Vector Space:

A vector space V is a non-empty set of vectors, on which two operations called addition and
scalar multiplication (real number) are defined, subject to the ten axioms (or rules) listed below.
The axioms must hold for all vectors u , v and w in V and for all real scalars c and d .
1. The sum u  v is in the vector space V (Closure w. r to addition)
2. u  v  v  u (Commutative)
3. (u  v)  w  u  (v  w) (Associative w. r to addition)
4. There exists a zero vector 0 in V, such that 0  u  u (Additive identity)
5. For each u , we can find ‘ u ’ in V, such that u  (u )  0 (Additive inverse)
6. The scalar multiple cu is in the vector space V (Closure w. r to multiplication)
7. c(u  v)  cu  cv (Distributive of multiplication over vector addition)
8. (c  d )u  cu  du
9. c(du )  (cd )u (Associative w. r to multiplication)
10. 1.u  u (Multiplicative identity)

Examples of Vector Space:

(1) The spaces R n , where n  1 , are the premier examples of vector spaces. The geometric
intuition developed for R n will help you understand and visualize many concepts
throughout the chapter.
(2) For n  0 , the set Pn of polynomials of degree at most n consists of all polynomials
of the form
p (t )  a0  a1t  a2t 2  ...  ant n (1)
where, the coefficients a0 , a1 , a2 ,..., an and the variable t are real numbers. The degree
of p is the highest power of t in Equation (1) whose coefficient is not zero. If
p(t )  a0  0 , the degree of p is called the zero polynomial. The zero polynomial is
included in Pn even though its degree for technical reason is not defined.
If P is given by Equation (1) and if q (t )  b0  b1t  ...  bn t n , then the sum p  q is
defined by
( p  q)(t )  p(t )  q(t )
( p  q )(t )  (a0  b0 )  (a1  b1 )t  ...  (an  bn )t n
The scalar multiple cp is the polynomial defined by
(cp )(t )  cp (t )  ca0  (ca1 )t  ...  (can )t n
These definitions satisfy axioms (1) and (6) because p  q and cp are polynomials of
degree less than or equal to n .
Axioms (2), (3) and (7)-(10) follow from properties of the real numbers. Clearly, the
zero polynomial acts as the zero vector in Axiom (4).
Finally, (1) p acts as the negative of p , so axiom (5) is satisfied.
Thus Pn is a vector space.
 (3) Let V be the set of all real-valued function defined on a set D (typically, D is the set
of real numbers or some interval on the real line).
 Functions are added in the usual way: f  g is the function whose value at t in
the domain D is f (t )  g (t ) .
 Similarly, for a scalar c and an f in V , the scalar multiple cf is the function
whose value at t is cf (t ) .
 For instance, if D  R , f (t )  1  sin 2t and g (t )  2  0.5t , then
( f  g )t  3  sin 2t  0.5t and (2 g )(t )  4  t
 Two functions in V are equal if and only if their values are equal for every t in
D.
 Hence the zero vector in V is the function that is identically zero, f (t )  0 for
all t , and the negative of f is (1) f . Axioms 1 and 6 are obviously true, and
the other axioms follow from properties of the real numbers, so V is a vector
space.
Example:

 x  
1. Let V be the first quadrant in the xy -plane, i.e., let V     ; x  0, y  0 
 y  
(a) If u and v are in V , then their entries are non-negative.
Since a sum of non-negative numbers is non-negative, the vector u  v has non-
negative entries.
Thus, u  v is in V .

2
(b) If u    and c  1 , then u is in V but cu is not in V .
2
2. Let W be the union of the first and third quadrant in the xy  plane. That is,
 x  
Let W     ; xy  0
 y  
(a) If u is in W and c is any scalar, is cu in W ? Why?
(b) Find specific vectors u and v in W such that u  v is not in W . This is enough to
show that W is not a vector space.

 x  x   cx 
Ans: (a) If u    is in W , then the vector cu  c      is in W , because
 y  y  cy 
(cx)(cy)  c 2 ( xy )  0 , since xy  0 .

 1  2
(c) Example: If u    and v    , then u and v are in W but u  v is not in W
 7  3 
.
Subspaces:
A subspace of a vector space V is a subset H of V that has three properties:
(a) The zero vector of V is in H .
(b) H is closed under vector addition. That is, for each u and v in H , the sum u  v is in
H.
(c) H is closed under multiplication by scalars. That is, for each u in H and each scalar
c , the vector cu is in H .
Observations:
 Every subspace satisfies all the rules of a vector space. So, every subspace is a vector
space.
 Zero-subspace:
The set H  {0} is a subspace of any vector space. This is called the trivial subspace.

