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Mathematics LibreTexts

9: Change of Basis

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If A is an m×n matrix, the corresponding matrix transformation TA:RnRm is defined by

TA(x)=Ax for all columns x in Rn

It was shown in Theorem [thm:005789] that every linear transformation T:RnRm is a matrix transformation; that is, T=TA for some m×n matrix A. Furthermore, the matrix A is uniquely determined by T. In fact, A is given in terms of its columns by

A=[T(e1)T(e2)T(en)]

where {e1,e2,,en} is the standard basis of Rn.

In this chapter we show how to associate a matrix with any linear transformation T:VW where V and W are finite-dimensional vector spaces, and we describe how the matrix can be used to compute T(v) for any v in V. The matrix depends on the choice of a basis B in V and a basis D in W, and is denoted MDB(T). The case when W=V is particularly important. If B and D are two bases of V, we show that the matrices MBB(T) and MDD(T) are similar, that is MDD(T)=P1MBB(T)P for some invertible matrix P. Moreover, we give an explicit method for constructing P depending only on the bases B and D. This leads to some of the most important theorems in linear algebra, as we shall see in Chapter [chap:11].


This page titled 9: Change of Basis is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by W. Keith Nicholson (Lyryx Learning Inc.) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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