A SAMPLE RESEARCH PAPER/THESIS/DISSERTATION ON ASPECTS OF

ELEMENTARY LINEARY ALGEBRA

by

James Smith

B.S., Southern Illinois University, 2010

A Research Paper/Thesis/Dissertation
Submitted in Partial Fulllment of the Requirements for the
Master of Science Degree

Department of Mathematics
in the Graduate School
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
July, 2006
(Please replace Name and Year with your information and delete all instructions)

Copyright by NAME, YEAR

All Rights Reserved

**(This page is optional)**

RESEARCH PAPER/THESIS/DISSERTATION APPROVAL

TITLE (in all caps)

By

(Author)

A Thesis/Dissertation Submitted in Partial

Fulllment of the Requirements

for the Degree of

(Degree)

in the eld of (Major)

Approved by:

(Name of thesis/dissertation chair), Chair

(Name of committee member 1)

(Name of committee member 2)

(Name of committee member 3)

(Name of committee member 4)

Graduate School
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
(Date of Approval)
 AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF

NAME OF STUDENT, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in MAJOR

FIELD, presented on DATE OF DEFENSE, at Southern Illinois University Car-

bondale. (Do not use abbreviations.)

TITLE: A SAMPLE RESEARCH PAPER ON ASPECTS OF ELEMENTARY

LINEAR ALGEBRA

MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. J. Jones

(Begin the abstract here, typewritten and double-spaced. A thesis abstract

should consist of 350 words or less including the heading. A page and one-half is

approximately 350 words.)

iii
 DEDICATION

(NO REQUIRED FOR RESEARCH PAPER)

(The dedication, as the name suggests is a personal dedication of one’s work.

The section is OPTIONAL and should be double-spaced if included in the the-

sis/dissertation.)

iv
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

(NOT REQUIRED IN RESEARCH PAPER)

I would like to thank Dr. Jones for his invaluable assistance and insights leading
to the writing of this paper. My sincere thanks also goes to the seventeen members

of my graduate committee for their patience and understanding during the nine
years of eort that went into the production of this paper.

A special thanks also to Howard Anton [1], from whose book many of the

examples used in this sample research paper have been quoted. Another special
thanks to Prof. Ronald Grimmer who provided the previous thesis template upon

which much of this is based and for help with graphics packages.

v
 PREFACE

(DO NOT USE IN RESEARCH PAPER)

A preface or foreword may contain the author’s statement of the purpose of

the study or special notes to the reader. This section is OPTIONAL and should be

double-spaced if used in the thesis/dissertation.

vi
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1 Systems of Linear Equations and Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.1 Introductions to Systems of Linear Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2 Gaussian Elimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.3 Further Results on Systems of Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.3.1 Some Important Theorems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 Determinants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.1 The Determinant Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.2 Evaluating Determinants by Row Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.2.1 Some Final Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.3 Properties of the Determinant Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Vita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

vii
 LIST OF TABLES

2.1 An example table showing how centering works with extended captioning. 9

viii
 LIST OF FIGURES

1.1 (a) no solution, (b) one solution, (c) innitely many solutions . . . . . 3
1.2 Inside and outside numbers of a matrix multiplication problem of A×B =

AB, showing how the inside dimensions are dropped and the dimensions

of the product are the outside dimenions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.1 An encapsulated postscript le. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.2 A second encapsulated postscript le. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.1 Two rows of graphics: (a) Square (b) Circle (c) Rectangle . . . . . . 12

3.2 Three rows of graphics: (a)–(c) Squares. (d)–(f) Circles. (g)–(i) Ovals. 13

3.3 Use of verbatim environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3.4 Matrix Rotated 90 degrees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

ix
 INTRODUCTION

This paper provides an elementary treatment of linear algebra that is suitable

for students in their freshman or sophomore year. Calculus is not a prerequisite.

The aim in writing this paper is to present the fundamentals of linear alge-

bra in the clearest possible way. Pedagogy is the main consideration. Formalism
is secondary. Where possible, basic ideas are studied by means of computational

examples and geometrical interpretation.

