Problem Sheet 1, Math 104

Topics to revise from MTL101/MTL104

• Fields of the form Z/pZ where p is a prime.
• Vector spaces
• Subspaces

• Span and Linear Independence

• Bases and Dimension of vector spaces

Exercises
1. Determine whether the following assertion are true or false giving brief justifications:
(a) The empty set is a subspace of every vector space.
(b) Any non-zero vector space over R has infinitely many distinct vectors.
(c) The set of all non-invertible matrices in Mn (F) is a subspace.
(d) Let a be a fixed real number. For any x, y, α ∈ R define x ⊕ y = x + y − a and α ⊙ x = αx + a(1 − α). Then, R is a
vector space over itself with respect to ⊕ and ⊙.
(e) Consider the set of real numbers in the open interval (−1, 1). For any x, y ∈ (−1, 1) and for any α ∈ R, define
x+y (1 + x)α − (1 − x)α
x⊕y = and α ⊙ x = . Then, (−1, 1) is a vector space over R with respect to ⊕ and ⊙.
1 + xy (1 + x)α + (1 − x)α
2. Prove or give a counterexample: if U1 , U2 and W are subspaces of V such that

U1 + W = U2 + W,

then U1 = U2 . What about the case U1 ⊕ W = U2 ⊕ W ?

3. Let V be a vector space. Suppose v, w ∈ V . Explain why there exists a unique x ∈ V such that v + 3x = w.
4. Determine whether or not the set n2     
1 0 1 1 1 o
, ,
1 0 1 2 1 1
is linearly independent over Z5 .
5. Suppose u, v ∈ V , a vector space over a field F. If F = R, then show that {u, v} is linearly independent if and only if
{u + v, u − v} is linearly independent. What happens when F = Z2 ?
6. If {u, v, w} is a linearly independent subset of a vector space, show that {u, u + v, u + v + w} is also linearly independent.
 
x −x
7. Let V be the vector space of all 2 × 2 matrices over the field F. Let W1 be the set of matrices of the form and
y z
 
a b
let W2 be the set of matrices of the form .
−a c

(a) Prove that W1 and W2 are subspaces of V .

(b) Is W1 ∪ W2 subspace of V ?

8. Let P = {(a, b, c) | a, b, c ∈ R, a = 2b + 3c}. Prove that P is a subspace of R3 . Find a basis for P . Give a geometric
description of P .
9. If V is a vector space of dimension n over the field Zp , how many elements are in V ?
10. Prove that the real vector space of all continuous real-valued functions on the interval [0, 1] is infinite-dimensional.

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 Problem Sheet 2, Math 104

Topics to revise from MTL101/MTL104

• row reduced echeolon forms, free variables, pivot rows/columns
• Bases and Dimension of vector spaces
• Linear Transformations
• Range, nullspace of a linear transformation, rank-nullity theorem

Exercises
1. In exercise 7 of problem sheet 1, find the dimensions of W1 , W2 , W1 + W2 , and W1 ∩ W2 .
2. Suppose V = R4 and U is a subspace spanned by the vectors
         
1 1 1 1 2
 2  2  4   1  5
 , , , , 
 2  1  2   2  0
−1 1 −4 −1 2

Find the basis of U .

3. Let V is a vector space over F of dimension 5. Suppose U and W are subspaces of V of dimension 3, prove that U ∩ W ̸= 0.
Generalize.
space V over a field F, then m = n.
4. (a) Let U be the subspace of R5 defined by

U = {(x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 ) ∈ R5 : x1 = 3x2 and x3 = 7x4 }.

Find a basis of U .
(b) Extend the basis in part (a) to a basis of R5 .
(c) Find a subspace W of R5 such that R5 = U ⊕ W .
5. (a) Let U = {p ∈ P4 (F) : p(6) = 0}. Find a basis of U .
Here, P4 (F) denotes the set of all polynomials with coefficients in F and degree at most 4.
(b) Extend the basis in part (a) to a basis of P4 (F).
(c) Find a subspace W of P4 (F) such that P4 (F) = U ⊕ V .
6. Suppose V is finite-dimensional and U is a subspace of V such that dim U = dim V . Prove that U = V .
7. Recall: If W1 and W2 are finite-dimensional subspace of a vector space V , then W1 + W2 is also finite-dimensional and

dim(W1 + W2 ) = dim(W1 ) + dim(W2 ) − dim(W1 ∩ W2 ).

