## Linear Algebra and Its Applications, Exercise 2.3.16

Exercise 2.3.16. What is the dimension of the vector space consisting of all 3 by 3 symmetric matrices? What is a basis for it?

Answer: There are nine possible entries that can be set in a 3 b 3 matrix, but if the matrix is symmetric then only six of them can be set independently, since we must have $a_{12} = a_{21}$, $a_{13} = a_{31}$, and $a_{23} = a_{32}$. Any symmetric matrix

$A = \begin{bmatrix} a_{11}&a_{12}&a_{13} \\ a_{12}&a_{22}&a_{13} \\ a_{13}&a_{23}&a_{33} \end{bmatrix}$

can be represented as a linear combination of six linearly independent matrices as follows:

$A = a_{11} \begin{bmatrix} 1&0&0 \\ 0&0&0 \\ 0&0&0 \end{bmatrix} + a_{22} \begin{bmatrix} 0&0&0 \\ 0&1&0 \\ 0&0&0 \end{bmatrix} + a_{33} \begin{bmatrix} 0&0&0 \\ 0&0&0 \\ 0&0&1 \end{bmatrix}$

$+ a_{12} \begin{bmatrix} 0&1&0 \\ 1&0&0 \\ 0&0&0 \end{bmatrix} + a_{13} \begin{bmatrix} 0&0&1 \\ 0&0&0 \\ 1&0&0 \end{bmatrix} + a_{23} \begin{bmatrix} 0&0&0 \\ 0&0&1 \\ 0&1&0 \end{bmatrix}$

Since the above set of six linearly independent matrices spans the space of 3 by 3 symmetric matrices it is a basis for the space, and the dimension of the space is therefore six.

NOTE: This continues a series of posts containing worked out exercises from the (out of print) book Linear Algebra and Its Applications, Third Edition by Gilbert Strang.

If you find these posts useful I encourage you to also check out the more current Linear Algebra and Its Applications, Fourth Edition, Dr Strang’s introductory textbook Introduction to Linear Algebra, Fourth Edition and the accompanying free online course, and Dr Strang’s other books.

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