Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2005 / Calculus, linear algebra, discrete mathematics, logic and proof, and models of computation / 1

The image of a linear map and kernel of a linear map areA linear map sends zero to zero, since $T(0)=T(0+0)=T(0)+T(0)$. Thus both displayed sets contain zero. If $w_1=T(v_1)$ and $w_2=T(v_2)$ belong to the image of a linear map, then for any real scalars $a,b$,If $v_1,v_2$ belong to the kernel of a linear map, thenso $a{v}_1+b{v}_2\in \ker T$. Containing zero and being closed under linear combinations is the vector subspace criterion. Hence the image of a linear map is a vector subspace of $W$, and the kernel of a linear map is a vector subspace of $V$.

The rank-nullity theorem says that for a linear map $T:V\to W$ with finite-dimensional domain of a function $V$,Take a basis $k_1,\dots ,k_r$ of the kernel of a linear map and use basis extension to obtain a basis $k_1,\dots ,k_r,u_1,\dots ,u_s$ of $V$. We show that $T(u_1),\dots ,T(u_s)$ is a basis of the image of a linear map.

Every $v\in V$ is a linear combination of the extended basis, and its $k_i$ terms vanish under $T$. Therefore $T(v)$ is a linear combination of the $T(u_j)$, proving the required linear span property. For linear independence, suppose ${\sum }_j{b}_{j}T(u_j)=0$. Then ${\sum }_j{b}_j{u}_j\in \ker T$, so ${\sum }_j{b}_j{u}_j={\sum }_i{a}_i{k}_i$ for some real scalars $a_i$. The extended basis is linearly independent, forcing every $a_i$ and $b_j$ to be zero. Thus the image of a linear map has dimension $s$, the kernel of a linear map has dimension $r$, and $\dim V=r+s$ proves the result.

A basis provides unique coordinates. DefineThe uniqueness of the coordinates makes this a well-defined function. Adding coordinates and multiplying them by a real scalar shows directly that $\alpha (au+bw)=a\alpha (u)+b\alpha (w)$, so it is a linear map. Substituting $e_i$ gives $\alpha (e_i)=v_i$.

Conversely, every linear map with those three values must send ${\sum }_i{a}_i{e}_i$ to ${\sum }_i{a}_i{v}_i$, by preservation of linear combinations. This determines its value on every element of $V$, proving uniqueness. No linear independence of $v_1,v_2,v_3$ is needed.

Here $v_3=2v_1-v_2$, so the image of a linear map is the linear span of $v_1,v_2$. These two vectors are linearly independent: if $a{v}_1+b{v}_2=0$, the $e_1$ and $e_2$ coordinates give $a+b=0$ and $a-b=0$, hence $a=b=0$. Consequently the rank of a linear map is two. By the rank-nullity theorem, the nullity is $3-2=1$:More explicitly, the relation $-2v_1+v_2+v_3=0$ gives the kernel of a linear map