Annihilator of a vector subspace ($U^{\circ }=\{\phi \in V^{\ast }:\phi {|}_U=0\}$)

For a vector subspace $U\le V$,In finite dimension, $\dim U^{\circ }=\dim V-\dim U$.

An annihilator of a vector subspace collects the linear functionals that ignore every input from that vector subspace. For $U=\mathrm{span}\{(1,2)\}\subseteq {\mathbb{R}}^2$, a linear functional $\phi (x,y)=ax+by$ vanishes on $U$ exactly when $a+2b=0$. Hence $U^{\circ }$ is the one-dimensional span of $(x,y)\mapsto 2x-y$. The zero level set in the linear functional diagram is precisely $U$.

For a vector subspace $U$ of a finite-dimensional vector space $V$, its annihilator of a vector subspace $U^0\subseteq V^{\ast }$ determines $U$ exactly: $U={\bigcap }_{f\in U^0}\ker f$. Indeed, a basis of $U$ can be extended to one of $V$. If $v\notin U$, include $v$ among the added basis vectors and define a linear functional taking value one at $v$ and zero on all the other basis vectors. This functional vanishes on $U$ but not at $v$, excluding every outside vector from the intersection.

It suffices to intersect the kernels of any basis $g_1,\dots ,g_k$ of $U^0$: every other annihilating functional is their linear combination. The dual basis for a basis of $V$ extending a basis of $U$ shows $k=\dim V-\dim U$. If $U=V$, the empty intersection is $V$. This translates a subspace description by spanning vectors into an exact description by independent linear equations.

For a linear map $T:V\to V$, an invariant subspace $U$ has an annihilator of a vector subspace $U^0$ invariant under the dual map $T^{\prime }$. Indeed, for $\phi \in U^0$ and $u\in U$,For a finite-dimensional vector space, the converse also holds. If $T^{\prime }(U^0)\subseteq U^0$, every $\phi \in U^0$ vanishes on $Tu$ for each $u\in U$. The dual basis description of $U^0$ shows that the common zero set of its linear functionals is exactly $U$, so $Tu\in U$. ThusThe dimension identity $\dim U^0=\dim V-\dim U$ exchanges a one-dimensional invariant subspace with an invariant hyperplane in the dual space.