Determine Subspace:

Question: Is the following set a subspace of R 3 ?

 c1  
  
H   0  : c1 , c2  R 
 c  
 2  
 c1  
  
Solution: We have H   0  : c1 , c2  R  .
 c  
 2  
(i) H contains the zero vector as we can take c1  c2  0 .
 a1  b1   a1  b1 
(ii) For all a1 , a2 , b1 , b2  R , we have 0   0    0  . This is in H. So,
 a2  b2   a2  b1 
H is closed under addition.
 a1   ca1 
(iii) For any scalar c , we have c 0    0  . This is also in H . So, H is
 a2   ca2 
closed under scalar multiplication.
Since, all the three properties are satisfied. Hence, H is a subspace.

Question: Is the following set a subspace of R 3 :

  7c1  
  
H    4c1  : c1  R 
  2c  
 1  
Solution: (i) H contains the zero vector for c1  0 .
  7 a1   7b1   7 a1  7b1   7(a1  b1 ) 
(ii) For all a1 , b1  R , we have  4a1    4b1    4a1  4b1    4(a1  b1 ) 
 2a1   2b1   2a1  2b1   2(a1  b1 ) 
Which is in H. So, H is closed under addition.
 7 a1   7(ca1 ) 
(iv) For any scalar c , we have c  4a1    4(ca1 )  .
 2a1   2(ca1 ) 
Which is in H. So, H is closed under scalar multiplication.
Hence, H is a subspace of R 3 .
Question: Determine if the following set a subspace of R 3 :
  c1  
  
H    4  : c1  R 
  c  
 1  
Solution: H does not contain the zero vector, even if we consider c1  0 .
Therefore, first property is not satisfied.
Hence, H is not a subspace of R 3 .

Question: Is the following set a subspace of R 3 :

 c1  
H     : c1 , c2  R 
 c2  
c  c 
Solutions: A vector  1   R 2 , so  1   R 3 . Hence, H is not a subspace of R 3 .
c2  c2 

Observation:

 The vector space R 2 is not a subspace of R 3 because R 2 is not even a subset of R 3 .

 s  
  
 The set H   t  : s, t  R  is a subset of R 3 that looks and acts like R 2 , although it
 0  
  
is logically distinct from R 2 .

Question: Let H be the set of points inside and on the unit circle in the xy-plane, that is
 x  
H     : x 2  y 2  1 . Find a specific example to show that H is not a subspace of R 2 .
 y  

0.5 1/ 2   2 
Solution: If u    and c  4 , then u is in H but cu is not in H, because 4u  4   
0.5 1/ 2   2 
.
 Since, 22  2 2  8 is not less than equal to 1. H is not closed under scalar
multiplication. Thus, H is not a subspace of R 2 .

Question: Given v1 and v2 in a vector space V , let H  Span{v1 , v2 } . Show that H is a

subspace of V.
Solution: (i) We can make 0.v1  0.v2  0 , therefore the zero vector is in H.

(ii) To show that H is closed under vector addition:

Let u, v  H and write u  c1v1  c2 v2 , v  c3v1  c4v2 .

Now, u  v  (c1v1  c2 v2 )  (c3v1  c4v2 )  (c1  c2 )v1  (c3  c4 )v2

This implies that, u  v is in H.

(iii) Let c is any scalar, then cu  c(c1v1  c2 v2 )  (cc1 )v1  (cc2 )v2 . Therefore, cu
is in H and is closed under scalar multiplication.
Thus, H is a subspace of V.

Theorem: If v1 , v2 ,..., vm are in a vector space V, then Span{v1 , v2 ,..., vm } is a subspace of V.

Question: Let H be the set of all vectors of the form (a  3b, b  a, a, b) , where a and b
are arbitrary scalars. That is, let H  {(a  3b, b  a, a, b) : a , b  R} . Show that H is a
subspace of R 4 .
Solution: The given vector in H can be written as follows:

 a  3b   1  3 
b  a   1  
   a   b 1
 a   1  0
     
 b   0  1

 a  3b   1  3 
b  a   1   
Or    av1  bv2 , where v1    and v2   1  .
 a   1  0
     
 b   0  1

This shows that H  Span{v1 , v2 } . Thus, H is a subspace of R 4 .