Row lattice of an integer matrix Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-11-05
The row lattice of an integer matrix with rows is the set of their integer linear combinations. It is an Euclidean lattice in its real span, since it is contained in the discrete set and spans that real vector space. For a nonsingular two-by-two integer matrix, the row Hermite normal form in rank two gives a canonical basis and proves that its index in is the absolute value of its determinant.
Row rank Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-18
The row rank of a matrix is the dimension of the vector space spanned by its rows. Elementary row operations preserve this row space; multiplication on the right by an invertible matrix preserves all linear relations among the rows.
To see why row rank equals column rank, write a reduced row echelon form as , where is a product of elementary matrices and is an invertible matrix. Reversibility of the row operations gives equal row spaces for and . Also if and only if , so the columns have exactly the same linear relations. If has nonzero rows, its pivot columns are the first standard basis vectors of and span its column space. Its nonzero rows are linearly independent, since their matrix entries in the pivot positions form an identity matrix. Both dimensions therefore equal , and both counts transfer back to .
Scalar Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
A scalar is an element of the field over which a vector space is defined.
Scalar action obstructs a cyclic module generator Created 2026-10-31 Updated 2026-11-05
If an algebra acts on a vector space only by scalar multiples of the identity, every vector generates at most a one-dimensional submodule. A higher-dimensional such module is therefore not cyclic. For example upper triangular -by- matrices act by the first diagonal entry on their first-row ideal. For this ideal is a noncyclic submodule of the cyclic regular module. Thus a submodule of a cyclic module need not be cyclic, even over a finite-dimensional algebra.
Scalar multiplication Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Scalar multiplication is the vector space operation taking a scalar and a vector to a vector.
Schur functor Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-11-05
Over the complex numbers, for a partition of an integer , applying a Young symmetrizer of that shape to the tensor power of each vector space gives a Schur functor. The construction respects linear maps because their tensor powers commute with place permutations. For single rows it gives symmetric powers, and for single columns exterior powers.
Schur module 2026-10-07
A Schur module is the value of a Schur functor on a vector space. Over the complex numbers it is either zero or an irreducible polynomial representation of the general linear group. Its character is the Schur polynomial in the eigenvalues, and its highest weight is padded with zeros.
Section of a vector bundle Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-14
This is a section of a fiber bundle whose fibers are vector spaces.
A section of a vector bundle is a map satisfying .
Semidirect product of a Lie algebra and a module Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
For a Lie algebra representation of on , the semidirect product is the vector space with bracket
The subspace is an abelian ideal of a Lie algebra.
Semidirect product of Lie algebras Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-11-05
If is a Lie algebra homomorphism into the derivations of a Lie algebra, the semidirect product has underlying vector space and bracket . The homomorphism and derivation identities ensure the Jacobi identity. The first factor is an ideal; the second is a subalgebra whose action records the twisting. The diamond Lie algebra arises by letting a one-dimensional algebra act on a Heisenberg Lie algebra.
// Target: linear-algebra.bigb
Seminorm Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-14
A seminorm on a real or complex vector space is a finite-valued function satisfying absolute homogeneity and the triangle inequality:
In particular and . A seminorm is a norm exactly when implies : this is the extra definiteness of a norm axiom. The zero function is a valid seminorm. The missing definiteness is useful when a measurement deliberately ignores some directions, such as an individual coordinate or the constant term of a function whose derivative is measured.
For example, on the function is a seminorm that vanishes on every constant function. Adding the value measurement gives the norm : if , the fundamental theorem of calculus gives . A family of such partial measurements defines a seminorm topology.
Seminorm topology 2026-10-14
Given a nonempty family of finite-valued seminorms on a real or complex vector space , its seminorm topology has basic open zero neighbourhoods
Their translates form a basis of a topology. Only finite intersections are required: an infinite intersection might impose a stronger topology. Equivalently, put ; then is a seminorm and . See Günther Hörmann, Advanced Functional Analysis, section 4, neighbourhood systems from seminorms for the general construction.
Each defining seminorm is continuous, since . A sequence satisfies precisely when for every ; the same criterion holds for nets. Finitely many measurements can each meet a prescribed tolerance after a common index.
The seminorm axioms also establish the required joint continuity of vector addition and scalar multiplication:
For a basic neighbourhood, apply these estimates to its finitely many seminorms; near the absolute value is bounded. This gives a locally convex space even when some directions are invisible to every measurement.
If , every vector splits as in . On these summands is respectively zero and the identity. Its matrix in an adapted basis is therefore , where is its rank of a linear map. Two idempotent linear maps on the same finite-dimensional vector space are similar matrices exactly when their ranks agree.
Let be a singular endomorphism of a finite-dimensional vector space. Choose and a nonzero linear functional vanishing on , possible because that image of a linear map is proper. Then is a nonzero rank-one endomorphism with .