You might guess, by analogy with the formula for the number of elements in the union of three subsets of a finite set, that
if U1 , U2 , U3 are subspaces of a finite-dimensional vector space, then

dim(U1 + U2 + U3 ) = dim U1 + dim U2 + dim U3

− dim(U1 ∩ U2 ) − dim(U1 ∩ U3 ) − dim(U2 ∩ U3 )
+ dim(U1 ∩ U2 ∩ U3 ).

Prove this or give a counterexample.

8. Suppose that U and W are subspaces of R8 such that dim U = 3, dim W = 5, and R8 = U + W . Prove that R8 = U ⊕ W .
9. (a) Give an example of a function ϕ : R2 → R such that

ϕ(av) = aϕ(v)

for all a ∈ R and all v ∈ R2 but ϕ is not linear.

(b) Give an example of a function ϕ : C → C such that ϕ(w + z) = ϕ(w) + ϕ(z) for all w, z ∈ C but ϕ is not linear.

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 (c) Suppose b, c ∈ R. Define T : R3 −→ R2 by T (x, y, z) = (2x − 4y + 3z + b, 6x + cxyz). Show that T is linear if and
only if b = c = 0.
(d) Suppose U is a subspace of V with U ̸= V . Suppose S ∈ L(U, W ) and S ̸= {0} (which means that Su ̸= 0 for some
u ∈ U ). Define T : V −→ W by
(
Sv if v ∈ U,
Tv =
0 if v ∈ V and v ∈ / U.

Prove that T is not a linear map on V.

(e) Let V be the vector space of all n × n matrices over the field F, and let B be a fixed n × n matrix. If

T (A) = AB − BA

verify that T is a linear transformation from V into V .

10. (a) Give an example of a linear map T : R4 −→ R4 such that

range T = null T .

(b) Prove that there does not exist a linear map T : R5 −→ R5 such that

null T = range T .

(c) Prove that there does not exist a linear map from F5 to F2 whose null space equals

{(x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 ) ∈ F5 : x1 = 3x2 and x3 = x4 = x5 }.

(d) Describe the range and the null space for the differentiation transformation on P(R). Do the same for the integration
transformation on P(R).

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 Problem Sheet 3, Math 104

Topics to revise from MTL101/MTL104

• Linear transformations, invertibility and isomorphic vector spaces
• Rank-Nullity theorem
• Matrix representation of linear maps and vectors

• Operators and its invertibility

• Product of vector spaces

Exercises
1. Suppose V, W are finite dimensional vector spaces and T ∈ L(V, W ). Recall that null(T ) is a subspace of V and range(T )
is a subspace of W . Is it true that V = null(T ) + range(T ). Is it a direct sum? Give a proof or a counterexample.
2. We proved in class that V ∼
= W when dim V = dim W . Give an example of two vector spaces V, W such that dim V = dim W
and T ∈ L(V, W ) such that T is not an isomorphism.

3. Let V be a finite-dimensional vector space and let T be a linear operator on V. Suppose that rank(T 2 ) = rank(T ). Prove
that the range and null space of T are disjoint, i.e., have only the zero vector in common.
4. Find two linear operators T and U on R2 such that T U = 0 but U T ̸= 0.
5. Suppose V is a vector space and S, T ∈ L(V, V ) are such that range S ⊂ null T . Prove that (ST )2 = 0.

6. Let V be a vector space and T a linear transformation from V into V . Prove that the following two statements about T
are equivalent.
(a) The intersection of the range of T and the null space of T is the zero subspace of V .
(b) If T (T (a)) = 0, then T (a) = 0.

