Section 2.2 Kernel and Image
Given any linear transformation we can associate two important sets: the kernel of (also known as the nullspace), and the image of (also known as the range).
Remark 2.2.2.
Caution: the kernel is the set of vectors that sends to zero. Saying that does not mean that it means that Although it’s true that for any linear transformation, the kernel can contain vectors other than the zero vector.
In fact, as we’ll see in Theorem 2.2.11 below, the case where the kernel contains only the zero vector is an important special case.
Remark 2.2.3. How to use these definitions.
As you read through the theorems and examples in this section, think carefully about how the definitions of kernel and image are used.
For a linear transformation
- If you assume
you are asserting that Similarly, to prove you must show that - If your hypothesis is that
for some subspace you can assume that for any - If you need to prove that
for some subspace then you need to prove that if then and if then - If you assume
you are asserting that there exists some such that and to prove that you must find some such that - If your hypothesis is that
for some subspace then you are assuming that for every there is some such that - If you need to prove that
for some subspace then you need to show that for every there is some with and that for every
Theorem 2.2.4.
Strategy.
Both parts of the proof rely on the Subspace Test. So for each set, we first need to explain why it contains the zero vector. Next comes closure under addition: assume you have to elements of the set, then use the definition to explain what that means.
Now you have to show that the sum of those elements belongs to the set as well. It’s fairly safe to assume that this is going to involve the addition property of a linear transformation!
Scalar multiplication is handled similarly, but using the scalar multiplication property of
Proof.
- To show that
is a subspace, first note that since for any linear transformation Now, suppose that this means that and and therefore,Similarly, for any scalar if then soBy the subspace test, is a subspace. - Again, since
we see that (That is, so ) Now suppose that This means that there exist such that and It follows thatso since it’s the image of Similarly, if is any scalar and thenso
Example 2.2.5. Null space and column space.
A familiar setting that you may already have encountered in a previous linear algebra course (or Example 2.1.4) is that of a matrix transformation. Let be an matrix. Then we can define by where elements of are considered as column vectors. We then have
and
Thus, any element of is a linear combination of its columns, explaining the name column space.
Determining and for a given matrix is, unsurprisingly, a matter of reducing to row-echelon form. Finding comes down to describing the set of all solutions to the homogeneous system Finding relies on the following theorem.
Theorem 2.2.6.
For a proof of this result, see Section 5.4 of Linear Algebra with Applications, by Keith Nicholson. The proof is fairly long and technical, so we omit it here.
Example 2.2.7.
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from sympy import Matrix,init_printing
init_printing()
A=Matrix(3,4,[1,3,0,-2,-2,-1,2,0,1,8,2,-6])
A.rref()
We see that there are leading ones in the first and second column. Therefore, Indeed, note that
and
so that indeed, the third and fourth columns are in the span of the first and second.
Remark 2.2.8.
The SymPy library for Python has built-in functions for computing nullspace and column space. But it’s probably worth your while to know how to determine these from the RREF of a matrix, without additional help from the computer. That said, let’s see how the computer’s output compares to what we found in Example 2.2.7.
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A.nullspace()
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A.columnspace()
Note that the output from the computer simply states the basis for each space. Of course, for computational purposes, this is typically good enough.
An important result that comes out while trying to show that the “pivot columns” of a matrix (the ones that end up with leading ones in the RREF) are a basis for the column space is that the column rank (defined as the dimension of ) and the row rank (the dimension of the space spanned by the rows of ) are equal. One can therefore speak unambiguously about the rank of a matrix and it is just as it’s defined in a first course in linear algebra: the number of leading ones in the RREF of
For a general linear transformation, we can’t necessarily speak in terms of rows and columns, but if is linear, and either or is finite-dimensional, then we can define the rank of as follows.
Definition 2.2.9.
Note that if is finite-dimensional, then so is since it’s a subspace of On the other hand, if is finite-dimensional, then we can find a basis of and the set will span so again the image is finite-dimensional, so the rank of is finite. It is possible for either the rank or the nullity of a transformation to be infinite.
Knowing that the kernel and image of an operator are subspaces gives us an easy way to define subspaces. From the textbook, we have the following nice example.
Exercise 2.2.10.
(a)
Hint.
You can use the fact that the transpose is linear: and
(b)
Hint.
A matrix is symmetric if or in other words,
(c)
Hint.
A matrix is skew-symmetric if
Recall that a function is injective (or one-to-one) if for any implies that (In other words, no two different inputs give the same output.) We say that is surjective (or onto) if (That is, if the range of is the entire codomain ) These properties are important considerations for the discussion of inverse functions.
For a linear transformation the property of surjectivity is tied to by definition: is onto if What might not be immediately obvious is that the kernel tells us if a linear transformation is injective.
Theorem 2.2.11.
Strategy.
We have an “if and only if” statement, so we have to make sure to consider both directions. The basic idea is this: we know that is always in the kernel, so if the kernel contains any other vector we would have and would not be injective.
