MATH 304

Linear Algebra
Lecture 13:
Span. Spanning set.
Subspaces of vector spaces
Definition. A vector space V0 is a subspace of a
vector space V if V0 ⊂ V and the linear operations
on V0 agree with the linear operations on V .
Proposition A subset S of a vector space V is a
subspace of V if and only if S is nonempty and
closed under linear operations, i.e.,
x, y ∈ S =⇒ x + y ∈ S,
x ∈ S =⇒ r x ∈ S for all r ∈ R.

Remarks. The zero vector in a subspace is the

same as the zero vector in V . Also, the subtraction
in a subspace agrees with that in V .
Examples of subspaces

• F (R): all functions f : R → R

• C (R): all continuous functions f : R → R
C (R) is a subspace of F (R).

• P: polynomials p(x) = a0 + a1 x + · · · + an−1 x n−1

• Pn : polynomials of degree less than n
Pn is a subspace of P.

• Any vector space V

• {0}, where 0 is the zero vector in V
The trivial space {0} is a subspace of V .
System of linear equations:


 a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn = b1
a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn = b2


 ·········
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + · · · + amn xn = bm


Any solution (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) is an element of Rn .

Theorem The solution set of the system is a

subspace of Rn if and only if all bi = 0.
  
a b
Examples of subspaces of M2,2 (R): A =
c d
• diagonal matrices: b = c = 0
• upper triangular matrices: c = 0
• lower triangular matrices: b = 0
• symmetric matrices (AT = A): b = c
• anti-symmetric matrices (AT = −A):
a = d = 0 and c = −b
• matrices with zero trace: a + d = 0
(trace = the sum of diagonal entries)
Let V be a vector space and v1 , v2 , . . . , vn ∈ V .
Consider the set L of all linear combinations
r1 v1 + r2 v2 + · · · + rn vn , where r1 , r2 , . . . , rn ∈ R.

Theorem L is a subspace of V .
Proof: First of all, L is not empty. For example,
0 = 0v1 + 0v2 + · · · + 0vn belongs to L.
The set L is closed under addition since
(r1 v1 +r2 v2 + · · · +rn vn ) + (s1 v1 +s2 v2 + · · · +sn vn ) =
= (r1 +s1 )v1 + (r2 +s2 )v2 + · · · + (rn +sn )vn .
The set L is closed under scalar multiplication since
t(r1 v1 +r2 v2 + · · · +rn vn ) = (tr1 )v1 +(tr2 )v2 + · · · +(trn )vn .
Span: implicit definition

Let S be a subset of a vector space V .

Definition. The span of the set S, denoted
Span(S), is the smallest subspace of V that
contains S. That is,
• Span(S) is a subspace of V ;
• for any subspace W ⊂ V one has
S ⊂ W =⇒ Span(S) ⊂ W .

Remark. The span of any set S ⊂ V is well

defined (it is the intersection of all subspaces of V
that contain S).
Span: effective description

Let S be a subset of a vector space V .

• If S = {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn } then Span(S) is the set
of all linear combinations r1 v1 + r2 v2 + · · · + rn vn ,
where r1 , r2 , . . . , rn ∈ R.
• If S is an infinite set then Span(S) is the set of
all linear combinations r1 u1 + r2 u2 + · · · + rk uk ,
where u1 , u2 , . . . , uk ∈ S and r1 , r2 , . . . , rk ∈ R
(k ≥ 1).
• If S is the empty set then Span(S) = {0}.
Examples of subspaces of M2,2 (R):
   
1 0 0 0
• The span of and consists of all
0 0 0 1
matrices of the

form
    
1 0 0 0 a 0
a +b = .
0 0 0 1 0 b
This is the subspace of diagonal matrices.
     
1 0 0 0 0 1
• The span of , , and
0 0 0 1 1 0
consistsof all matrices

of

theform  
1 0 0 0 0 1 a c
a +b +c = .
0 0 0 1 1 0 c b
This is the subspace of symmetric matrices.
Examples of subspaces of M2,2 (R):
 
0 −1
• The span of is the subspace of
1 0
anti-symmetric matrices.
     
1 0 0 0 0 1
• The span of , , and
0 0 0 1 0 0
is the subspace of upper triangular matrices.
       
1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
• The span of , , ,
0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
is the entire space M2,2 (R).
Spanning set

Definition. A subset S of a vector space V is

called a spanning set for V if Span(S) = V .
Examples.
• Vectors e1 = (1, 0, 0), e2 = (0, 1, 0), and
e3 = (0, 0, 1) form a spanning set for R3 as
(x, y , z) = xe1 + y e2 + ze3 .
       
1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
• Matrices , , ,
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
form a spanning set for M2,2 (R) as
         
a b 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
=a +b +c +d .
c d 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Problem Let v1 = (1, 2, 0), v2 = (3, 1, 1), and
w = (4, −7, 3). Determine whether w belongs to
Span(v1 , v2 ).

We have to check if there exist r1 , r2 ∈ R such that

w = r1 v1 + r2 v2 . This vector equation is equivalent
to a system of linear equations:

 4 = r1 + 3r2 
r1 = −5
−7 = 2r1 + r2 ⇐⇒
r2 = 3
3 = 0r1 + r2


Thus w = −5v1 + 3v2 ∈ Span(v1 , v2 ).

Problem Let v1 = (2, 5) and v2 = (1, 3). Show
that {v1 , v2 } is a spanning set for R2 .

Take any vector w = (a, b) ∈ R2 . We have to

check that there exist r1 , r2 ∈ R such that

2r1 + r2 = a
w = r1 v1 +r2 v2 ⇐⇒
5r1 + 3r2 = b
 
2 1
Coefficient matrix: C = . det C = 1 6= 0.
5 3
Since the matrix C is invertible, the system has a
unique solution for any a and b.
Thus Span(v1 , v2 ) = R2 .
 Problem Let v1 = (2, 5) and v2 = (1, 3). Show
that {v1 , v2 } is a spanning set for R2 .

Alternative solution: First let us show that vectors

e1 = (1, 0) and e2 = (0, 1) belong to Span(v1 , v2 ).
 
2r1 + r2 = 1 r1 = 3
e1 = r1 v1 +r2 v2 ⇐⇒ ⇐⇒
5r1 + 3r2 = 0 r2 = −5
 
2r1 + r2 = 0 r1 = −1
e2 = r1 v1 +r2 v2 ⇐⇒ ⇐⇒
5r1 + 3r2 = 1 r2 = 2
Thus e1 = 3v1 − 5v2 and e2 = −v1 + 2v2 .
Then for any vector w = (a, b) ∈ R2 we have
w = ae1 + be2 = a(3v1 − 5v2 ) + b(−v1 + 2v2 )
= (3a − b)v1 + (−5a + 2b)v2 .
 Problem Let v1 = (2, 5) and v2 = (1, 3). Show
that {v1 , v2 } is a spanning set for R2 .

Remarks on the alternative solution:

Notice that R2 is spanned by vectors e1 = (1, 0)
and e2 = (0, 1) since (a, b) = ae1 + be2 .
This is why we have checked that vectors e1 and e2
belong to Span(v1 , v2 ). Then
e1 , e2 ∈ Span(v1 , v2 ) =⇒ Span(e1 , e2 ) ⊂ Span(v1 , v2 )
=⇒ R2 ⊂ Span(v1 , v2 ) =⇒ Span(v1 , v2 ) = R2 .
In general, to show that Span(S1 ) = Span(S2 ),
it is enough to check that S1 ⊂ Span(S2 ) and
S2 ⊂ Span(S1 ).