MATH 304

Linear Algebra
Lecture 15:
Kernel and range.
General linear equation.
Marix transformations.
Linear transformation
Definition. Given vector spaces V1 and V2 , a
mapping L : V1 → V2 is linear if
L(x + y) = L(x) + L(y),
L(r x) = rL(x)
for any x, y ∈ V1 and r ∈ R.
Basic properties of linear mappings:
• L(r1 v1 + · · · + rk vk ) = r1 L(v1 ) + · · · + rk L(vk )
for all k ≥ 1, v1 , . . . , vk ∈ V1 , and r1 , . . . , rk ∈ R.
• L(01 ) = 02 , where 01 and 02 are zero vectors in
V1 and V2 , respectively.
• L(−v) = −L(v) for any v ∈ V1 .
Examples of linear mappings
• Scaling L : V → V , L(v) = sv, where s ∈ R.
L(x + y) = s(x + y) = sx + sy = L(x) + L(y),
L(r x) = s(r x) = r (sx) = rL(x).

• Dot product with a fixed vector

ℓ : Rn → R, ℓ(v) = v · v0 , where v0 ∈ Rn .
ℓ(x + y) = (x + y) · v0 = x · v0 + y · v0 = ℓ(x) + ℓ(y),
ℓ(r x) = (r x) · v0 = r (x · v0 ) = r ℓ(x).

• Cross product with a fixed vector

L : R3 → R3 , L(v) = v × v0 , where v0 ∈ R3 .
• Multiplication by a fixed matrix
L : Rn → Rm , L(v) = Av, where A is an m×n
matrix and all vectors are column vectors.
Linear mappings of functional vector spaces

• Evaluation at a fixed point

ℓ : F (R) → R, ℓ(f ) = f (a), where a ∈ R.
• Multiplication by a fixed function
L : F (R) → F (R), L(f ) = gf , where g ∈ F (R).
• Differentiation D : C 1 (R) → C (R), L(f ) = f ′ .
D(f + g ) = (f + g )′ = f ′ + g ′ = D(f ) + D(g ),
D(rf ) = (rf )′ = rf ′ = rD(f ).

• Integration over a finite

Z b interval
ℓ : C (R) → R, ℓ(f ) = f (x) dx, where
a
a, b ∈ R, a < b.
Properties of linear mappings

• If a linear mapping L : V → W is invertible then

the inverse mapping L−1 : W → V is also linear.

• If L : V → W and M : W → X are linear

mappings then the composition M ◦ L : V → X is
also linear.

• If L1 : V → W and L2 : V → W are linear

mappings then the sum L1 + L2 is also linear.
Linear differential operators

• an ordinary differential operator

∞ ∞ d2 d
L : C (R) → C (R), L = g0 2 + g1 + g2 ,
dx dx
where g0 , g1 , g2 are smooth functions on R.
That is, L(f ) = g0 f ′′ + g1 f ′ + g2 f .

• Laplace’s operator ∆ : C ∞ (R2 ) → C ∞ (R2 ),

∂ 2f ∂ 2f
∆f = 2 + 2
∂x ∂y
(a.k.a. the Laplacian; also denoted by ∇2 ).
Range and kernel

Let V , W be vector spaces and L : V → W be a

linear mapping.
Definition. The range (or image) of L is the set
of all vectors w ∈ W such that w = L(v) for some
v ∈ V . The range of L is denoted L(V ).
The kernel of L, denoted ker L, is the set of all
vectors v ∈ V such that L(v) = 0.

Theorem (i) The range of L is a subspace of W .

(ii) The kernel of L is a subspace of V .
     
x 1 0 −1 x
3 3
Example. L : R → R , L y = 1 2 −1
     y .
z 1 0 −1 z

The kernel ker L is the nullspace of the matrix.

       
x 1 0 −1
L y  = x 1 + y 2 + z −1
z 1 0 −1

The range f (R3 ) is the column space of the matrix.

     
x 1 0 −1 x
3 3
Example. L : R → R , L y  = 1 2 −1 y .
z 1 0 −1 z

The range of L is spanned by vectors (1, 1, 1), (0, 2, 0), and

(−1, −1, −1). It follows that L(R3 ) is the plane spanned by
(1, 1, 1) and (0, 1, 0).
To find ker L, we apply row reduction to the matrix:
     
1 0 −1 1 0 −1 1 0 −1
1 2 −1 → 0 2
  0 → 0
  1 0
1 0 −1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hence (x, y , z) ∈ ker L if x − z = y = 0.
It follows that ker L is the line spanned by (1, 0, 1).
More examples
f : M2 (R) → M2 (R), f (A) = A + AT .
   
a b 2a b + c
f = .
c d b + c 2d
ker f is the subspace of anti-symmetric matrices, the
range of f is the subspace of symmetric matrices.
 