There is one trick to keep in mind: the statement is equivalent to and since is linear,
Proof.
Suppose is injective, and let Then On the other hand, we know that Since is injective, we must have Conversely, suppose that and that for some Then
so Therefore, we must have so and it follows that is injective.
Exercise 2.2.12.
Rearrange the blocks below to produce a valid proof of the following statement:
If is injective and is linearly independent in then is linearly independent in
Hint.
Remember that your goal is to show that is linearly independent, so after you assume your hypotheses, you should begin by setting a linear combination of these vectors equal to zero.
Exercise 2.2.13.
Rearrange the blocks below to produce a valid proof of the following statement:
If is surjective and then
Hint.
You need to show that any can be written as a linear combination of the Because is surjective, you know that for some
Remark 2.2.14.
For the case of a matrix transformation notice that is simply the set of all solutions to while is the set of all for which has a solution.
Recall from the discussion preceding Definition 2.2.9 that It follows that is surjective if and only if On the other hand, is injective if and only if because we know that the system has a unique solution if and only if each column of contains a leading one.
This has some interesting consequences. If (that is, if is square), then each increase in produces a corresponding decrease in since both correspond to the “loss” of a leading one. Moreover, if then is both injective and surjective. Recall that a function is invertible if and only if it is both injective and surjective. It should come as no surprise that invertibility of (as a function) is equivalent to invertibility of (as a matrix).
Also, note that if then so could be surjective, but can’t possibly be injective. On the other hand, if then so could be injective, but can’t possibly be surjective. These results generalize to linear transformations between any finite-dimensional vector spaces. The first step towards this is the following theorem, which is sometimes known as the Fundamental Theorem of Linear Transformations.
Theorem 2.2.15. Dimension Theorem.
Proof.
The trick with this proof is that we aren’t assuming is finite-dimensional, so we can’t start with a basis of But we do know that is finite-dimensional, so we start with a basis of Of course, every vector in is the image of some vector in so we can write where for
Since is a basis, it is linearly independent. The results of Exercise 2.1.1 tell us that the set must therefore be independent.
We now introduce a basis of which we also know to be finite-dimensional. If we can show that the set is a basis for we’d be done, since the number of vectors in this basis is We must therefore show that this set is independent, and that it spans
To see that it’s independent, suppose that
Applying to this equation, and noting that for each by definition of the we get
We assumed that the vectors were independent, so all the must be zero. But then we get
and since the are independent, all the must be zero.
To see that these vectors span, choose any Since there exist scalars such that
We’d like to be able to conclude from this that but this would be false, unless was known to be injective (which it isn’t). Failure to be injective involves the kernel -- how do we bring that into the picture?
The trick is to realize that the reason we might have is that we’re off by something in the kernel. Indeed, (2.2.1) can be re-written as
so But we have a basis for so we can write
for some scalars and this can be rearanged to give
which completes the proof.
This is sometimes known as the Rank-Nullity Theorem, since it can be stated in the form
We will see that this result is frequently useful for providing simple arguments that establish otherwise difficult results. A basic situation where the theorem is useful is as follows: we are given where the dimensions of and are known. Since is a subspace of we know from Theorem 1.7.18 that is onto if and only if In many cases it is easier to compute than it is and the Dimension Theorem lets us determine if we know and
Exercise 2.2.16.
- If
then - Remember that
implies this does not necessarily mean - If
is injective, then it is surjective. - By the dimension theorem, the dimension of
cannot be greater than 4, so can never be surjective. - If
is injective, then it is surjective. - Correct! If
is injective, then so by the dimension theorem, Since as well, - It is possible to have an injective linear transformation
- The maximum dimension of
is 3, so the minimum dimension of is 1. - If
is surjective, then - Correct! If
is surjective, then so
Select all statements below that are true:
A useful consequence of this result is that if we know is finite-dimensional, we can order any basis such that the first vectors in the list are a basis of and the images of the remaining vectors produce a basis of
Another consequence of the dimension theorem is that we must have
Of course, we must also have since is a subspace of In the case of a matrix transformation this means that the rank of is at most the minimum of and This once again has consequences for the existence and uniqueness of solutions for linear systems with the coefficient matrix
We end with an exercise that is both challenging and useful. Do your best to come up with a proof before looking at the solution.
Exercise 2.2.17.
(a)
Hint.
You’re dealing with an “if and only if” statement, so be sure to prove both directions. One direction follows immediately from the dimension theorem.
What makes the other direction harder is that you need to prove an existence statement. To show that a transformation with the required property exists, you’re going to need to construct it! To do so, try defining your transformation in terms of a basis.
(b)
Hint.
The hint from the previous part also applies here!
Exercises Exercises
1.
2.
3.
4.
- What is
- Find the matrix for the linear transformation
(relative to the standard basis in the domain and codomain). That is, find the matrix such that - Find a formula for the linear transformation
- Find bases (i.e., maximal independent sets) for the kernel and image of
-
The linear transformation
is:- injective
- surjective
- bijective
- none of these
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
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