Eigenvectors belonging to distinct eigenvalues are linearly independent. Under the hypothesis they therefore form a basis . For every ,
because . A linear map that vanishes on a basis is zero, hence
This proves the Cayley-Hamilton theorem in the distinct-eigenvalue case.
A basis of a vector space is a family of vectors that is both linearly independent and a spanning set of .
Write the given finite basis as . First, any other basis must also be finite. Each is a finite linear combination of elements of , so the union of the finitely many elements of occurring in these expressions is finite. Since spans every , it spans . If some existed, then would lie in the span of , contradicting the linear independence of . Hence ; write .
It remains to prove the elementary Steinitz exchange lemma directly. If independent vectors lie in the span of , express in terms of the . Some coefficient is nonzero, so the corresponding can be solved for in terms of and the other ; replacing it by preserves the span. Inductively, after replacing of the by , the expression for must have a nonzero coefficient on one of the unreplaced , since otherwise would be a linear combination of . That can again be replaced. There are only original vectors to replace, so .
Apply this argument first to the independent family and the spanning family to obtain , and then with the two bases interchanged to obtain . Therefore
Let . Choose a basis of the intersection of vector subspaces, extend it to a basis of , and independently extend it to a basis of . The combined list
spans the sum of vector subspaces . It is also linearly independent: a vanishing linear combination says that a combination of the belongs to , and its expression in the chosen basis of forces all its coefficients to vanish; the coefficients of the then vanish in the same way. This proves the dimension formula for a sum of subspaces
Parametrize the two linear subspaces as
Putting a vector of in first forces its fourth coordinate to vanish; the remaining defining equation is then automatic. Thus
and the dimension formula gives .
The linear functional
vanishes on each displayed generator of and . Its kernel is three-dimensional because , so the inclusion between two three-dimensional subspaces is equality.
The rank of a matrix is the dimension of its column space, equivalently the dimension of the image of a linear map represented by the matrix. For , the rank-nullity theorem gives
An injective endomorphism of a finite-dimensional vector space is surjective, hence invertible. By the adjugate matrix identity
is invertible when ; conversely, multiplicativity of the determinant shows that an invertible has nonzero determinant. Therefore
Let be the matrix unit with its only nonzero entry at . The following matrices are all nonsingular:
Indeed, is an elementary shear when , while is diagonal with one diagonal entry equal to two. Their linear span contains every except initially , because , and it then contains
Thus spans the -dimensional space and, having members, is a basis. This also covers , when .
Now let be a nonsingular zero-one matrix. If it had fewer than zero entries, at least two rows would contain no zero at all. Those two rows would both be the all-one row, contradicting linear independence. Hence every such matrix has at most
ones. The bound is attained. Let be the all-one matrix and set
where there are initial diagonal ones. If and , the first row equations give , while the last gives . Hence every , so is nonsingular and has exactly ones. Therefore
Suppose
throughout the punctured neighbourhood, and let be the least index with . Part (i) implies for every . Dividing by and taking therefore gives
a contradiction. Hence every vanishes and are linearly independent.
We use induction on . Suppose
Applying gives
By induction, every for . The eigenvalues are distinct, so for , and the original relation then gives . Thus eigenvectors with distinct eigenvalues are linearly independent.
A vector is a basic feasible solution when
and the columns for which are linearly independent. Equivalently, after extending those columns to a basis of the column space of , one sets all nonbasic variables to zero and solves for the basic variables, obtaining a nonnegative vector.
Substitution of
and integration by parts give
Thus take
and require the endpoint term to vanish. Infinite contour ends must lie in sectors where , namely sectors centred on the positive and negative real and imaginary axes, each of angular width .
Let the common final segment be the positive real ray from to , and choose the initial rays from , , and to . Call the resulting contours . Put
Since , for the three rows are
Consequently
Using the Gamma function reflection identity,
The initial-data vectors are therefore linearly independent, so the three contour integrals are linearly independent solutions.
Part (b) gives paths with the same endpoint but integral values
Applying the local inverse and then continuing it shows that
Since , the first period is real and the second is purely imaginary, so they are linearly independent over . Hence is an elliptic function with two periods
Indeed, it is the Jacobi elliptic sine, and these generators give its period lattice.