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The Four Fundamental Subspaces

Every m×nm \times n matrix AA has four fundamental subspaces:

Subspace Of Dimension Basis
Column space C(A)C(A) Rm\mathbb{R}^m rr Pivot columns of AA
Null space N(A)N(A) Rn\mathbb{R}^n n−rn - r Special solutions
Row space C(AT)C(A^T) Rn\mathbb{R}^n rr Nonzero rows of UU
Left null space N(AT)N(A^T) Rm\mathbb{R}^m m−rm - r From EE in EA=UEA = U

Where r=rank(A)r = \text{rank}(A).

The Big Picture

Rn=C(AT)⊕N(A)\mathbb{R}^n = C(A^T) \oplus N(A)

Rm=C(A)⊕N(AT)\mathbb{R}^m = C(A) \oplus N(A^T)

  • Row space and null space are orthogonal complements in Rn\mathbb{R}^n
  • Column space and left null space are orthogonal complements in Rm\mathbb{R}^m

Rank

The rank rr is the number of pivots. It equals:

  • Dimension of column space
  • Dimension of row space
  • Number of independent rows = number of independent columns