Smooth representation of a locally profinite group Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-11-05
A complex group representation is smooth when every vector is fixed by some compact-open subgroup. Equivalently each vector's stabilizer is open. Smoothness is local constancy of orbit maps with the vector space regarded discretely, not ordinary continuity into a finite-dimensional complex topology.
The solutions of a homogeneous linear differential equation on a common domain form a vector space. For a regular scalar equation of order , prescribing the first initial data at an ordinary point gives an isomorphism of this solution space with the scalar field to the power .
Spanning set Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-11-05
Spectrum of a bounded operator Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be a Banach space over the complex numbers, and let be a bounded linear operator defined on all of . Its spectrum consists of those for which has no everywhere-defined bounded inverse. Its complement is the resolvent set of an operator . By the bounded inverse theorem, a bijective automatically has a bounded inverse. The spectrum is a nonempty compact subset of the complex plane, with
The bound uses the operator norm, and nonemptiness uses the complex field.[ref] For a real linear operator, complex spectral values are understood by extending it to a complex vector space; restricting to the real field can give an empty set.
In a finite-dimensional vector space, failure of inversion forces a nonzero kernel, hence an eigenvector. An infinite-dimensional vector space allows an injective shifted linear operator that cannot solve every equation . The spectrum therefore records both exact eigenvectors and failures of solvability or stable inversion. Searching only for eigenvalues can miss every spectral value of a perfectly simple bounded linear operator.
Consider the multiplication operator on the complex L2 space , with Lebesgue measure:
Its operator norm is one. The inequality gives the upper bound; unit vectors concentrated near approach it. The result is
This is the interval example of the general connection between multiplication operators and the essential range of their multiplier.[ref] Indeed, an eigenfunction would satisfy almost everywhere. It vanishes except possibly on the singleton , a null set; such a function is the zero vector in L2 space. Concentrating at one point cannot produce a nonzero L2 function.
For , the inverse is completely explicit:
The distance to a set is positive, so the inverse multiplier is bounded. Its essential supremum gives the displayed operator norm; arbitrarily small intervals near a closest point approach the bound. Our resolvent of an operator uses , the negative of this inverse, with the same operator norm. For , , and , the inverse norms are respectively , , and . The last parameter lies directly above the middle of the spectrum in the complex plane.
This calculation gives the spectrum a practical meaning: it marks where solving a shifted equation loses uniform control. At , the largest amplification of an input error is . Changing from to increases that factor from ten to one hundred. The equation remains uniquely solvable for each nonzero , but its sensitivity grows as the parameter approaches the spectrum.
Figure 1.
An interval without eigenvectors and a diagonal spectrum accumulating at zero
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To see directly why every belongs to the spectrum, choose and define a clipped interval and a normalized indicator function:
Its L2 norm is exactly one, including at both endpoints. On its support, , giving
Thus any choice produces approximate eigenvectors. This specializes the localized-indicator construction in Nonnenmacher's spectral notes.[ref] A hypothetical bounded inverse would imply , impossible for arbitrarily small .
For an interior point with , and the residual is exactly . At or , and the same residual formula holds, but the amplitude is rather than . At , taking gives amplitudes approximately and residuals . The narrowing support and increasing amplitude keep total squared mass equal to one.
For every , the continuous spectrum description is also concrete. Any L2 function can be approximated in L2 norm by its truncations to . Each truncation lies in the range of , since division there is bounded. The range is therefore dense. However, the constant function has no L2 function preimage: is not square-integrable, including at the endpoints.
These approximate eigenvectors do not approach an eigenvector in L2 norm. Any possible limit would have L2 norm one and satisfy by continuity, contradicting the empty point spectrum. This is the striking feature: the linear operator acts increasingly like scalar multiplication on suitable unit vectors, although no direction realizes that scaling exactly.
Figure 2.
Unit L2 vectors concentrate while their spectral residual tends to zero
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A complementary example is the diagonal operator on sequence space on complex l2 sequence space, with . The coordinate unit vectors satisfy , so
Zero is not an eigenvalue, since forces every coordinate to vanish. Nevertheless : these are approximate eigenvectors at zero. More concretely, belongs to l2 sequence space, but would require for all , which does not. Outside the displayed closed set, division by is uniformly bounded, proving that no further spectral values occur. Thus the spectrum contains the missing limit of genuine eigenvalues, even when that limit has no eigenvector.
If , let act on itself by multiplication and let the extra generator act by . Its th power is multiplication by , and these operators give the cyclic algebra as . Conversely, if the algebra is a matrix algebra on an -dimensional vector space, its embedded degree- field makes that space one-dimensional over . The extra generator is then in an -basis, so its th power forces .