How do you decompose a vector in into parts belonging to W and W perp?
Conditions
- The ambient space is .
- has basis .
- has basis .
- The target vector is given, e.g., .
Reasoning, step by step
- Start with an arbitrary vector in , such as .
- Identify the components corresponding to the basis of : the first two entries (4 and 3).
- Construct the vector in : .
- Identify the components corresponding to the basis of : the last two entries (-2 and 6).
- Construct the vector in : .
- Verify that the sum of these two vectors equals the original vector.
- Conclude that the vector is decomposed into a -part and a -part.
Example
The whiteboard shows the specific decomposition: .
Common misconceptions
- Thinking that the decomposition requires solving a system of linear equations; in this aligned basis case, it is a direct coordinate split.
- Assuming that the zero entries in the constructed vectors are arbitrary; they are forced by the definition of the subspaces' bases.
Watch the explanation
Connected concepts
Explore next
Related questions
The lecturer states that the representation is unique because, in the context of a direct sum , there is only one way to split a given vector into a part belonging to and a part belonging to . No other pair of vectors from these subspaces can sum to the same original vector.
Conditions: The ambient space is .; and are the specific subspaces defined on the board.; The equation holds.
The representation is unique because the direct sum implies that the intersection of and contains only the zero vector. Therefore, there is only one way to express any vector in as the sum of a vector from and a vector from .
Conditions: and are subspaces of .; .; The equation holds.
A general vector in is decomposed by separating its coordinates into two blocks. The first two coordinates form a vector in , and the last two coordinates form a vector in .
Conditions: The ambient space is .; has basis .; has basis .; The vector is represented as with .
The example defines a subspace spanned by the first two standard basis vectors of , and its orthogonal complement spanned by the last two standard basis vectors. Together, they form a direct sum that equals the entire space .
Conditions: The ambient space is .; The bases are taken as given on the board.
Answers are generated from source material and independently checked. Consult the original video or creator if something is unclear.