SUBSPACES

ELECTRONIC VERSION OF LECTURE

HoChiMinh City University of Technology

Faculty of Applied Science, Department of Applied Mathematics

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 1 / 41
OUTLINE

1 SUBSPACES

2 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 2 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

SUBSPACES OF R2 : LINES THROUGH THE ORIGIN

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 3 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

SUBSPACES OF R3 : LINES THROUGH THE ORIGIN

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 4 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

SUBSPACES OF R3 : PLANES THROUGH THE ORIGIN

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 5 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

A SUBSET OF R3 THAT IS NOT A SUBSPACE

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 6 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

A SUBSET OF R3 THAT IS NOT A SUBSPACE

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 7 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

DEFINITION 1.1
A subset W of a vector space V is called a subspace of
V if and only if the following conditions are satisfied
1
W ̸= ∅
2
∀x, y ∈ W, x + y ∈ W
3
∀λ ∈ R, ∀x ∈ W, λx ∈ W.

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 8 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

EXAMPLE 1.1
W = R × {0} = {(x 1 , x 2 ) : x 1 ∈ R, x 2 = 0} is the subspace of
R2 .

We have W ⊂ R2 , (0, 0) ∈ W ⇒ W ̸= ∅. For all

x = (x 1 , 0), y = (y 1 , 0) ∈ W we have

x + y = (x 1 + y 1 , 0) ∈ W,

∀λ ∈ R, λx = (λx 1 , 0) ∈ W.
Therefore, W is the subspace of R2 .

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 9 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

EXAMPLE 1.2
W = {(x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) ∈ R3 : 2x 1 − 2x 2 + x 3 = 0} is the subspace
of R3 .

We have W ⊂ R3 , (0, 0, 0) ∈ W ⇒ W ̸= ∅.

∀x = (x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ), y = (y 1 , y 2 , y 3 ) ∈ W

⇒ 2x 1 − 2x 2 + x 3 = 0, 2y 1 − 2y 2 + y 3 = 0.
Therefore, x + y = (x 1 + y 1 , x 2 + y 2 , x 3 + y 3 ), and
2(x 1 + y 1 ) − 2(x 2 + y 2 ) + (x 3 + y 3 ) =
(2x 1 − 2x 2 + x 3 ) + (2y 1 − 2y 2 + y 3 ) = 0 ⇒ x + y ∈ W.

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 10 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

∀λ ∈ R, λx = (λx 1 , λx 2 , λx 3 ), then

2λx 1 − 2λx 2 + λx 3 = λ(2x 1 − 2x 2 + x 3 ) = 0

⇒ λx ∈ W.
Thus, W is the subspace of R3 .

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 11 / 41
 SUBSPACES DEFINITION

EXAMPLE 1.3
W = {(x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) : x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ∈ R, x 1 + 2x 2 + x 3 = 1} is NOT a
subspace of R3 .

Indeed, if x = (x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ), y = (y 1 , y 2 , y 3 ) ∈ W, then

x + y = (x 1 + y 1 , x 2 + y 2 , x 3 + y 3 )

and

(x 1 + y 1 ) + 2(x 2 + y 2 ) + (x 3 + y 3 )
= (x 1 + 2x 2 + x 3 ) + (y 1 + 2y 2 + y 3 ) = 1 + 1 = 2. (1)

Thus, x + y ∉ W.
(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 12 / 41
 SUBSPACES SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 13 / 41
 SUBSPACES SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 14 / 41
 SUBSPACES SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 15 / 41
 SUBSPACES SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

THEOREM 1.1
The solution set of a homogeneous linear system
A m×n X n×1 = 0m×1 of m equations in n unknowns is a
subspace of Rn , which is called the null space of
matrix A m×n .

THEOREM 1.2
The dimension of the null space is n − r where
r = r ank(A) and n is the number of unknowns.

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 16 / 41
 SUBSPACES SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

EXAMPLE 1.4
Find a basis and dimension for the subspace W of R3
which is defined by

W = {(x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) : x 1 + x 2 + x 3 = 0}

In order to find a basis of W, we solve the

homogeneous system of linear equations
x 1 + x 2 + x 3 = 0 ⇔ x 1 = −x 2 − x 3 .

The general solution

(x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) = (−t 1 − t 2 , t 1 , t 2 ) = t 1 (−1, 1, 0) + t 2 (−1, 0, 1).
(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 17 / 41
 SUBSPACES SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

SOLUTION SPACE OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEM

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 18 / 41
 SUBSPACES SOLUTION SPACES OF HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEMS

The 2 vectors (−1, 1, 0) and (−1, 0, 1) are linearly

independent.

α(−1, 1, 0) + β(−1, 0, 1) = 0
⇒ (−α − β, α, β) = (0, 0, 0) ⇒ α = β = 0.

We show that the 2 vectors (−1, 1, 0) and (−1, 0, 1)

span W. Indeed, ∀w = (x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) ∈ W we have

w = x 2 (−1, 1, 0) + x 3 (−1, 0, 1) = (−x 2 − x 3 , x 2 , x 3 ).

