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What is the concrete orthogonal-complement example shown on the board in R4R^4?

The example defines a subspace WW spanned by the first two standard basis vectors of R4\mathbb{R}^4, and its orthogonal complement W⊥W^\perp spanned by the last two standard basis vectors. Together, they form a direct sum that equals the entire space R4\mathbb{R}^4.

Conditions

  • The ambient space is R4\mathbb{R}^4.
  • The bases are taken as given on the board.

Reasoning, step by step

  1. Identify the ambient space as R4\mathbb{R}^4.
  2. Note the basis for WW: {(1000),(0100)}\left\{\begin{pmatrix}1\\0\\0\\0\end{pmatrix},\begin{pmatrix}0\\1\\0\\0\end{pmatrix}\right\}.
  3. Note the basis for W⊥W^\perp: {(0010),(0001)}\left\{\begin{pmatrix}0\\0\\1\\0\end{pmatrix},\begin{pmatrix}0\\0\\0\\1\end{pmatrix}\right\}.
  4. Observe the equation W⊕W⊥=R4W \oplus W^\perp = \mathbb{R}^4 written on the board.
  5. Recognize that this setup illustrates how a subspace and its orthogonal complement split the ambient space into coordinate blocks.

Example

The whiteboard heading is "Orthogonal Complements" and the worked setup gives bases for WW and W⊥W^\perp inside R4\mathbb{R}^4. The board states W⊕W⊥=R4W \oplus W^\perp = \mathbb{R}^4.

Common misconceptions

  • Thinking that W⊥W^\perp is defined by a complex calculation; here it is simply given by the complementary standard basis vectors.
  • Assuming that the direct sum symbol ⊕\oplus means standard addition of sets; it specifically denotes a unique decomposition.

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