Chapter 4 (Vector Spaces): Change of basis (基的变换)

本文为《Linear algebra and its applications》的读书笔记

Change of basis

• When a basis $\mathcal{B}$ is chosen for an $n$-dimensional vector space $V$, the associated coordinate mapping onto ${\mathbb{R}}^n$ provides a coordinate system for $V$. Each $\mathbf{x}$ in $V$ is identified uniquely by its $\mathcal{B}$-coordinate vector $[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{B}}$.
• In this section, we study how $[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{C}}$ and $[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{B}}$ are related for each $\mathbf{x}$ in $V$.

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EXAMPLE 1

Consider two bases B = { b 1 , b 2 } \mathcal B=\{\boldsymbol b_1,\boldsymbol b_2\} B={b1​,b2​} and C = { c 1 , c 2 } \mathcal C=\{\boldsymbol c_1,\boldsymbol c_2\} C={c1​,c2​} for a vector space $V$, such that
Suppose $[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{B}}=\left[\begin{array}{c}3\\ 1\end{array}\right]$. Find $[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{C}}$.

SOLUTION

• Apply the coordinate mapping determined by $\mathcal{C}$ to $\mathbf{x}$. Since the coordinate mapping is a linear transformation,
  
• Thus
  $$[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{C}}=\left[\begin{array}{rr}4& -6\\ 1& 1\end{array}\right]\left[\begin{array}{l}3\\ 1\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{l}6\\ 4\end{array}\right]$$

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The theorem shows that to solve the change-of-basis problem, we need the coordinate vectors of the old basis relative to the new basis.

• The matrix $\underset{\mathcal{C}\leftarrow \mathcal{B}}{P}$ is called the change-of-coordinates matrix from $\mathcal{B}$ to $\mathcal{C}$ (坐标变换矩阵). Multiplication by $\underset{\mathcal{C}\leftarrow \mathcal{B}}{P}$ converts $\mathcal{B}$-coordinates into $\mathcal{C}$-coordinates. Figure 2 illustrates the change-of-coordinates equation (4).
  
• Since $\underset{\mathcal{C}\leftarrow \mathcal{B}}{P}$ is invertible,
  $$(\underset{\mathcal{C}\leftarrow \mathcal{B}}{P}{)}^{-1}[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{C}}=[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{B}}$$Thus $(\underset{\mathcal{C}\leftarrow \mathcal{B}}{P}{)}^{-1}$ is the matrix that converts $\mathcal{C}$-coordinates into $\mathcal{B}$-coordinates. That is,
  $$(\underset{\mathcal{C}\leftarrow \mathcal{B}}{P}{)}^{-1}=\underset{\mathcal{B}\leftarrow \mathcal{C}}{P}$$

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EXAMPLE 2

Let ${\mathbf{b}}_1=\left[\begin{array}{c}-9\\ 1\end{array}\right],{\mathbf{b}}_2=\left[\begin{array}{c}-5\\ -1\end{array}\right],{\mathbf{c}}_1=\left[\begin{array}{c}1\\ -4\end{array}\right],{\mathbf{c}}_2=\left[\begin{array}{c}3\\ -5\end{array}\right]$, and consider the bases for ${\mathbb{R}}^2$ given by B = { b 1 , b 2 } \mathcal B = \{\boldsymbol b_1,\boldsymbol b_2\} B={b1​,b2​} and C = { c 1 , c 2 } \mathcal C = \{\boldsymbol c_1,\boldsymbol c_2\} C={c1​,c2​}. Find the change-of-coordinates matrix from $\mathcal{B}$ to $\mathcal{C}$.

SOLUTION

• To solve both systems simultaneously, augment the coefficient matrix with ${\mathbf{b}}_1$ and ${\mathbf{b}}_2$, and row reduce:
  
• Observe that
  In general,
  

Change of Basis in ${\mathbb{R}}^n$

• If B = { b 1 , . . . , b n } \mathcal B=\{\boldsymbol b_1,...,\boldsymbol b_n\} B={b1​,...,bn​} and $\epsilon$ is the standard basis { e 1 , . . . , e n } \{\boldsymbol e_1,...,\boldsymbol e_n\} {e1​,...,en​} in ${\mathbb{R}}^n$, then $[{\mathbf{b}}_1{]}_{\epsilon }={\mathbf{b}}_1$, and likewise for the other vectors in $\mathcal{B}$. In this case, $\underset{\epsilon \leftarrow \mathcal{B}}{P}$ is the same as the change-of-coordinates matrix $P_{\mathcal{B}}$ introduced in Section 4.4, namely,
  $$P_{\mathcal{B}}=[{\mathbf{b}}_1...{\mathbf{b}}_n]$$
• Recall that for each $\mathbf{x}$ in ${\mathbb{R}}^n$,
  $$P_{\mathcal{C}}[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{C}}=\mathbf{x}and{P}_{\mathcal{B}}[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{B}}=\mathbf{x}$$Thus
  $$[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{C}}=P_{\mathcal{C}}^{-1}\mathbf{x}=P_{\mathcal{C}}^{-1}{P}_{\mathcal{B}}[\mathbf{x}{]}_{\mathcal{B}}$$In ${\mathbb{R}}^n$, the change-of-coordinates matrix $\underset{\mathcal{C}\leftarrow \mathcal{B}}{P}$ may be computed as $P_{\mathcal{C}}^{-1}{P}_{\mathcal{B}}$.