Therefore, the set of the 2 vectors (−1, 1, 0) and

(−1, 0, 1) is the basis of W and the dimension of W is
dim(W ) = 2.
(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 19 / 41
 SUBSPACES SPACE SPANNED BY A SET OF VECTORS

SPACE SPANNED BY A SET OF VECTORS

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 20 / 41
 SUBSPACES SPACE SPANNED BY A SET OF VECTORS

SPACE SPANNED BY A SET OF VECTORS

THEOREM 1.3
If S = {w 1 , w 2 , . . . , w n } is a non-empty set of vectors in a
vector space V, then the subspace W of V that consists
of all possible linear combinations of the vectors in S
is called the subspace of V generated by S or subspace
spanned by S . We denote this subspace as
n o
W = span w 1 , w 2 , . . . , w n or W = span(S)

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 21 / 41
 SUBSPACES SPACE SPANNED BY A SET OF VECTORS

EXAMPLE 1.5
The following vectors span a subspace of R3 . Find the
subset of these vectors that forms a basis of this
subspace.

w 1 = (1, 2, 1), w 2 = (2, 1, −1), w 3 = (0, 4, 4).

 
1 2 1
A =  2 1 −1 
 
0 4 4

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 22 / 41
 SUBSPACES SPACE SPANNED BY A SET OF VECTORS

   
1 2 1 1 2 1
r 2 →r 2 −2r 1   r 3 →r 3 +4/3r 2 
A −−−−−−−→  0 −3 −3  −−−−−−−−→  0 −3 −3  .

0 4 4 0 0 0

We will start by expressing w 3 as linear combinations

of w 1 and w 2 .
4³ ´ 4 8
w 3 + w 2 − 2w 1 = 0 ⇒ w 3 = − w 2 + w 1 .
3 3 3
Now we show that the set of w 1 and w 2 is the basis of
the subspace spanned by w 1 , w 2 , w 3 .

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 23 / 41
 SUBSPACES SPACE SPANNED BY A SET OF VECTORS

n o
1
The set w 1 , w 2 is linear independent

 λ1 + 2λ2 = 0
 ½
λ1 = 0
λ1 w 1 + λ2 w 2 = 0 ⇒ 2λ1 + λ2 = 0 ⇒
 λ −λ = 0
 λ2 = 0
1 2

n o
2
w 1 , w 2 span W = spans w 1 , w 2 , w 3 . For all w ∈ W,
we have
w = λ1 w 1 + λ2 w 2 + λ3 w 3 = λ1 w 1 + λ2 w 2 +
µ ¶ µ ¶ µ ¶
4 8 8λ3 4λ3
+λ3 − w 2 + w 1 = λ1 + w 1 + λ2 − w2
3 3 3 3

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 24 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES DEFINITION

THEOREM 2.1
If U ,W are subspaces of a vector space V, then the
intersection of these subspaces is also a subspace of V.

Proof.
W ̸= ∅ because 0 ∈ U ,W ⇒ 0 ∈ U W.
T T
1
U
T
2
∀x, y ∈ U W ⇒ x, y ∈ U ,W ⇒ x + y ∈ U ,W
T
⇒ x + y ∈U W
x ∈ U W ⇒ ∀λ ∈ R, λx ∈ U ,W ⇒ λx ∈ U W.
3
T T

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 25 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES DEFINITION

DEFINITION 2.1
If U and W are subspaces of a vector space V . The set
of all vectors of the form u + w, where u belongs to U
and w to W, is called the sum of U and W.
n o
U + W = x ∈ V, ∃u ∈ U , ∃w ∈ W : x = u + w

THEOREM 2.2
U + W is the subspace of V .

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 26 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

FORMULA CONNECTING THE DIMENSIONS OF THE SUM

AND THE INTERSECTION OF 2 SUBSPACES

THEOREM 2.3
Let U and W be subspaces of a finitely generated
vector space V. Then

d i m(U + W ) = d i m(U ) + d i m(W ) − d i m(U ∩ W )

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 27 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

EXAMPLE 2.1
In R3 the following vectors u 1 = (1, 2, 1), u 2 = (3, 6, 5),
u 3 = (4, 8, 6), u 4 = (8, 16, 12) and w 1 = (1, 3, 3),
w 2 = (2, 5, 5), w 3 = (3, 8, 8), w 4 = (6, 16, 16) are given. Let
n o
U = span u 1 , u 2 , u 3 , u 4 ,
n o
W = span w 1 , w 2 , w 3 , w 4 .
Find a basis and dimension of the sum U + W and the
intersection U ∩ W.

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 28 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

The basis and

 dimension
  of U 
1 2 1 1 2 1
 3 6 5   0 0 2 
→
   
4 8 6 0 0 0
 
   
8 16 12 0 0 0
Therefore, d i m(U ) = 2 and the basis of U is
n o
(1, 2, 1), (3, 6, 5)

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 29 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

The basisand dimension

  of W 
1 3 3 1 3 3
 2 5 5   0 −1 −1 
→
   
3 8 8 0 0 0 
 
  
6 16 16 0 0 0
Therefore, d i m(W ) = 2 and the basis of W is
n o
(1, 3, 3), (2, 5, 5)

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 30 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

THE BASIS AND DIMENSION OF THE SUM U + W

The
n sum U + W is spanned by
o the vectors
(1, 2, 1), (3, 6, 5), (1, 3, 3), (2, 5, 5) .
   
