MATH 2140 Part A: Linear Algebra Lecture 1

Unit 1. Preliminaries
OBJECTIVES:

On completion of this study unit you will be able to: have basic knowledge on vectors in 2 and 3 dimensional spaces, perform basic vector operations, find length of vector, unit vector, angle between vectors, dot and cross products; solve systems of linear equations; determine whether a given homogeneous system has non-trivial solutions; reduce a given matrix to row echelon form using elementary row operations; determine the invertibility and find the inverse of a square matrix.

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1. Vectors of 2 or 3 dimensions
OBJECTIVE: Position vector, vector between two points, Basic vector operations, length of vector, unit vector Vectors are quantities having both magnitude and direction, such as force, acceleration or upper case letters We denote vectors by lower case letters such as and such as , , . A vector can be specified either by, for example, 3 4 2 or 3 4 2 or by 3, 4, 2 The length of , , is The unit vector in the direction of , , is
,,

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2. Matrices
Matrix notation and operations Matrices are denoted by capital letter , , , Operations , , , or , Elementary row operations: multiply a row by a non-zero number interchange of two rows Add a multiple of one row to another row Echelon form 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

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Reduce to echelon form:

1 2 1 0 2 1

0 1 2 2 1 1 0 2 22 3 3 0

2 0 2 1 1 4

2 3 1 2 0 22 3 3 1 2 0 0 1 4 0 1 4 0 0 7 0 2 1 3/7 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 43 3 1 4 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 1

1 22 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

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Derive rank and invertibility from echelon form 1 0 From the echelon form of the above example 0 1 0 0 0 0 , we obtain 1

rank 3 (the number of non-zero rows in the echelon form) is invertible (A square matrix is invertible iff (`iff means `if and only if in mathematics) it has full rank)

Finding inverse (if invertible) If is reduced to | through elementary row operations, then

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 1 4 2 Example. Find the inverse of 2 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 2 | 1 0 2 0 1 | 0 1 1 1 1 | 0 0 22 1 1 1 0 22 3 3 0 3 2 2 1 0 0 1 2 1 3 2 5 0 2 1 0 1 3 3 1 4 0 0 2 1 23 2 2 0 5 0 | 1 2 1 | 0 1 1 | 1 2 4 2 3 1 0 4 5 0 1 3 0 0 0 | 1 0 | 1 1 | 2 2 3 5 4 5 8 2 | 1 0 1 | 0 1 3 | 1 0 0 2 1

0 0 | 1 2 1 0 | 1 3 1 1 | 1 2 4 5 8

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Solving systems of linear equations

Given linear system Its augmented matrix is | | | |

The system can be solved by reducing the augmented matrix to echelon form, then checking consistency, and finding the solutions by backward substitution (if the system is consistent).

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Example. Solve the system of linear equations given by 2 1 3 5 0 2 5 8 0 Solution. 1 2 1 | 1 3 5 | 2 5 8 | 1 2 1 1 3 5 3 22 3 0 1 2 1 2 2 1 0 0 2 1 | 5 6 | 1 2 | | | | | | | 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0

1 2 1 2 2 0 1 2 0 5 6

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1 2 1 52 3 3 0 1 2 0 0 4

| | |

1 0 1

1 2 1 | 1 3/4 3 0 1 2 | 0 0 0 1 | Solution is then obtained by backward substitution: 1/4 2 0, 22 1/2 1 2 1 1 1/4 1/4 1/2 1/4 One can obtain this solution by further simplify ():
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1 2 1 | 1 3/4 3 0 1 2 | 0 0 0 1 | 1 2 1 | 1 2 23 2 0 1 0 | 1/2 0 0 1 | 1 2 0 | 5/4 1 3 1 0 1 0 | 1/2 0 0 1 | 1 0 0 | 1/4 1 22 1 0 1 0 | 1/2 0 0 1 | 1/4 1/2 1/4

()

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