The treatment of proofs varies. Those proofs that are elementary and hve sig-

nicant pedagogical content are presented precisely, in a style tailored for beginners.

A few proofs that are more difficult, but pedgogically valuable, are placed at the end
of of the section and marked “Optional”. Still other proofs are omitted completely,

with emphasis placed on applying the theorem.

Chapter 1 deals with systems of linear equations, how to solve them, and
some of their properties. It also contains the basic material on matrices and their

arithmetic properties.
Chapter 2 deals with determinants. I have used the classical permutation

approach. This is less abstract than the approach through n-linear alternative forms

and gives the student a better intuitive grasp of the subject than does an
inductive development.

Chapter 3 introduces vectors in 2-space and 3-space as arrows and develops the

analytic geometry of lines and planes in 3-space. Depending on the background of

the students, this chapter can be omitted without a loss of continuity.

1
 CHAPTER 1

SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS AND MATRICES

1.1 INTRODUCTIONS TO SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS

In this section we introduce base terminology and discuss a method for solving

systems of linear equations.

A line in the xy-plain can be represented algebraically by an equation of the

form
a1 x + a2 y = b

An equation of this kind is called a linear equation in the variables x and y. More

generally, we dene a linear equation in the n variables x1, . . . , xn to be one that

can be expressed in the form

a 1 x1 + a 2 x2 + · · · + a n xn = b (1.1)

where a1, a2, . . . an and b are real constants.

Definition. A nite set of linear equations in the variables x1, x2 , . . . , xn is called

a system of linear equations.

Not all systems of linear equations has solutions. A system of equations that

has no solution is said to be inconsistent. If there is at least one solution, it is

called consistent. To illustrate the possibilities that can occur in solving systems of

linear equations, consider a general system of two linear equations in the unknowns

x and y:

a1 x + b1 y = c1

a2 x + b2 y = c2

2
The graphs of these equations are lines; call them l1 and l2. Since a point (x, y) lies

on a line if and only if the numbers x and y satisfy the equation of the line, the

solutions of the system of equations will correspond to points of intersection of l1

and l2. There are three possibilities:

l1 l2 l1 l2 l1 , l2
   
 
    
  
 
   
    
    
    

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1.1. (a) no solution, (b) one solution, (c) innitely many solutions

The three possiblities illustrated in Figure 1.1 are as follows:

(a) l1 and l2 are parallel, in which case there is no intersection, and consequently

no solution to the system.

(b) l1 and l2 intersect at only one point, in which case the system has exactly one

solution.

3
 (c) l1 and l2 coincide, in which case there are innitely many points of intersection,

and consequently innitely many solutions to the system.

Although we have considered only two equations with two unknowns here, we
will show later that this same result holds for arbitrary systems; that is, every system

of linear equations has either no solutions, exactly one solution, or innitely many

solutions.

1.2 GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION

In this section we give a systematic procedure for solving systems of linear

equations; it is based on the idea of reducing the augmented matrix to a form that

is simple enough so that the system of equations can be solved by inspection.

Remark. It is not difficult to see that a matrix in row-echelon form must have zeros

below each leading 1. In contrast a matrix in reduced row-echelon form must have
zeros above and below each leading 1.

As a direct result of Figure 1.1 on page 3 we have the following important

theorem.

Theorem 1.2.1. A homogenous system of linear equations with more unknowns

than equations always has infinitely many solutions

The denition of matrix multiplication requires that the number of columns of

the rst factor A be the same as the number of rows of the second factor B in order
to form the product AB. If this condition is not satised, the product is undened.

A convenient way to determine whether a product of two matrices is dened is to

write down the size of the rst factor and, to the right of it, write down the size of
the second factor. If, as in Figure 1.2, the inside numbers are the same, then the

product is dened. The outside numbers then give the size of the product.

