Theorem: Let V be a vector space and B V .

Then TFAE:
(i) B is a basis of V
(ii) B is a maximal linearly independent set in V , i.e., B is linearly
independent and B {u} is linearly dependent for any u V .
(iii) B is a minimal spanning set of V , i.e., span(B) = V and no
proper subset of B can span V .
Proof: (i) (ii): Since B is a basis, span(B) = V . If v V , then
v is a linear combination of elements of B B {v } is linearly
dependent B is a maximal linearly independent subset of V .
(ii) (iii): Since B is linearly independent, for any
v B, v
/ span(B\{v }) no subset of B can span V .
If v V \ span(B), then B {v } is linearly independent, which
contradicts the assumption span(B) = V .

(iii) (i): Assume that B is a minimal spanning set of V

span(B) = V . Suppose B is linearly dependent, i.e., u B
such that u span(B\{u}).
span(B\{u}) = V which contradicts the assumption that B is
minimal spanning set.
Definition: A vector space V is said to be finite dimensional if
there exists a finite basis for V .
Definition: A vector space which is not finite dimensional is called
infinite dimensional vector space.
Examples: Fn , Pn , Mmn (F) are finite dimensional vector spaces
over F.

Theorem: If a vector space has a finite spanning set, then it has a

finite basis.
Proof: Let V = span S for some S V with |S| < . If S is
linearly independent, then S is a basis.
Otherwise, u1 S such that u1 span(S\{u1 }). Therefore,
span(S\{u1 }) = V . If S1 = S\{u1 } is linearly independent, then
S1 is a basis.
Otherwise, one can repeat the process. The process has to stop
since S is a finite set and we end up with a subset Sk of S such
that Sk is linearly independent and span Sk = V .

Exercise: Compute a basis of V = {(x, y ) R2 : 2x y = 0}.

Solution: (x, y ) V y = 2x (x, y ) = (x, 2x) = x(1, 2)
V = span({(1, 2)}).
Since {(1, 2)} is linearly independent, it is a basis for V .
Exercise: Compute a basis of
V = {(x, y , z) R3 : x 2y + z = 0}.
Solution: (x, y , z) V x = 2y z
(x, y , z) = (2y z, y , z) = y (2, 1, 0) + z(1, 0, 1)
V = span({(2, 1, 0), (1, 0, 1)}).
Check whether these vectors are linearly independent.
{(2, 1, 0), (1, 0, 1)} is a basis of V .
Exercise: Compute a basis of
V = {(x1 , . . . , x5 ) R5 : x1 + x3 x5 = 0 and x2 x4 = 0}.