MATH 304

Linear Algebra
Lecture 14:
Basis and coordinates.
Change of basis.
Linear transformations.
Basis and dimension

Definition. Let V be a vector space. A linearly

independent spanning set for V is called a basis.

Theorem Any vector space V has a basis. If V

has a finite basis, then all bases for V are finite and
have the same number of elements (called the
dimension of V ).

Example. Vectors e1 = (1, 0, 0, . . . , 0, 0),

e2 = (0, 1, 0, . . . , 0, 0),. . . , en = (0, 0, 0, . . . , 0, 1)
form a basis for Rn (called standard) since
(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) = x1 e1 + x2 e2 + · · · + xn en .
Basis and coordinates
If {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn } is a basis for a vector space V ,
then any vector v ∈ V has a unique representation
v = x1 v1 + x2 v2 + · · · + xn vn ,
where xi ∈ R. The coefficients x1 , x2 , . . . , xn are
called the coordinates of v with respect to the
ordered basis v1 , v2 , . . . , vn .

The mapping
vector v 7→ its coordinates (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn )
is a one-to-one correspondence between V and Rn .
This correspondence respects linear operations in V
and in Rn .
Examples. • Coordinates of a vector
v = (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) ∈ Rn relative to the standard
basis e1 = (1, 0, . . . , 0, 0), e2 = (0, 1, . . . , 0, 0),. . . ,
en = (0, 0, . . . , 0, 1) are (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ).
 
• Coordinates of a matrix ca b
d
∈ M2,2 (R)
     
1 0 0 0 0 1
relative to the basis 0 0
,
1 0
,
0 0
,
 
0 0
0 1
are (a, c, b, d).

• Coordinates of a polynomial
p(x) = a0 + a1 x + · · · + an−1 x n−1 ∈ Pn relative to
the basis 1, x, x 2 , . . . , x n−1 are (a0 , a1 , . . . , an−1 ).
Vectors u1 =(2, 1) and u2 =(3, 1) form a basis for R2 .
Problem 1. Find coordinates of the vector
v = (7, 4) with respect to the basis u1 , u2 .

The desired coordinates x, y satisfy

 
2x + 3y = 7 x =5
v = xu1 +y u2 ⇐⇒ ⇐⇒
x +y =4 y = −1

Problem 2. Find the vector w whose coordinates

with respect to the basis u1 , u2 are (7, 4).
w = 7u1 + 4u2 = 7(2, 1) + 4(3, 1) = (26, 11)
Change of coordinates
Given a vector v ∈ R2 , let (x, y ) be its standard
coordinates, i.e., coordinates with respect to the
standard basis e1 = (1, 0), e2 = (0, 1), and let
(x ′ , y ′ ) be its coordinates with respect to the basis
u1 = (3, 1), u2 = (2, 1).
Problem. Find a relation between (x, y ) and (x ′ , y ′ ).
By definition, v = xe1 + y e2 = x ′ u1 + y ′ u2 .
In standard coordinates,
        ′
x 3 2 3 2 x
=x ′
+y ′
=
y 1 1 1 1 y′
 ′  −1     
x 3 2 x 1 −2 x
=⇒ = =
y ′
1 1 y −1 3 y
Change of coordinates in Rn
The usual (standard) coordinates of a vector
v = (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) ∈ Rn are coordinates relative to the
standard basis e1 = (1, 0, . . . , 0, 0), e2 = (0, 1, . . . , 0, 0),. . . ,
en = (0, 0, . . . , 0, 1).
Let u1 , u2 , . . . , un be another basis for Rn and (x1′ , x2′ , . . . , xn′ )
be the coordinates of the same vector v with respect to this
basis.

Problem 1. Given the standard coordinates

(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ), find the nonstandard coordinates
(x1′ , x2′ , . . . , xn′ ).
Problem 2. Given the nonstandard coordinates
(x1′ , x2′ , . . . , xn′ ), find the standard coordinates
(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ).
 It turns out that
 ′ 
x1 u11 u12 . . . u1n x1
  
 x2   u21 u22 . . . u2n  x2′ 
 . = . .. . . .  . .
 ..   .. . . ..  .. 
xn un1 un2 . . . unn xn′

The matrix U = (uij ) does not depend on the vector x.

Columns of U are coordinates of vectors
u1 , u2 , . . . , un with respect to the standard basis.
U is called the transition matrix from the basis
u1 , u2 , . . . , un to the standard basis e1 , e2 , . . . , en .
This solves Problem 2. To solve Problem 1, we have
to use the inverse matrix U −1 , which is the
transition matrix from e1 , . . . , en to u1 , . . . , un .
Problem. Find coordinates of the vector
x = (1, 2, 3) with respect to the basis
u1 = (1, 1, 0), u2 = (0, 1, 1), u3 = (1, 1, 1).
The nonstandard coordinates (x ′ , y ′ , z ′ ) of x satisfy
 ′  
x 1
 y ′  = U  2 ,
z′ 3
where U is the transition matrix from the standard basis
e1 , e2 , e3 to the basis u1 , u2 , u3 .
The transition matrix from u1 , u2 , u3 to e1 , e2 , e3 is
 
1 0 1
U0 = (u1 , u2 , u3 ) =  1 1 1 .
0 1 1
The transition matrix from e1 , e2 , e3 to u1 , u2 , u3 is the
inverse matrix: U = U0−1 .
The inverse matrix can be computed using row reduction.
 
