Paper 1, Section II, F

Linear Algebra
Part IB, 2017

Let UU and VV be finite-dimensional real vector spaces, and let α:UV\alpha: U \rightarrow V be a surjective linear map. Which of the following are always true and which can be false? Give proofs or counterexamples as appropriate.

(i) There is a linear map β:VU\beta: V \rightarrow U such that βα\beta \alpha is the identity map on UU.

(ii) There is a linear map β:VU\beta: V \rightarrow U such that αβ\alpha \beta is the identity map on VV.

(iii) There is a subspace WW of UU such that the restriction of α\alpha to WW is an isomorphism from WW to VV.

(iv) If XX and YY are subspaces of UU with U=XYU=X \oplus Y then V=α(X)α(Y)V=\alpha(X) \oplus \alpha(Y).

(v) If XX and YY are subspaces of UU with V=α(X)α(Y)V=\alpha(X) \oplus \alpha(Y) then U=XYU=X \oplus Y.