[Math] Gram-Schmidt procedure gives null vector as solution.

linear algebravector-spaces

So I am trying to find an orthonormal basis of a subspace, defined as

$U := \{x \in \mathbb{R}^4 | x_1 + 2x_2 – x_4 = 0 \} \subset \mathbb{R}^4 $

I choose $w_1=\pmatrix{0\\0\\1\\0},w_2=\pmatrix{1\\0\\0\\1},w_3=\pmatrix{1\\0\\1\\1} $

The Gram-Schmidt procedure lead to the following vectors $v_1=\pmatrix{0\\0\\1\\0},v_2=\pmatrix{1\\0\\0\\1},v_3=\pmatrix{0\\0\\0\\0} $

But I suspect $v_3$ not to be a valid solution. So what did I wrong here? (Is $w_1$ not allowed?)

Additionally, how do I check vectors to be a basis of a linear subspace?

Best Answer

Your original vector $w_3$ is a linear combination of the previous two; in fact, $w_3 = w_1 + w_2$. Whenever that happens, the Gram-Schmidt process will spit out the zero vector. (Because $v_3$ will be forced to be in the span of $w_1$ and $w_2$, but also orthogonal to $w_1$ and $w_2$, the only possibility for $v_3$ is $0$.)

Go back and produce a basis for your subspace, then apply the Gram-Schmidt process and you'll have an orthogonal basis as desired.

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