Given $V$ vector space, and $W$ a subspace of $V$. How can I get the equations that describe $W$ if I'm only given its basis?
I would like to know the logic behind it rather than just the procedure or the direct answer
Given $V$ vector space, and $W$ a subspace of $V$. How can I get the equations that describe $W$ if I'm only given its basis?
I would like to know the logic behind it rather than just the procedure or the direct answer
The main idea is that $W$ is described by saying it's precisely the set of vectors orthogonal to $W^\perp$, the orthogonal complement. We find a basis for $W^\perp$ by solving $Ax=0$, where the basis vectors for $W$ are the row vectors of $A$. [To say $x$ solves $Ax=0$ is to say precisely that $x$ is orthogonal to the rows of $A$, and hence to any linear combination of them, i.e., orthogonal to $W$.] Then: If $v_1,\dots,v_k$ is a basis for $W^\perp$, i.e., for the nullspace of $A$, then $W$ is given precisely by the equations $v_1\cdot x = v_2\cdot x = \dots = v_k\cdot x = 0$. (The fancy way of writing this is to say that $W=(W^\perp)^\perp$.)
[It might help to watch Lecture 38 — or perhaps more — of these lectures.]