7. Let T be the linear operator on R3 defined by

T (x1 , x2 , x3 ) = (3x1 , x1 − x2 , 2x1 − x2 + x3 ).

Is T invertible? If so, find T −1 .

8. Suppose T ∈ L(U, V ) and S ∈ L(V, W ) are both invertible linear maps. Prove that ST ∈ L(U, W ) is invertible and that
(ST )−1 = T −1 S −1 .
9. Suppose V is finite-dimensional, U is a subspace of V , and S ∈ L(U, V ). Prove there exists an invertible operator T ∈ L(V )
such that T u = Su for every u ∈ U if and only if S is injective.
10. Suppose p ∈ P(R). Prove that there exists a polynomial q ∈ P(R) such that 5q ′′ + 3q ′ = p.

11. Suppose V and W are finite-dimensional and T ∈ L(V, W ). Prove that there exist a basis of V and a basis of W such that
with respect to these bases, all entries of M(T ) are 0 except the entries in row j, column j, equal 1 for 1 ≤ j ≤ dim range(T ).
12. Suppose T is a function from V to W . The graph of T is the subset of V × W defined by

graph of T = {(v, T v) ∈ V × W | v ∈ V }.

Prove that T is a linear map if and only if the graph of T is a subspace of V × W .

13. Give an example of a vector space V and subspaces U1 , U2 of V such that U1 × U2 is isomorphic to U1 + U2 but U1 + U2
is not a direct sum.

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 Problem Sheet 4, Math 104

Topics to revise
• Quotient Spaces
• Dual spaces
• Annilator of subspace, U ◦

Exercises
1. Suppose φ ∈ L(V, F) and φ ̸= 0. Prove that dim V /(null φ) = 1.

2. Suppose U is a subspace of V and v1 + U, . . . , vm + U is a basis of V /U and u1 , . . . , un is a basis of U . Prove that

v1 , . . . , vm , u1 , . . . , un is a basis of V .
3. Explain why every linear functional is either surjective or the zero map.
4. Define T : R3 → R2 by T (x, y, z) = (4x + 5y + 6z, 7x + 8y + 9z). Suppose φ1 , φ2 denotes the dual basis of the standard
basis of R2 and ψ1 , ψ2 , ψ3 denotes the dual basis of the standard basis of R3 .

(a) Describe the linear functionals T ′ (φ1 ) and T ′ (φ2 ).

(b) Write T ′ (φ1 ) and T ′ (φ2 ) as a linear combination of ψ1 , ψ2 , ψ3 .
5. Suppose W is finite-dimensional and T ∈ L(V, W ). Prove that T ′ = 0 if and only if T = 0.

6. Suppose T ∈ L(P5 (R), P5 (R)) and T ′ = span(φ), where φ is the linear functional on P5 (R) defined by φ(p) = p(8). Prove
that range T = {p ∈ P5 (R) | p(8) = 0}.
7. Show that (P(R))′ and R∞ are isomorphic.
8. The double dual space of V , denoted V ′′ , is defined to be the dual space of V ′ . In other words, V ′′ = (V ′ )′ . Define
Λ : V → V ′′ by

(Λv)(φ) = φ(v)

for v ∈ V and φ ∈ V ′ .
(a) Show that Λ is a linear map from V to V ′′ .
(b) Show that if T ∈ L(V ), then T ′′ ◦ Λ = Λ ◦ T , where T ′′ = (T ′ )′ .
(c) Show that if V is finite-dimensional, then Λ is an isomorphism from V onto V ′′ .
9. Suppose U and W are subsets of V with U ⊆ W . Prove that W 0 ⊆ U 0 .
10. Suppose V is finite-dimensional and U is a subspace of V . Show that U = V if and only if U 0 = {0}.

11. Suppose U, W are subspaces of V . Show that (U + W )0 = U 0 ∩ W 0 .

12. Suppose V is finite-dimensional and U and W are subspaces of V . Prove that (U ∩ W )0 = U 0 + W 0 .