- Example 1.1
 
Consider a map 
 with domain 
and codomain 
 (fixing

as the bases for these spaces) that is determined by this action on the vectors in the domain's basis.

To compute the action of this map on any vector at all from the domain,
we first express 
 and 
with respect to the codomain's basis:

and

(these are easy to check).
Then, as described in the preamble, for any member 
 of the domain,
we can express the image 
 in terms of the 
's.

Thus,
with 
then 
.
For instance, 
with 
then 
.
 
We will express computations like the one above with a matrix notation.

In the middle is the argument 
 to the map, 
represented with respect to the domain's basis 
by a column vector with components 
 and 
.
On the right is the value 
 of the map on that argument,
represented with respect to the codomain's basis 
by a column vector with components 
, etc.
The matrix on the left is the new thing.
It consists of the coefficients from the vector on the right,
 and 
 from the first row, 
 and 
 from the
second row, and 
 and 
 from the third row.
This notation simply breaks the parts from the right, 
the coefficients and the 
's, out separately on the left, into a vector that
represents the map's argument and a matrix that we will take to
represent the map itself.
- Definition 1.2
 
Suppose that 
 and 
 are vector spaces of dimensions 
 and
 with bases 
 and 
,
and that 
 is a linear map.
If

then 

is the matrix representation of 
 with respect to 
.
 
Briefly, the vectors
representing the 
's are adjoined to 
make the matrix representing the map. 

Observe that the number of columns 
 of the matrix is the 
dimension of the domain of the map, 
and the number of rows 
 is the dimension of the codomain.
- Example 1.3
 
If 
 is given by

then where

the action of 
 on 
 is given by

and a simple calculation gives

showing that this is the matrix representing 
 with respect to the bases.

 
We will use lower case letters for a map, 
upper case for the matrix,
and lower case again for the entries of the matrix.
Thus for the map 
, the matrix representing it is 
, with
entries 
.
- Theorem 1.4
 
Assume that 
 and 
 are vector spaces
of dimensions 
 and 
with bases 
 and 
,
and that 
 is a linear map.
If 
 is represented by

and 
 is represented by

then the representation of the image of 
 is this.

 
We will think of the matrix 
 and the vector 
 
as combining to make the vector 
.
- Definition 1.5
 
The matrix-vector product of a 
 matrix and a
 vector is this.

 
The point of Definition 1.2 is to generalize
Example 1.1, that is, the point of the definition is 
Theorem 1.4, 
that the matrix describes how to get from the
representation of a domain vector with respect to the domain's basis to the 
representation of its image in the codomain with respect to the codomain's
basis. 
With Definition 1.5,  we can restate this 
as: application of a linear map is represented by the matrix-vector product 
of the map's representative and the vector's representative.
- Example 1.7
 
Let 
 be projection onto the 
-plane.
To give a matrix representing this map, we first fix bases.

For each vector in the domain's basis, we find its image under the map. 

Then we find the representation of each image with respect to the codomain's
basis 

(these are easily checked).
Finally, adjoining these representations gives the matrix representing 
 with respect to 
.

We can illustrate Theorem 1.4 by computing
the matrix-vector product representing the following statement 
about the projection map.

Representing this vector from the domain
with respect to the domain's basis

gives this matrix-vector product.

Expanding this representation into a linear combination of vectors from
 

checks that the map's action is indeed
reflected in the operation of the matrix.
(We will sometimes compress these three displayed equations into one 

in the course of a calculation.)
 
We now have two ways to compute the effect of projection,
the straightforward formula that drops each three-tall vector's third component
to make a two-tall vector, 
and the above formula that uses representations and matrix-vector 
multiplication.
Compared to the first way, the second way might seem complicated.
However, it has advantages.
The next example shows that giving a formula for some maps is 
simplified by this new scheme.  
- Example 1.8
 
To represent a  rotation
map 
 that 
turns all vectors in the plane counterclockwise through an angle 
we start by fixing bases.
Using 
 both as a domain basis and as a codomain basis is natural,
Now, we find the image under the map of each
vector in the domain's basis.

Then we represent these images with respect to the codomain's basis.
Because this basis is 
, vectors are represented by themselves.
Finally, adjoining the representations gives the matrix representing the map.

The advantage of this scheme is that just by knowing how to
represent the image of the two basis vectors, 
we get a formula that tells us the image of any vector at 
all; here a vector rotated by 
.

(Again, we are using the fact that, with respect to 
, vectors represent themselves.)
 
