Matrix (mathematics)In mathematics, a matrix (plural matrices) is a rectangular array or table of numbers, symbols, or expressions, arranged in rows and columns, which is used to represent a mathematical object or a property of such an object. For example, is a matrix with two rows and three columns. This is often referred to as a "two by three matrix", a " matrix", or a matrix of dimension . Without further specifications, matrices represent linear maps, and allow explicit computations in linear algebra.
Row echelon formIn linear algebra, a matrix is in echelon form if it has the shape resulting from a Gaussian elimination. A matrix being in row echelon form means that Gaussian elimination has operated on the rows, and column echelon form means that Gaussian elimination has operated on the columns. In other words, a matrix is in column echelon form if its transpose is in row echelon form. Therefore, only row echelon forms are considered in the remainder of this article. The similar properties of column echelon form are easily deduced by transposing all the matrices.
Row and column spacesIn linear algebra, the column space (also called the range or ) of a matrix A is the span (set of all possible linear combinations) of its column vectors. The column space of a matrix is the or range of the corresponding matrix transformation. Let be a field. The column space of an m × n matrix with components from is a linear subspace of the m-space . The dimension of the column space is called the rank of the matrix and is at most min(m, n). A definition for matrices over a ring is also possible.
Rank–nullity theoremThe rank–nullity theorem is a theorem in linear algebra, which asserts: the number of columns of a matrix M is the sum of the rank of M and the nullity of M; and the dimension of the domain of a linear transformation f is the sum of the rank of f (the dimension of the of f) and the nullity of f (the dimension of the kernel of f). It follows that for linear transformations of vector spaces of finite dimension, either injectivity or surjectivity implies bijectivity.
Quotient space (linear algebra)In linear algebra, the quotient of a vector space by a subspace is a vector space obtained by "collapsing" to zero. The space obtained is called a quotient space and is denoted (read " mod " or " by "). Formally, the construction is as follows. Let be a vector space over a field , and let be a subspace of . We define an equivalence relation on by stating that if . That is, is related to if one can be obtained from the other by adding an element of .
CokernelThe cokernel of a linear mapping of vector spaces f : X → Y is the quotient space Y / im(f) of the codomain of f by the image of f. The dimension of the cokernel is called the corank of f. Cokernels are to the , hence the name: the kernel is a subobject of the domain (it maps to the domain), while the cokernel is a quotient object of the codomain (it maps from the codomain).
Rank (linear algebra)In linear algebra, the rank of a matrix A is the dimension of the vector space generated (or spanned) by its columns. This corresponds to the maximal number of linearly independent columns of A. This, in turn, is identical to the dimension of the vector space spanned by its rows. Rank is thus a measure of the "nondegenerateness" of the system of linear equations and linear transformation encoded by A. There are multiple equivalent definitions of rank. A matrix's rank is one of its most fundamental characteristics.
Gröbner basisIn mathematics, and more specifically in computer algebra, computational algebraic geometry, and computational commutative algebra, a Gröbner basis is a particular kind of generating set of an ideal in a polynomial ring K[x1, ..., xn] over a field K. A Gröbner basis allows many important properties of the ideal and the associated algebraic variety to be deduced easily, such as the dimension and the number of zeros when it is finite.
Linear subspaceIn mathematics, and more specifically in linear algebra, a linear subspace or vector subspace is a vector space that is a subset of some larger vector space. A linear subspace is usually simply called a subspace when the context serves to distinguish it from other types of subspaces. If V is a vector space over a field K and if W is a subset of V, then W is a linear subspace of V if under the operations of V, W is a vector space over K.
Kernel (algebra)In algebra, the kernel of a homomorphism (function that preserves the structure) is generally the of 0 (except for groups whose operation is denoted multiplicatively, where the kernel is the inverse image of 1). An important special case is the kernel of a linear map. The kernel of a matrix, also called the null space, is the kernel of the linear map defined by the matrix. The kernel of a homomorphism is reduced to 0 (or 1) if and only if the homomorphism is injective, that is if the inverse image of every element consists of a single element.
Orthogonal complementIn the mathematical fields of linear algebra and functional analysis, the orthogonal complement of a subspace W of a vector space V equipped with a bilinear form B is the set W⊥ of all vectors in V that are orthogonal to every vector in W. Informally, it is called the perp, short for perpendicular complement. It is a subspace of V. Let be the vector space equipped with the usual dot product (thus making it an inner product space), and let with then its orthogonal complement can also be defined as being The fact that every column vector in is orthogonal to every column vector in can be checked by direct computation.
System of linear equationsIn mathematics, a system of linear equations (or linear system) is a collection of one or more linear equations involving the same variables. For example, is a system of three equations in the three variables x, y, z. A solution to a linear system is an assignment of values to the variables such that all the equations are simultaneously satisfied. A solution to the system above is given by the ordered triple since it makes all three equations valid. The word "system" indicates that the equations should be considered collectively, rather than individually.
Function spaceIn mathematics, a function space is a set of functions between two fixed sets. Often, the domain and/or codomain will have additional structure which is inherited by the function space. For example, the set of functions from any set into a vector space has a natural vector space structure given by pointwise addition and scalar multiplication. In other scenarios, the function space might inherit a topological or metric structure, hence the name function space. Vector space#Function spaces Let be a vector space over a field and let be any set.
Parametric equationIn mathematics, a parametric equation defines a group of quantities as functions of one or more independent variables called parameters. Parametric equations are commonly used to express the coordinates of the points that make up a geometric object such as a curve or surface, called parametric curve and parametric surface, respectively. In such cases, the equations are collectively called a parametric representation, or parametric system, or parameterization (alternatively spelled as parametrisation) of the object.
