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Chapter 19
Take an n m matrix
a11 a12 a1m
a21 a22 a2m
A=
... .. ..
. .
an1 an2 anm
Note that im A lives in Rn . Many calculations in linear algebra boil down to the
computation of kernels and images of matrices. Here are some different ways of
thinking about ker A and im A.
A(x x0 ) = Ax Ax0 = y y = 0,
Example 1: (2 3 case)
a11 a12 a13
A= .
a21 a22 a23
Suppose first that A is the zero matrix (all aij = 0). Then ker A = R3 and im A
consists only of the zero vector. Suppose then that A is not the zero matrix. Then
ker A is the intersection of two planes through (0, 0, 0)
Each plane corresponds to a row vector of A, whereby the row vector is the normal
vector to the plane. If the row vectors of A are not proportional, then the planes
are distinct. In this case the planes intersect in a line, and ker A is this line. If the
rows of A are proportional, then the two equations determine just one plane, and
ker A is this plane. For example,
1 2 3
ker is the line R(1, 2, 1),
3 2 1
3
while
1 2 3
ker is the plane x + 2y + 3z = 0.
2 4 6
What about im A? Since im A R2 and is nonzero (because were assuming A 6= 0),
the image of A is either a line or all of R2 . How to tell? Recall that im A is spanned
by the three column vectors
a11 a12 a13
u1 = , u2 = , u3 = .
a21 a22 a23
The image of A will be a line ` exactly when these three column vectors all live on
the same line `. If, say, u1 6= 0, and the image is a line, then there are scalars s, t
such that u2 = su1 and u3 = tu1 . This would mean that
a11 sa11 ta11
A= .
a21 sa21 ta21
But look, this means the rows are proportional. They are both proportional to
(1, s, t). By what we saw before, this means the kernel is a plane. In summary:
2 3 matrix
dim(ker A) + dim(im A) = 3.
As you vary A, the quantity dim(ker A) can vary from 1 to 3, and the quantity
dim(im A) can vary from 0 to 2, but the sum dim(ker A) + dim(im A) remains
constant at 3.
For 3 2 matrices
a11 a12
A = a21
a22 : R2 R3 ,
a31 a32
the table is
4
2 3 matrix
dim(ker A) + dim(im A) = m.
n m, n m
n m, n m
Exercise 19.1. Determine the kernel and image, and the dimensions of these, for
the following matrices. (A line is described by giving a nonzero vector on the line,
and a plane can by described by giving two nonproportional vectors
in the plane.)
1 1
1 1 1 2 3
(a) A = (b) A = (c) A = 2 2
2 2 1 2 0
3 3
1 1 1
1 2 1 2
(d) A = (e) A = (f ) A = 0 1 1
2 2 2 3
0 0 1
1 2 3 1 0 0 0
(g) A = 4 5 6
(h) A = 0 1 0 0 .
7 8 9 0 0 1 0
a b
Exericise 19.2. Let A = .
c d
(a) Suppose A is the zero matrix. What are ker A and im A?
(b) Suppose A 6= 0, but det A = 0. What are ker A and im A?
(c) Suppose det A 6= 0. What are ker A and im A?
(This is the sort of matrix you used to map the hypercube in R4 into R2 . )
(a) Describe the kernel of A in terms of the vectors u and v.
(b) What is the image of A?
Assume A is non zero. Explain how these subdeterminants determine the dimen-
sions of the kernel and image of A. (Study the 2 3 analysis given above. )
Exercise 19.6. Make the tables of dimensions of kernels and images of 3 4 and
4 3 matrices, and find a matrix for each row of each table.