4
 A B AB
m × r r × n = m × n

inside
outside

Figure 1.2. Inside and outside numbers of a matrix multiplica-

tion problem of A×B = AB, showing how the inside dimensions
are dropped and the dimensions of the product are the outside
dimenions.

Although the commutative law for multiplication is not valid in matrix arith-

metic, many familiar laws of arithmetic are valid for matrices. Some of the most
important ones and their names are summarized in the following proposition.

Proposition 1.2.2. Assuming that the sizes of the matrices are such that the in-

dicated operations can be performed, the following rules of matrix arithmetic are

valid.

(a) A+B = B+A (Commutative law for addition)

(b) A + (B + C) = (A + B) + C (Associative law for addition)

(c) A(BC) = (AB)C (Associative law for multiplication)

1.3 FURTHER RESULTS ON SYSTEMS OF EQUATIONS

In this section we shall establish more results about systems of linear equations

and invertibility of matrices. Our work will lead to a method for solving n equations

in n unknowns that is more efficient than Gaussian elimination for certain kinds of
problems.

5
1.3.1 Some Important Theorems

Theorem 1.3.1. If A is an invertible n × n matrix, then for each n × 1 matrix B,

the system of equations AX = B has exactly one solution, namely, X = A−1 B.

Proof. Since A(A−1B) = B, X = A−1 B is a solution of AX = B. To show that this

is the only solution, we will assume that X0 is an arbitrary solution, and then show
that X0 must be the solution A−1 B.

If X0 is any solution, then AX0 = B. Multiplying both sides by A−1 , we obtain

X0 = A−1 B.

Theorem 1.3.2. Let A be a square matrix.

(a) If B is a square matrix satisfying BA = I,then B = A−1.

(b) If B is a square matrix satisfying AB = I, then B = A−1 .

In our later work the following fundamental problem will occur over and over
again in various contexts.

Let A be xed m × n matrix. Find all m × 1 matrices B such that the system
of equations AX = B is consistent.

If A is an invertible matrix, Theorem 1.3.2 completely solves this problem by

asserting that for every m×n matrix B, AX = B has the unique solution X = A−1 B.

6
 CHAPTER 2

DETERMINANTS

2.1 THE DETERMINANT FUNCTION

We are all familiar with functions lilke f (x) = sin x and f (x) = x2 , which

associate a real number f (x) with a real value of the variable x. Since both x
and f (x) assume only real values, such functions can be described as real-valued

functions of a matrix variable, that is, functions that associate a real number f (X)
with a matrix X.

Before we shall be able to dene the determinant function, it will be necessary

to establish some results concerning permutations.

Definition. A permutation of the set of integers {1, 2, . . . , n} is an arrangement of

these integers in some order without ommissions or repetitions.

Example 2.1.1. There are six dierent permutations of the set of integers {1, 2, 3}.
These are

(1, 2, 3)(2, 1, 3)(3, 1, 2) (2.1)

(1, 3, 2)(2, 3, 1)(3, 2, 1) (2.2)

One convenient method of systematically listing permutations is to use a per-

mutation tree. This method will be illustrated in our next example.

Example 2.1.2. List all permutations of the set of integers {1, 2, 3, 4}

Solution. By drawing a permutation tree with each branch representing all four
numbers, we see that there are a total of 24 possible permutations.

7
2.2 EVALUATING DETERMINANTS BY ROW REDUCTION

In this section we show that the determinant of a matrix can be evaluated by re-

ducing the matrix to row-echelon form. This method is of importance since it avoids
the lengthy computations involved directly applying the determinant denition.

We rst consider two class of matrices whose determinants can be easily eval-

uated, regardless of the size of the matrix.

Theorem 2.2.1. If A is any square matrix that contains a row of zeros, then
det(A) = 0.

Theorem 2.2.2. If A is an n × n triangular matrix, then det(A) is the product of

the entries on the main diagonal; that is det(A) = a11a22 · · · amn .