We have already seen the addition and scalar multiplication
operations of matrices and  
the dot product operation of vectors. 
Matrix-vector multiplication is a new operation in the arithmetic of 
vectors and matrices.
Nothing in Definition 1.5 requires us to view
it in terms of representations.
We can get some insight into this operation 
by turning away from  what is being represented, and instead focusing on
how the entries combine.
- Example 1.9
 
In the definition
the width of the matrix equals the height of the vector.
Hence, the first product below is defined while the second is not. 

One reason that this product is not defined is purely formal: the
definition requires that the sizes match, and these sizes don't match.
Behind the formality, though, 
is a reason why we will leave it undefined— the
matrix represents a map with a three-dimensional domain while the vector represents a member of a two-dimensional space.
 
A good way to view a matrix-vector product is
as the dot products of the rows of the matrix with the column vector.

Looked at in this row-by-row way,
this new operation generalizes dot product.
Matrix-vector product can also be viewed column-by-column.

- Example 1.10
 

 
The result has the
columns of the matrix weighted by the entries of the vector.
This way of looking at it
brings us back to the objective stated at the start of this section, to compute
as
.
We began this section
by noting that the equality of these two enables us to compute the action 
of 
 on any
argument knowing only 
, ..., 
.
We have developed this into a scheme to
compute the action of the map by taking 
the matrix-vector product of the matrix representing the 
map and the vector representing the argument.
In this way, any linear map is represented with respect to some bases
by a matrix.
In the next subsection, we will show the converse, that any matrix represents
a linear map.
Exercises
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- Problem 3
 
Solve this matrix equation.

 
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- Problem 5
 
Assume that 
 is determined by 
this action.

Using the standard bases, find
-  the matrix representing this map;
 -  a general formula for 
.
 
 
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- Problem 6
 
Let 
 be the derivative
transformation.
-  Represent 
 with respect to 
 where
.
 -  Represent 
 with respect to 
 where
.
 
 
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- Problem 7
 
Represent each linear map with respect to each pair of bases.
-  
 with respect to
 where 
, given by

 -  
 
with respect to
 where 
, given by

 -  
 with respect to
 where 
and 
, given by

 -  
 with respect to
 where 
and 
, given by

 -  
 
with respect
to 
 where 
, given by

 
 
- Problem 8
 
Represent the identity map on any nontrivial
space with respect to 
, where 
 is any basis.
 
- Problem 9
 
Represent, with respect to the natural basis, 
the transpose transformation on the space 
 of 
 matrices.
 
- Problem 10
 
Assume that 
is a basis for a vector space.
Represent with respect to 
 the transformation that is determined
by each.
-  
,
,
,
 -  
,
,
,
 -  
,
,
,
 
 
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- Problem 13
 
Suppose that 
 is nonsingular so that 
by Theorem II.2.21, for any basis
 the image
is a basis for 
.
-  Represent the map 
 with respect to 
.
 -  For a member 
 of the domain, where
the representation of 
 has components 
, ..., 
,
represent the image vector 
 with respect to 
the image basis 
.
 
 
- Problem 14
 
Give a formula for the product of a matrix and 
, the
column vector that is all zeroes except for a single one in the 
-th
position.
 
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- Problem 15
 
For each vector space of functions of one real variable,
represent the derivative transformation with respect to 
.
-  
,
 -  
,
 -  
,
 
 
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- Problem 17
 
Can one matrix represent two different linear maps?
That is, can 
?
 
- This exercise is recommended for all readers.
 
- Problem 20 (Schur's Triangularization Lemma)
 
-  Let 
 be a subspace of 
 and fix bases
.
What is the relationship between the representation of a vector
from 
 with
respect to 
 and the representation of that vector
(viewed as a member of 
) with
respect to 
?
 -  What about maps?
 -  Fix a basis 
for 
 and observe that the spans
![{\displaystyle [\{{\vec {0}}\}]=\{{\vec {0}}\}\subset [\{{\vec {\beta }}_{1}\}]\subset [\{{\vec {\beta }}_{1},{\vec {\beta }}_{2}\}]\subset \quad \cdots \quad \subset [B]=V}](../_assets_/eb734a37dd21ce173a46342d1cc64c92/3414ca6462a266e81a770fece4e99534b9ae335d.svg)
form a strictly increasing chain of subspaces.
Show that for any linear map 
 there is a chain
 of
subspaces of 
 such that 
![{\displaystyle h([\{{\vec {\beta }}_{1},\dots ,{\vec {\beta }}_{i}\}])\subset W_{i}}](../_assets_/eb734a37dd21ce173a46342d1cc64c92/8a96d738e2b917d08ef2413bf0cccf59449c4022.svg)
for each 
.
 -  Conclude that for every linear map 
 there are
bases 
 so the matrix representing 
 with respect to
 is upper-triangular
(that is, each entry 
 with 
 is zero).
 -  Is an upper-triangular representation unique?
 
 
Solutions