Basis of annihilator of subspace in $\mathbb{R}^3$

abstract-algebralinear algebralinear-transformationssolution-verification

I want to find a basis for the annihilator, $U^{\circ}$, of the subspace $U:=Span((1,0,0))\subseteq \mathbb{R}^3$. As far as I have understood, in $\mathbb{R}^n$ the linear functionals can be seen as the dot-product between two vectors. Then, the annihilator can be seen as:
$$
U^{\circ}=\left\{x \in \mathbb{R}^{3}\ |\ \forall u \in U: x^{T} \cdot u=0\right\}
$$

With the basis:
$$\{(0,1,0),(0,0,1)\}$$
Will someone confirm if this is correct?

Best Answer

No. The annihilator of $U$ is a subset of $(\Bbb R^3)^*$, not of $\Bbb R^3$. You have$$U^\circ=\{\alpha\in(\Bbb R^3)^*\mid\alpha(1,0,0)=0\},$$a basis of which is $\{\alpha_1,\alpha_2\}$, with$$\alpha_1(x,y,z)=y\text{ and }\alpha_2(x,y,z)=z.$$And, yes,$$\alpha_1(x,y,z)=(x,y,z).(0,1,0)\text{ and }\alpha_2(x,y,z)=(x,y,z).(0,0,1).$$Nevertheless, $\alpha_1,\alpha_2\in(\Bbb R^3)^*$, whereas $(0,1,0),(0,0,1)\in\Bbb R^3$.

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