1 2 1 1 2 1
 3 6 5   0 1 2 
→
   
1 3 3 0 0 2
 
   
2 5 5 0 0 0

Therefore,
n d i m(U + Wo) = 3 and the basis of U + W is
(1, 2, 1), (3, 6, 5), (1, 3, 3) .

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 31 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

THE BASIS AND DIMENSION OF U ∩ W.

x = α1 (1, 2, 1) + α2 (3, 6, 5)
½
x ∈U ∩W ⇔
x = α3 (1, 3, 3) + α4 (2, 5, 5)

⇒ α1 (1, 2, 1) + α2 (3, 6, 5) =

= α3 (1, 3, 3) + α4 (2, 5, 5)
⇔ α3 = −α4 = −2α2 = 2α1
⇒ x = α1 (1, 2, 1) + α2 (3, 6, 5) = α2 (2, 4, 4).
Therefore,
n o d i m(U ∩ W ) = 1 and the basis of U ∩ W is
(2, 4, 4)

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 32 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

EXAMPLE 2.2
For R3 the 2 subspaces
½ ¯ ¾
¯ x 1 + x 2 − 2x 3 = 0
U = (x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) ¯¯
x 1 − x 2 − 2x 3 = 0

and n o
W = (x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) : x 1 = x 2
are given. Find a basis and dimension of U + W and
U ∩ W.

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 33 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

The basis and dimension of U

µ ¶ µ ¶
1 1 −2 1 1 −2
→
1 −1 −2 0 −2 0

Therefore,
n o d i m(U ) = 1 and the basis of U is
(2, 0, 1)
The basis and dimension of W.
¡ ¢
1 −1 0

Therefore,
n o ) = 2 and the basis of W is
d i m(W
(1, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 34 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

THE BASIS AND DIMENSION OF THE SUM U + W

The
n sum U + W is spanned
o by the vectors
(2, 0, 1), (1, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1) .
   
2 0 1 1 1 0
 1 1 0  →  0 −2 1 
   
0 0 1 0 0 1

Therefore,
n d i m(U + Wo) = 3 and the basis of U + W is
(2, 0, 1), (1, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1) .

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 35 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

THE BASIS AND DIMENSION OF THE INTERSECTION

U ∩ W.


 x 1 + x 2 − 2x 3 = 0

x ∈ U ∩ W ⇔ x 1 − x 2 − 2x 3 = 0

 x1 = x2
⇔ x1 = x2 = x3 = 0
Therefore, d i m(U ∩ W ) = 0 and there is no basis of
U ∩ W.

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 36 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

EXAMPLE 2.3
For R3 , the 2 subspaces
n o
U = (x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) ∈ R3 : x 1 + x 2 + x 3 = 0 ,

and n o
W = span (1; 0; 1), (2; 3; 1)
are given. Find a basis and dimension of U ∩ W and
U + W.

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 37 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

The basis and dimension of U

x 1 + x 2 + x 3 = 0 ⇒ x 1 = −x 2 − x 3

Therefore,
n d i m(Uo) = 2 and the basis of U is
(−1, 1, 0), (−1, 0, 1)
The basis and dimension of W
µ ¶ µ ¶
1 0 1 1 0 1
→
2 3 1 0 3 −1

Therefore, d i m(W
n o ) = 2 and the basis of W is
(1, 0, 1), (2, 3, 1)

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 38 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

THE BASIS AND DIMENSION OF THE SUM U + W

The
n sum U + W is spanned by the
o vectors
(−1, 1, 0), (−1, 0, 1), (1, 0, 1), (2, 3, 1) .
   
−1 1 0 −1 1 0
 −1 0 1   0 −1 1 
→
   
1 0 1 0 0 2
 
   
2 3 1 0 0 0

Therefore,
n d i m(U + W ) =o3 and the basis of U + W is
(−1, 1, 0), (−1, 0, 1), (1, 0, 1) .

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 39 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

THE BASIS AND DIMENSION OF U ∩ W

∀x ∈ U ∩ W ⇐⇒ x ∈ U ∧ x ∈ W .
x ∈ W ⇐⇒ x = α(1, 0, 1) + β(2, 3, 1)
⇐⇒ x = (α + 2β, 3β, α + β).
x ∈ U ⇐⇒ x satisfies the condition of U :

α + 2β + 3β + α + β = 0 ⇐⇒ α = −3β.

x = (α + 2β, 3β, α + β)
= (−β, 3β, −2β) = β(−1, 3, −2).
n o
Therefore, (−1, 3, −2) is the basis of U ∩ W and
dim(U ∩ W ) = 1.
(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 40 / 41
 OPERATIONS WITH SUBSPACES A BASIS OF THE INTERSECTION AND THE SUM OF SUBSPACES

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

(HCMUT-OISP) SUBSPACES 41 / 41