Linear Algebra I: Vector Spaces A
Linear Algebra I: Vector Spaces A 1 Vector spaces and subspaces 1.1 Let F be a field (in this book, it will always be either the field of reals R or the field of complex numbers C). A vector space V D .V; C; o;˛./.˛2 F// over F is a set V with a binary operation C, a constant o and a collection of unary operations (i.e. maps) ˛ W V ! V labelled by the elements of F, satisfying (V1) .x C y/ C z D x C .y C z/, (V2) x C y D y C x, (V3) 0 x D o, (V4) ˛ .ˇ x/ D .˛ˇ/ x, (V5) 1 x D x, (V6) .˛ C ˇ/ x D ˛ x C ˇ x,and (V7) ˛ .x C y/ D ˛ x C ˛ y. Here, we write ˛ x and we will write also ˛x for the result ˛.x/ of the unary operation ˛ in x. Often, one uses the expression “multiplication of x by ˛”; but it is useful to keep in mind that what we really have is a collection of unary operations (see also 5.1 below). The elements of a vector space are often referred to as vectors. In contrast, the elements of the field F are then often referred to as scalars. In view of this, it is useful to reflect for a moment on the true meaning of the axioms (equalities) above. For instance, (V4), often referred to as the “associative law” in fact states that the composition of the functions V ! V labelled by ˇ; ˛ is labelled by the product ˛ˇ in F, the “distributive law” (V6) states that the (pointwise) sum of the mappings labelled by ˛ and ˇ is labelled by the sum ˛ C ˇ in F, and (V7) states that each of the maps ˛ preserves the sum C.
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