Subspaces and sum of projections

linear algebra

If $ F_1 $ and $ F_2 $ are vector subspaces of a space $ E $, $ P_1 $ and $ P_2 $ projections of $ E $ on $ F_1 $ and $ F_2 $ respectively and $F_1 \cap F_2 = \left\{\overline{0}\right\} $, then $P_1 + P_2$ is a projection?

I do the following, a linear operator $P$ is a projector iff $P^2=P$. We have:

$$
(P_1+P_2)^2=P_1^2+P_2^2+P_1P_2+P_2P_1= P_1+P_2+P_1P_2+P_2P_1
$$

So the the sum is a projector iff $P_1P_2+P_2P_1=0$

In this case we see that the answer is not always true, so I want to find a counterexample that refutes the statement.

Best Answer

Let $E = \mathbb R^2$, let $F_1 = \operatorname{Span}(e_1)$, $F_2 = \operatorname{Span}(e_1 + e_2)$. Let $P_1$ and $P_2$ be orthogonal projections of $E$ onto $F_1$, $F_2$ respectively (i.e. $P_1(v) = \operatorname{Proj}_{e_1} v$ and $P_2(v) = \operatorname{Proj}_{e_1 + e_2} v$.

Take the vector $v = e_1$. Then $P_2 P_1(v) = P_2(e_1) = \frac{1}{2}(e_1 + e_2)$, on the other hand $P_1P_2(v) = P_1(\frac{1}{2}(e_1 + e_2)) = \frac{1}{2}e_1$. Clearly their sum is not the zero vector.

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