• Linear Algebra

    How can we compute basis for Nullspace?

    There are at least two answers to this question; one of these is more educative and the other one is at least as educative (in a different and profound way) as well as practical. Method 1 The first method is a more introductory level method. It is helpful to know it and good to read it as a refresher even if one is more advanced student of the topic. A linear system $\mathbf{Ax=b}$ is homogeneous when $\mathbf b=\mathbf 0$ and nonhomogeneous…

  • Linear Algebra

    Since we already have SVD, do we need URV factorization?

    The SVD factorization is a special case of the URV factorization that has many great properties. The latter decomposes a matrix $A_{m\times n}$ as $$A=URV^T,$$ where $U=(U_1|U_2)$ is an orthonormal matrix such that $U_1$ is a basis for $R(A)$, $U_2$ is a basis for $N(A^T)$; and $V=(V_1|V_2)$ is another orthonormal matrix such that $V_1$ is a basis for $R(A^T)$ and $V_2$ is a basis for $N(A)$. Suppose that the rank of $A$ is $r$, in which case $U_1$ has $r$ columns…

  • Linear Algebra

    Drazin Inverse and what it means

    The Drazin inverse and the discussion around it (p400 of C.D.Meyer) made me truly grasp some of the points about what a generalized inverse is and what is the connection between linear operators and matrices; and change of basis. The Drazin inverse is a natural consequence of the Core-Nilpotent decomposition, according to which, a matrix can be decomposed as $$A=Q\begin{pmatrix}C_{r\times r} & 0 \\ 0 & N\end{pmatrix}Q^{-1},$$where $C$ is nonsingular, and $N$ is nilpotent. Here, $r$ is not the rank of…