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Vector spaces, span and linear independence

The axioms, spanning sets, independence, basis and dimension.

A vector space is a set closed under addition and scaling. Vectors are independent when no combination cancels; a basis is an independent spanning set, and every basis has the same size: the dimension. Picture it: two vectors spanning a plane unless they are parallel, the 3D view of the column vectors. Think it: rank is the dimension of the column space; rank + nullity = number of columns.

Àwọn ààtò àwọn ìṣàmúlò-ètò · rank of [[1,2],[2,4]]

Rank of [[1,2],[2,4]]

\left[\begin{matrix}1 & 2\\2 & 4\end{matrix}\right]

Àwọn ìṣàmúlò-ètò

  1. \left[\begin{matrix}1 & 2\\2 & 4\end{matrix}\right]

    Row-reduce; the rank is the number of non-zero rows (pivots).

  2. \left[\begin{matrix}1 & 2\\0 & 0\end{matrix}\right]

    R2 ← R2 − (2)·R1 to clear column 1.

  3. \operatorname{rank} A = 1

Fi àwọn àgbèwọlé hàn
\operatorname{rank} A = 1

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Bii o ṣe le: Vector spaces, span and linear independence

  1. Put the vectors as columns of a matrix and row-reduce.
  2. Pivot columns are a basis of the span; the number of pivots is the rank.
  3. Free columns give the null space: the dependencies among the vectors.

Àwọn Àtòjọ-ẹ̀yàn

What does a determinant mean geometrically?

It is the factor by which the matrix scales area (2×2) or volume (3×3), with a negative sign if orientation flips. Zero means the matrix flattens space and cannot be undone.

What is an eigenvector?

A direction the matrix does not turn: it only stretches it by the eigenvalue. Along eigenvectors a complicated matrix acts like multiplication by a number.

Why is matrix multiplication not commutative?

Because a matrix is a transformation and AB means "do B, then A". Rotating then reflecting is not the same as reflecting then rotating.

Diẹ̀ nínú Linear Algebra