1 0 1 1 0 0
(U0 | I ) =  1 1 1 0 1 0 
0 1 1 0 0 1
   
1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0
→  0 1 0 −1 1 0  →  0 1 0 −1 1 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 −1 1
 
1 0 0 0 1 −1
→  0 1 0 −1 1 0  = (I | U0−1 )
0 0 1 1 −1 1

Thus  ′     
x 0 1 −1 1 −1
 y ′  =  −1 1 0   2 =
  1 .
z ′
1 −1 1 3 2
Change of coordinates: general case
Let V be a vector space of dimension n.
Let v1 , v2 , . . . , vn be a basis for V and g1 : V → Rn be the
coordinate mapping corresponding to this basis.
Let u1 , u2 , . . . , un be another basis for V and g2 : V → Rn
be the coordinate mapping corresponding to this basis.

V
g1 g2
ւ ց
Rn −→ Rn
The composition g2 ◦g1−1 is a transformation of Rn .
It has the form x 7→ Ux, where U is an n×n matrix.
U is called the transition matrix from v1 , v2 . . . , vn to
u1 , u2 . . . , un . Columns of U are coordinates of the vectors
v1 , v2 , . . . , vn with respect to the basis u1 , u2 , . . . , un .
Problem. Find the transition matrix from the
basis p1 (x) = 1, p2 (x) = x + 1, p3 (x) = (x + 1)2
to the basis q1 (x) = 1, q2 (x) = x, q3 (x) = x 2 for
the vector space P3 .

We have to find coordinates of the polynomials

p1 , p2 , p3 with respect to the basis q1 , q2 , q3 :
p1 (x) = 1 = q1 (x),
p2 (x) = x + 1 = q1 (x) + q2 (x),
p3 (x) = (x+1)2 = x 2 +2x+1 = q1 (x)+2q2 (x)+q3 (x).
 
1 1 1
Hence the transition matrix is 0 1 2.
0 0 1
Thus the polynomial identity
a1 + a2 (x + 1) + a3 (x + 1)2 = b1 + b2 x + b3 x 2
is equivalent to the relation
    
b1 1 1 1 a1
b2  = 0 1 2a2 .
b3 0 0 1 a3
Problem. Find the transition matrix from the
basis v1 = (1, 2, 3), v2 = (1, 0, 1), v3 = (1, 2, 1) to
the basis u1 = (1, 1, 0), u2 = (0, 1, 1), u3 = (1, 1, 1).
It is convenient to make a two-step transition:
first from v1 , v2 , v3 to e1 , e2 , e3 , and then from
e1 , e2 , e3 to u1 , u2 , u3 .
Let U1 be the transition matrix from v1 , v2 , v3 to
e1 , e2 , e3 and U2 be the transition matrix from
u1 , u2 , u3 to e1 , e2 , e3 :
   
1 1 1 1 0 1
U1 = 2 0 2, U2 = 1 1 1.
3 1 1 0 1 1
 Basis v1 , v2 , v3 =⇒ coordinates x
Basis e1 , e2 , e3 =⇒ coordinates U1 x
Basis u1 , u2 , u3 =⇒ coordinates U2−1 (U1 x) = (U2−1 U1 )x
Thus the transition matrix from v1 , v2 , v3 to
u1 , u2 , u3 is U2−1 U1 .
 −1  
1 0 1 1 1 1
U2−1 U1 = 1 1 1 2 0 2
0 1 1 3 1 1
    
0 1 −1 1 1 1 −1 −1 1
= −1 1 0 2 0 2 =  1 −1 1.
1 −1 1 3 1 1 2 2 0
Linear mapping = linear transformation = linear function

Definition. Given vector spaces V1 and V2 , a

mapping L : V1 → V2 is linear if
L(x + y) = L(x) + L(y),
L(r x) = rL(x)
for any x, y ∈ V1 and r ∈ R.

A linear mapping ℓ : V → R is called a linear

functional on V .
If V1 = V2 (or if both V1 and V2 are functional
spaces) then a linear mapping L : V1 → V2 is called
a linear operator.
Linear mapping = linear transformation = linear function

Definition. Given vector spaces V1 and V2 , a

mapping L : V1 → V2 is linear if
L(x + y) = L(x) + L(y),
L(r x) = rL(x)
for any x, y ∈ V1 and r ∈ R.

Remark. A function f : R → R given by

f (x) = ax + b is a linear transformation of the
vector space R if and only if b = 0.
Examples of linear mappings
• Scaling L : V → V , L(v) = sv, where s ∈ R.
L(x + y) = s(x + y) = sx + sy = L(x) + L(y),
L(r x) = s(r x) = r (sx) = rL(x).

• Dot product with a fixed vector

ℓ : Rn → R, ℓ(v) = v · v0 , where v0 ∈ Rn .
ℓ(x + y) = (x + y) · v0 = x · v0 + y · v0 = ℓ(x) + ℓ(y),
ℓ(r x) = (r x) · v0 = r (x · v0 ) = r ℓ(x).

• Cross product with a fixed vector

L : R3 → R3 , L(v) = v × v0 , where v0 ∈ R3 .
• Multiplication by a fixed matrix
L : Rn → Rm , L(v) = Av, where A is an m×n
matrix and all vectors are column vectors.
Linear mappings of functional vector spaces

• Evaluation at a fixed point

ℓ : F (R) → R, ℓ(f ) = f (a), where a ∈ R.
• Multiplication by a fixed function
L : F (R) → F (R), L(f ) = gf , where g ∈ F (R).
• Differentiation D : C 1 (R) → C (R), L(f ) = f ′ .
D(f + g ) = (f + g )′ = f ′ + g ′ = D(f ) + D(g ),
D(rf ) = (rf )′ = rf ′ = rD(f ).

• Integration over a finite

Z b interval
ℓ : C (R) → R, ℓ(f ) = f (x) dx, where
a
a, b ∈ R, a < b.