In linear algebra, the quotient of a vector space V V V by a subspace N N N is a vector space obtained by “collapsing” N N N to zero. The space obtained is called a quotient space and is denoted V / N V/N V/N (read “ V V V mod N N N” or “ V V V by N N N”).
Contents
1 Definition
Formally, the construction is as follows. Let V V V be a vector space over a field K K K, and let N N N be a subspace of V V V. We define an equivalence relation ~ on V V V by stating that x y x ~ y x y if x − y ∈ N x − y ∈ N x−y∈N. That is, x x x is related to y y y if one can be obtained from the other by adding an element of N N N. From this definition, one can deduce that any element of N N N is related to the zero vector; more precisely, all the vectors in N N N get mapped into the equivalence class of the zero vector.
The equivalence class – or, in this case, the coset – of
x
x
x is often denoted
[
x
]
=
x
+
N
[x] = x + N
[x]=x+N
since it is given by
[
x
]
=
x
+
n
:
n
∈
N
.
[x] = {x + n : n ∈ N}.
[x]=x+n:n∈N.
The quotient space
V
/
N
V/N
V/N is then defined as
V
/
V/~
V/ , the set of all equivalence classes induced by
~
on
V
V
V. Scalar multiplication and addition are defined on the equivalence classes by
α
[
x
]
=
[
α
x
]
α[x] = [αx]
α[x]=[αx] for all
α
∈
K
α ∈ K
α∈K, and
[
x
]
+
[
y
]
=
[
x
+
y
]
.
[x] + [y] = [x + y].
[x]+[y]=[x+y].
It is not hard to check that these operations are well-defined (i.e. do not depend on the choice of representatives). These operations turn the quotient space V / N V/N V/N into a vector space over K K K with N N N being the zero class,
The mapping that associates to v ∈ V v ∈ V v∈V the equivalence class [ v ] [v] [v] is known as the quotient map.
Alternatively phrased, the quotient space V / N {\displaystyle V/N} V/N is the set of all affine subsets of V {\displaystyle V} V which are parallel to N {\displaystyle N} N.[4]