
Since v1 ∈ ker (T ), we have T (v1 ) = 0. Similarly, since v2 ∈ ker (T ), we have T (v2 ) = 0.
Now,
T (cv1 + v2 ) = c T (v1 ) + T (v2 ), since T is linear
=c0 + 0 = 0.
Therefore, cv1 + v2 ∈ ker (T ). Thus, the kernel of T is a subspace of V .
This completes the proof.

Theorem 1.4. Let V and W be vector spaces over the field F and let T be a linear
transformation from V into W . Then, the range space of T is a subspace of W . That is,
range (T ) 4 W .
Proof.
Since T (0) = 0, we have 0 ∈ range(T ) and hence the range of T is non-empty.
Let w1 and w2 be any two vectors in the range of T and let c be any scalar in F .
To show: cw1 + w2 is in the range of T
Since w1 ∈ range (T ), there exists v1 ∈ V such that T (v1 ) = w1 . Similarly, since w2 ∈
range (T ), there exists v2 ∈ V such that T (v2 ) = w2 .
Since v1 ∈ V and v2 ∈ V and c ∈ F , we have

cv1 + v2 ∈ V .

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Since T is linear, we have

T (cv1 + v2 ) = c T (v1 ) + T (v2 ) = c w1 + w2 .
Since w1 ∈ W , w2 ∈ W and c ∈ F , we have cw1 + w2 ∈ W because W is a vector space.
Since T (cv1 + v2 ) = cw1 + w2 ∈ W , we conclude that (cv1 + v2 ) ∈ range (T ). Therefore,
the range space of T is a subspace of W . This completes the proof.

Example: Let A be an m × n real matrix. Let T : Rn → Rm be the linear transformation

defined by T x = Ax for all x ∈ Rn . Find range (T ) and ker (T ).
Observe that
range (T ) = {T x ∈ Rm : x ∈ Rn } = {Ax : x ∈ Rn } = Col (A) 4 Rm .
ker (T ) = {x ∈ Rn : T x = 0} = {x ∈ Rn : Ax = 0} = Null (A) 4 Rn .

Definition 1.3. Let V and W be vector spaces over the field F and let T be a linear
transformation from V into W . Assume that V is finite-dimensional. Then the rank of T
is the dimension of the range space of T and the nullity of T is the dimension of the kernel
(or null space) of T .
Example: Let P3 denote the vector space of all real polynomials of degree atmost 3 over
the real field. Let T : P3 → P3 be the linear transformation defined by (T P )(x) = P 0 (x).
Fine the rank and nullity of T .
Oberve that any polynomial P (x) = a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 ∈ P2 can be written as
d  a1 a2 
P (x) = a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 = a0 x + x 2 + x 3 .
dx 2 3
The range of T is all of P2 and hence the rank of T is the dimension of P2 which is equal
to 3.
The kernel of T is given by
ker (T ) = {P ∈ P3 : T (P ) = P 0 is a zero polynomial } = {All constant polynomials } .
Therefore, the nullity of T is 1.

Exercise: Read and understand Examples 6.61, 6.62, 6.65, 6.66 in David Poole’s Book
(4th Edition).

The following theorem is one of most important results in linear algebra.

Theorem 1.5. Rank-Nullity Theorem (or Rank Theorem):
Let V and W be vector spaces over the field F and let T : V → W be a linear transformation
from V into W . Suppose that V is finite-dimensional. Then
rank (T ) + nullity (T ) = dim (V ) .

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Proof.
Given that V is a finite-dimensional vector space and hence dim (V ) = n (say).
Since ker (T ) 4 V and V is finite-dimensional, ker (T ) is also finite-dimensional.
Let {v1 , v2 , . . . , vk } be a basis for ker (T ) and hence nullity (T ) = dim (ker (T )) = k.

Since {v1 , v2 , . . . , vk } is a linearly independent set in V , it can be extended to form a

basis for V . Let B = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vk , vk+1 , . . . , vn } be such a basis for V .

We shall now prove that C = {T vk+1 , . . . , T vn } is a basis for the range of T .

Claim 1: C spans range (T )
Let w ∈ range (T ). Then, there exists v ∈ V such that T (v) = w.
Since v ∈ V and B is a basis for V , we can find scalars c1 , . . ., cn such that

v = c1 v1 + . . . + ck vk + ck+1 vk+1 + . . . + cn vn .

Now,

T v = T (c1 v1 + . . . + ck vk + ck+1 vk+1 + . . . + cn vn )

= c1 T (v1 ) + . . . + ck T (vk ) + ck+1 T (vk+1 ) + . . . + cn T (vn )

Since v1 , . . ., vk are in ker (T ), we have

T (vi ) = 0 for i = 1, 2, . . . , k .

Therefore
T v = ck+1 T (vk+1 ) + · · · + cn T (vn ) .
This shows that the range of T is spanned by C .

Claim 2: C is linearly independent

Suppose that there are scalars ck+1 , . . ., cn such that

ck+1 T (vk+1 ) + · · · + cn T (vn ) = 0 .

Since T is linear, we have

T (ck+1 vk+1 + · · · + cn vn ) = 0 .

This means that ck+1 vk+1 + · · · + cn vn is in the kernel of T and hence it is expressible as a
linear combination of the basis vectors v1 , . . ., vk of ker (T ) as follows:

ck+1 vk+1 + · · · + cn vn = c1 v1 + · · · + ck vk

It gives that
c1 v1 + · · · + ck vk − ck+1 vk+1 − · · · − cn vn = 0 .

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Since B is a basis for V , it follows that c1 = · · · = cn = 0. In particular, ck+1 = · · · = cn =

0. Therefore C is linearly independent.

Since C is a basis for the range of T , it follows that the rank of T is equal to (n − k).

rank (T ) + nullity (T ) = (n − k) + k = n = dim (V ) .

This completes the proof.

Example: Let V be the vector space of all symmetric 2x2 real matrices over the real field.
Let P2 denote the vector space of all real polynomials of degree atmost 2 over the real
field. Define a linear transformation T : V → P2 by
 
a b
T = (a − b) + (b − c)x + (c − a)x2 .
b c

Find the rank and nullity of T .

The nullity of T is easier to compute directly than the rank. So we proceed to compute
ker (T ).

    
a b a b
ker (T ) = : T =0
b c b c
  
a b 2
= : (a − b) + (b − c)x + (c − a)x = 0 for all x ∈ R
b c
  
a b
= : (a − b) = (b − c) = (c − a) = 0
b c
  
a b
= : a=b=c
bc
  
c c
= : c∈R
c c
 
1 1
= span
1 1
 
1 1
Therefore, is a basis for the kernel of T and hence the nullity of T is 1.
1 1
Observe that the dimension of V is 3.
By the Rank-Nullity theorem, it follows that

rank (T ) = dim (V ) − nullity (T ) = 3 − 1 = 2 .

Exercise: Read and understand Example 6.67 in David Poole’s Book (4th Edition).

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