MTL 101

Tutorial Sheet 3(a)

Applications of Annihilators

1. Consider the following (homogeneous) system of equations over the field F,

a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn = 0,
a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn = 0,
..
.
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + · · · + amn xn = 0.

Such a vector X = (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) ∈ Fn is said to be a solution (non trivial solution if X 6= 0)

of the above system of homogeneous equations over F. Let U be the subspace of Fn , spanned by
u1 = (a11 , a12 , . . . , a1n ), u2 = (a21 , a22 , . . . , a2n ), . . . , um = (am1 , am2 , . . . , amn ) over F. Define the
rank of the above system of homogeneous equations over F to be the dimension of U over F.

Prove that the above system of equations over the field F, has a non trivial solution if and only if
DimF A(U ) = k > 0 and that the number of such linearly independent non trivial solutions X is k.

2. Find the ranks of the following systems of the homogeneous equations over R, the field of real num-
bers, and find all the solutions.
(a) x1 + 2x2 − 3x3 + 4x4 = 0,
x1 + 3x2 − x3 = 0,
6x1 + x3 + 2x4 = 0.

(b) x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 = 0,
x1 + 2x2 = 0,
4x1 + 7x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 = 0,
x2 − x3 − x4 − x5 = 0.

(c) 13 x1 + 2x2 − 6x3 = 0,

− 4x1 + 5x3 = 0,
− 3x1 + 6x2 − 13x3 = 0,
− 73 x1 + 2x2 − 83 x3 = 0.

3. Find the ranks of the following systems of the homogeneous equations over C, the field of complex
numbers, and find all the solutions.

(a) 2x1 + (−1 + i)x2 + x4 = 0,

(1 + 2i )x1 + 8x2 − ix3 − x4 = 0,
3x2 − 2ix3 + 5x4 = 0,
2
3 x1 − 12 x2 + x3 + 7x4 = 0.

1
 (b) (1 − i)x1 − ix2 = 0,
2x1 + (1 − i)x2 = 0,

4. Consider the following system of equations of rank r1 over the field F,

a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn = 0,
a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn = 0,
..
.
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + · · · + amn xn = 0.

Prove that the following system of equations of rank r2 over the field F,
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn − b1 .1 = 0,
a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn − b2 .1 = 0,
..
.
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + · · · + amn xn − bm .1 = 0,
has a solution if and only if r1 = r2 .
Here r2 is the dimension of the subspace W of Fn+1 , spanned by w1 = (a11 , a12 , . . . , a1n , −b1 ), u2 =
(a21 , a22 , . . . , a2n , −b2 ), . . . , um = (am1 , am2 , . . . , amn , −bm ) over F.

5. Find the ranks of the following systems of the non homogeneous equations over F, the field of real
numbers, and find all the solutions, if any

(a) x1 − x2 + 2x3 = 1,
2x1 + 2x3 = 1,
x1 − 3x2 + 4x3 = 2.

(b) 2x2 + 3x3 − 4x4 = 1,

2x3 + 3x4 = 4,
2x1 + 2x2 − 5x3 + 2x4 = 4,
2x1 − 6x3 + 9x4 = 7.
(c) x + y + z = 2,
2x + 3y − z = 8,
x − y − z = −8.
√
6. Solve the following system of equations over the field Q( 2),
√ √
2x − (2 + 3 2)y − 2z = 0,
√ √
(1 + 2)x − (3 + 2)y − 4z = 0,
√ √
(2 − 3 2)x − 7 2y + 6z = 0.

7. Solve the following system of equations over the field Z5 ,

2x + 4y + z = 0,
3x + 4y + 2z = 0,
x + 3y + 4z = 0.

2
 8. Find all the solutions of the following system of equations over the field Z3 , if any
x + 2y = 0,
y + z = 1,
x + y + z = 2.

9. Solve the following system of equations over the field Z11 ,

2x + y + z = 0,
7x + 2y = 0,
x − 2y + 2z = 0.

10. Find all the solutions of the following system of equations over the field Z13 , if any
2x + 3y + z = 6,
x + y + 2z = 12,
5y + 3z = 3.