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A First Course in Linear Algebra, 2017a

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28 Systems of Equations<br />

all three homogeneous l<strong>in</strong>ear systems have exactly the same solutions. By Lemma 1.26 we conclude that<br />

B + = C + . By construction, we must also have B = C.<br />

♠<br />

Accord<strong>in</strong>g to this theorem we can say that each matrix A has a unique reduced row-echelon form.<br />

1.2.4 Rank and Homogeneous Systems<br />

There is a special type of system which requires additional study. This type of system is called a homogeneous<br />

system of equations, which we def<strong>in</strong>ed above <strong>in</strong> Def<strong>in</strong>ition 1.3. Our focus <strong>in</strong> this section is to<br />

consider what types of solutions are possible for a homogeneous system of equations.<br />

Consider the follow<strong>in</strong>g def<strong>in</strong>ition.<br />

Def<strong>in</strong>ition 1.29: Trivial Solution<br />

Consider the homogeneous system of equations given by<br />

a 11 x 1 + a 12 x 2 + ···+ a 1n x n = 0<br />

a 21 x 1 + a 22 x 2 + ···+ a 2n x n = 0<br />

...<br />

a m1 x 1 + a m2 x 2 + ···+ a mn x n = 0<br />

Then, x 1 = 0,x 2 = 0,···,x n = 0 is always a solution to this system. We call this the trivial solution.<br />

If the system has a solution <strong>in</strong> which not all of the x 1 ,···,x n are equal to zero, then we call this solution<br />

nontrivial . The trivial solution does not tell us much about the system, as it says that 0 = 0! Therefore,<br />

when work<strong>in</strong>g with homogeneous systems of equations, we want to know when the system has a nontrivial<br />

solution.<br />

Suppose we have a homogeneous system of m equations, us<strong>in</strong>g n variables, and suppose that n > m.<br />

In other words, there are more variables than equations. Then, it turns out that this system always has<br />

a nontrivial solution. Not only will the system have a nontrivial solution, but it also will have <strong>in</strong>f<strong>in</strong>itely<br />

many solutions. It is also possible, but not required, to have a nontrivial solution if n = m and n < m.<br />

Consider the follow<strong>in</strong>g example.<br />

Example 1.30: Solutions to a Homogeneous System of Equations<br />

F<strong>in</strong>d the nontrivial solutions to the follow<strong>in</strong>g homogeneous system of equations<br />

2x + y − z = 0<br />

x + 2y − 2z = 0<br />

Solution. Notice that this system has m = 2 equations and n = 3variables,son > m. Therefore by our<br />

previous discussion, we expect this system to have <strong>in</strong>f<strong>in</strong>itely many solutions.<br />

The process we use to f<strong>in</strong>d the solutions for a homogeneous system of equations is the same process

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