Finding bases for a matrix’s four subspaces without computing the matrix

linear algebra

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I have attached what A is in a picture. I'm wondering how I can find the bases of A without computing A (i.e. by just looking at the LU factorisation of A, how can we work out the bases for the column, row, null and left nullspace?)

So far I think rank of A is 3, because rank of L and U are both 3. And because L and U both have 3 linearly independent columns, A (=LU) has 3 independent columns as well? Which leads to dimension of column space of A being 3?

I also know that the dimension of the nullspace of A is 4-3 = 1. But how do I work out some general bases of the 4 subspaces?

Thank you for your time!

Best Answer

It turns out $A=LU$ has rank $3$. To see this, we'll show that $R(A)=\mathbb{R}^3$. Choose $b\in \mathbb{R}^3$ arbitrary. Note $Ax=b$ has a solution iff $\Big[U\Big|L^{-1}b\Big]$ is consistent. The latter augmented system is consisent since $U$ has $3$ pivot columns, so $A$ has rank $3$; any basis for $\mathbb{R}^3$ will suffice as a basis for $R(A)$. Next, observe how $Ax=0$ iff $Ux=0$ so $N(A)=N(U)$. You can find $N(A^T)$ using the fact $\Big[R(A)\Big]^{\perp}=N(A^T)$. Lastly, to find $R(A^T)$, use the facts that $$\text{rank}(A^T)=\text{rank}(A)=3$$ $$\text{rank}(U^T)=3$$ $$R(A^T)\subseteq R(U^T)$$ to conclude $R(A^T)=R(U^T)$.