Are the following functions linearly independent

linear algebra

I have 4 functions.

$f_{1} = \cos(x)$
$f_{2} = \sin(x)$
$f_{3} = e^x\cos(x)$
$f_{4} = e^x\sin(x)$

Is $\{f_{1}, f_{2}, f_{3}, f_{4}\}$ linearly independent in $C(\mathbb{R})$? My inital conclusion is no because the linear combination of these functions $af_{1} + bf_{2} + cf_{3} + df_{4} = 0$ for $a=b=c=d=1\neq 0$ namely for when $x = 3\pi/4$. However, I'm not sure if my reasoning is correct. Any help in explaining whether it is linearly independent or dependent would be helpful. Thank you.

Best Answer

Hint: Linear dependence means we have $af_1(x)+bf_2(x)+cf_3(x)+df_4 (x)=0$ for every $x$ (with not all coefficients $0$), not just for one particular value of $x$.

Put $x=0, x=\pi, x=\pi /2$ and $x =\pi /3$. (Do you know the values of $\sin x$ and $\cos x$ for these values of $x$?). You will get $4$ equations for $a,b,c,d$. Try to show from these equations that $a=b=c=d=0$.

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