Example 2.2.1. Evaluate det(A) where

 
1 2
A=


 (2.3)
3 4

2.2.1 Some Final Conclusions

It should be evident from the examples in this section that whenever a square

matrix has two proportional rows (like the rst and second rows of A), it is possible
to introduce a row of zeros by adding a suitable mutliple of one of these rows to the

other. Thus, if a square matrix has two proportional rows, its determinant is zero.

In the next section we consider some examples of linear algebra functions ex-
pressed in table form – primarily to see the list of tables command works in Latex.

2.3 PROPERTIES OF THE DETERMINANT FUNCTION

In this section we develop some of the fundamental properties of the determi-

nant function. our work here will give us some further insight into the relationship

8
between a square matrix and its determinant. One of the immediate consequences of

this material will be an important determinant test for the invertibility of a matrix

Consider Table 2.1 and its implications in the area of linear algebra.

Function 1 2 3

Value 2.45 34.12 1.00

Determinant 0 0 0

Inverse 1 1 1

Table 2.1. An example table showing how centering works with

extended captioning.

It should be evident from the examples in this section that whenever a square

matrix has two proportional rows (like the rst and second rows of A), it is possible

9
to introduce a row of zeros by adding a suitable mutliple of one of these rows to the

other. Thus, if a square matrix has two proportional rows, its determinant is zero.

We hope this has given some insights into the basics of linear algebra and its
impact on the world around us. We leave you now with two encapsulated postscript

graphs which illustrate the main points discussed in this paper.

Figure 2.1. An encapsulated postscript le.

0.5

-10 -5 0 5t 10

-0.5

-1

Figure 2.2. A second encapsulated postscript le.

10
 CHAPTER 3

EXAMPLES

Some examples of the denitions found in the le ps-defs.tex follow below.

Here are examples of how you can use equation numbers with multiple line

equations.

(f + (g + h))(a) = f (a) + (g + h)(a)

= f (a) + (g(a) + h(a)) (3.1)

= (f (a) + g(a)) + h(a)

= (f + g)(a) + h(a)

= ((f + g) + h)(a) (3.2)

(f + (g + h))(a) = f (a) + (g + h)(a)

= f (a) + (g(a) + h(a))

= (f (a) + g(a)) + h(a) (3.3)

= (f + g)(a) + h(a)

= ((f + g) + h)(a)

(f + (g + h))(a) = f (a) + (g + h)(a)

= f (a) + (g(a) + h(a))

= (f (a) + g(a)) + h(a)

= (f + g)(a) + h(a)

= ((f + g) + h)(a)

11
 Below is a gure which shows how to line up small gures on multiple lines.

The .dvi version is immediately below. The .pdf version may be found underneath

the complete gure and commented out. If you exchange the sections commented
out, then you can compile a .pdf le.

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 3.1. Two rows of graphics: (a) Square (b) Circle (c) Rectangle

12
 Three gures across the page requires fairly small gures to t within the Grad-

uate School margins.

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

(g) (h) (i)

Figure 3.2. Three rows of graphics: (a)–(c) Squares. (d)–

(f) Circles. (g)–(i) Ovals.

13
 The verbatim environment can be useful when using data from a spreadsheet

as is done below.