0 1
g : M2 (R) → M2 (R), g (A) =  A.
0 0
   
a b c d
g = .
c d 0 0
The range of g is the subspace of matrices with the
zero second row, ker g is the same as the range
=⇒ g (g (A)) = O.
General linear equations
Definition. A linear equation is an equation of the form
L(x) = b,
where L : V → W is a linear mapping, b is a given vector
from W , and x is an unknown vector from V .
The range of L is the set of all vectors b ∈ W such that the
equation L(x) = b has a solution.
The kernel of L is the solution set of the homogeneous linear
equation L(x) = 0.
Theorem If the linear equation L(x) = b is solvable then the
general solution is
x0 + t1 v1 + · · · + tk vk ,
where x0 is a particular solution, v1 , . . . , vk is a basis for the
kernel of L, and t1 , . . . , tk are arbitrary scalars.
 
x + y + z = 4,
Example.
x + 2y = 3.
   
x   x
1 1 1  
L : R3 → R2 , Ly  = y .
1 2 0
z z
 
4
Linear equation: L(x) = b, where b = .
3
     
1 1 1 4 1 1 1 4 1 0 2 5
→ →
1 2 0 3 0 1 −1 −1 0 1 −1 −1
 
x + 2z = 5 x = 5 − 2z
⇐⇒
y − z = −1 y = −1 + z
(x, y , z) = (5 − 2t, −1 + t, t) = (5, −1, 0) + t(−2, 1, 1).
Example. u ′′ (x) + u(x) = e 2x .
Linear operator L : C 2 (R) → C (R), Lu = u ′′ + u.
Linear equation: Lu = b, where b(x) = e 2x .
It can be shown that the range of L is the entire
space C (R) while the kernel of L is spanned by the
functions sin x and cos x.
Particular solution: u0 = 51 e 2x .
Thus the general solution is
u(x) = 15 e 2x + t1 sin x + t2 cos x.
Matrix transformations

Any m×n matrix A gives rise to a transformation

L : Rn → Rm given by L(x) = Ax, where x ∈ Rn
and L(x) ∈ Rm are regarded as column vectors.
This transformation is linear.
    
x 1 0 2 x
Example. L y  = 3 4 7y .
z 0 5 8 z
Let e1 = (1, 0, 0), e2 = (0, 1, 0), e3 = (0, 0, 1) be the
standard basis for R3 . We have that L(e1 ) = (1, 3, 0),
L(e2 ) = (0, 4, 5), L(e3 ) = (2, 7, 8). Thus L(e1 ), L(e2 ), L(e3 )
are columns of the matrix.
Problem. Find a linear mapping L : R3 → R2
such that L(e1 ) = (1, 1), L(e2 ) = (0, −2),
L(e3 ) = (3, 0), where e1 , e2 , e3 is the standard
basis for R3 .
L(x, y , z) = L(xe1 + y e2 + ze3 )
= xL(e1 ) + yL(e2 ) + zL(e3 )
= x(1, 1) + y (0, −2) + z(3, 0) = (x + 3z, x − 2y )
 
    x
x + 3z 1 0 3  
L(x, y , z) = = y
x − 2y 1 −2 0
z
Columns of the matrix are vectors L(e1 ), L(e2 ), L(e3 ).
Theorem Suppose L : Rn → Rm is a linear map. Then
there exists an m×n matrix A such that L(x) = Ax for all
x ∈ Rn . Columns of A are vectors L(e1 ), L(e2 ), . . . , L(en ),
where e1 , e2 , . . . , en is the standard basis for Rn .

y1 a11 a12 . . . a1n x1

    
 y2   a21 a22 . . . a2n  x2 
y = Ax ⇐⇒   ...  =  ...
  .. ... .. .
 .. 
. . 
ym am1 am2 . . . amn xn

y1 a11 a12 a1n

       
 y2  a  a  a 
⇐⇒  .  = x1  21
.  + x2  22
.  + · · · + xn  2n
 ..   ..   ..   ... 


ym am1 am2 amn

Change of coordinates
Let V be a vector space.
Let v1 , v2 , . . . , vn be a basis for V and g1 : V → Rn be the
coordinate mapping corresponding to this basis.
Let u1 , u2 , . . . , un be another basis for V and g2 : V → Rn
be the coordinate mapping corresponding to this basis.
V
g1 g2
ւ ց
Rn −→ Rn

The composition g2 ◦g1−1 is a linear mapping of Rn to itself.

It is represented as x 7→ Ux, where U is an n×n matrix.
U is called the transition matrix from v1 , v2 . . . , vn to
u1 , u2 . . . , un . Columns of U are coordinates of the vectors
v1 , v2 , . . . , vn with respect to the basis u1 , u2 , . . . , un .
Matrix of a linear transformation
Let V , W be vector spaces and f : V → W be a linear map.
Let v1 , v2 , . . . , vn be a basis for V and g1 : V → Rn be the
coordinate mapping corresponding to this basis.
Let w1 , w2 , . . . , wm be a basis for W and g2 : W → Rm
be the coordinate mapping corresponding to this basis.
f
V −→ W

g1 y yg2
 

Rn −→ Rm
The composition g2 ◦f ◦g1−1 is a linear mapping of Rn to Rm .
It is represented as x 7→ Ax, where A is an m×n matrix.
A is called the matrix of f with respect to bases v1 , . . . , vn
and w1 , . . . , wm . Columns of A are coordinates of vectors
f (v1 ), . . . , f (vn ) with respect to the basis w1 , . . . , wm .