1.2 Subspaces

  • Definition. A vector (or linear) subspace of a vector space \(V\) over \(\F \) is a non-empty subset \(U\sub V\) which is closed under addition and scalar multiplication: whenever \(u,u_1,u_2\in U\) and \(\lambda \in \F \), then \(u_1+u_2\in U\) and \(\lambda u\in U\).

    In this case, we write \(U\leq V\).

    Say that \(U\) is trivial if \(U=\set {0}\) and proper if \(U\neq V\).