X,TRUE_SUR,MSE SIM,MSE ZHAO,MSE JIAN,MSE PZHAO,MSE PJIAN

0.0 0.7520 0.03864 0.01407 0.01407 0.01180 0.01223
4.0 0.7273 0.04079 0.01675 0.01675 0.01479 0.01551
8.0 0.7035 0.04203 0.01923 0.01923 0.01675 0.01817
12.0 0.6524 0.04581 0.02157 0.02135 0.01932 0.02043
16.0 0.6029 0.05146 0.02345 0.02266 0.02304 0.02320
20.0 0.5551 0.05343 0.02498 0.02393 0.02627 0.02509
24.0 0.5089 0.05449 0.02677 0.02453 0.02936 0.02641
28.0 0.4641 0.05706 0.02901 0.02442 0.03315 0.02722
32.0 0.4209 0.05719 0.02910 0.02341 0.03558 0.02776
36.0 0.3790 0.05656 0.02974 0.02229 0.03745 0.02667
40.0 0.3385 0.05518 0.02940 0.02119 0.03864 0.02618
44.0 0.2994 0.05344 0.02989 0.02054 0.03928 0.02531
48.0 0.2615 0.04950 0.02803 0.01906 0.03855 0.02414
52.0 0.2249 0.04582 0.02712 0.01812 0.03849 0.02229
56.0 0.1895 0.04101 0.02454 0.01578 0.03632 0.01918
60.0 0.1552 0.03564 0.02282 0.01315 0.03372 0.01629
64.0 0.1220 0.03216 0.02124 0.00997 0.03188 0.01391
68.0 0.0900 0.02420 0.01730 0.00688 0.02551 0.01070
72.0 0.0590 0.01592 0.01254 0.00363 0.01811 0.00622
76.0 0.0290 0.00865 0.00838 0.00110 0.00886 0.00368

Figure 3.3. Use of verbatim environment

On the following page is an example of how to rotate text that is too long to

t within the horizontal margins that are required.

14
 0 0 0 0
0 1
B−(θ̂D1 (3; 1) − θ̂D1 (1; 1)) ··· C
B C
D1 −(θ̂D2 (3; 1) − θ̂D2 (1; 1)) 0 ··· ··· 0
B C
B (θ̂ (3; 1) − θ̂ (1; 1)) C
B D1 C
..
B C
0 (θ̂D2 (3; 1) − θ̂D2 (1; 1)) −(θ̂D3 (3; 1) − θ̂D3 (1; 1)) . ··· 0
B C
B C

.
B C
. .. .. .. ..
A=B C,
. . . . . 0
B C
B C
B C
B C
0 ··· 0 0 (θ̂Dn−1 (3; 1) − θ̂Dn−1 (1; 1))
B C
B C
B −(θ̂Dn (3; 1) − θ̂Dn (1; 1))C
B C
0 0 0 0 0 (θ̂Dn (3; 1) − θ̂Dn (1; 1))
@ A

15
0 1
B A1 C
B C
B C
BA C
B 2C
B C,
B . C

Figure 3.4. Matrix Rotated 90 degrees.

B . C
B . C
B C
An
@ A
 REFERENCES

[1] Anton, H., Elementary Linear Algebra, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1977.
[2] Huang, X. and Krantz, S.G., On a problem of Moser, Duke Math. J. 78 (1995),

213–228.

[3] Kellog, O.D., Harmonic functions and Green’s integral, Trans. Amer. Math.
Soc. 13 (1912), 109–132.

[4] Kruzhilin, N.G., Local automorphisms and mappings of smooth strictly pseudo-
convex hypersurfaces, (Russian), Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 271 (1983), 280–282.

[5] Macdonald, I.G., Symmetric Functions and Hall Polynomials, Second edition,

Clarendon, Oxford, 1995.

[6] Rasulov, K.M., Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 252 (1980), 1059–1063; English transl.

in Soviet Math. Dokl. 21 (1980).

[7] Rasulov, K.M., Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 270 (1983), 1061–1065; English transl.
in Soviet Math. Dokl. 27 (1983).

16
 APPENDICES

**(No Page Number)**

APPENDIX I

17
APPENDIX II

18
 VITA

Graduate School
Southern Illinois University

James Smith Date of Birth: July 01, 1975

2244 West College Street, Carebondale, Illinois 62901

1001 South Walnut Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60411

email address (email after graduation)

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

Bachelor of Science, Mathematics, May 1998
(ONLY MENTION DEGREES EARNED, NOT DEGREES IN PROGRESS)

Special Honors and Awards: (OMIT IF NONE)

Research Paper Title:

A Sample Research Paper on Aspects of Elementary Linear Algebra

Major Professor: Dr. J. Jones

Publications: (OMIT IF NONE)

19