Alphabeta Math
LemmaStatement: AI-adaptedProof: AI-generatedSession-authored (Fable 5 assisted)precheck passjudge pass (z-ai/glm-5.2)audited 2026-07-28
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  • AI-adapted — a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
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V=i<nUiV = \bigoplus_{i<n} U_i if and only if every vVv \in V is i<nui\sum_{i<n} u_i with uiUiu_i \in U_i in exactly one way; equivalently, if and only if the sum is VV and i<nui=0V\sum_{i<n} u_i = 0_V with uiUiu_i \in U_i forces every ui=0Vu_i = 0_V

Statement

Let VV be a vector space over a field FF (Vector space over a field), let nNn \in \mathbb{N}, and let UU be a finite family of linear subspaces UiU_i of VV indexed by i<ni < n (The sum U+WU + W of two linear subspaces and the sum i<nUi\sum_{i<n} U_i of a finite family). Call a list u:nVu : n \to V admissible when uiUiu_i \in U_i for every i<ni < n. The following are equivalent.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: A field FF, a vector space VV over FF, a natural number nn, and a finite family of linear subspaces UiU_i of VV indexed by i<ni < n; a list u:nVu : n \to V is called admissible when uiUiu_i \in U_i for every i<ni < n.

[L1]

V=i<nUiV = \bigoplus_{i<n} U_i means (D1) i<nUi=V\sum_{i<n} U_i = V and (D2) UjijUi={0V}U_j \cap \sum_{i \ne j} U_i = \{0_V\} for every j<nj < n, where ijUi=i<nUi(j)\sum_{i \ne j} U_i = \sum_{i<n} U^{(j)}_i for the family U(j)U^{(j)} with Ui(j)=UiU^{(j)}_i = U_i for iji \ne j and Uj(j)={0V}U^{(j)}_j = \{0_V\} (Internal direct sum V=i<nUiV = \bigoplus_{i<n} U_i: the sum is everything and each summand meets the sum of the others only in 0V0_V).

[L2]

The elements of i<nUi\sum_{i<n} U_i are exactly the vectors i<nui\sum_{i<n} u_i with uu admissible; it is a linear subspace of VV; the mixed identity (F2) λi<nui+i<nwi=i<n(λui+wi)\lambda \sum_{i<n} u_i + \sum_{i<n} w_i = \sum_{i<n}(\lambda u_i + w_i) holds; and by (F3) with (F1), i<nui=uj+i<nui(j)\sum_{i<n} u_i = u_j + \sum_{i<n} u^{(j)}_i for j<nj < n, where u(j)u^{(j)} agrees with uu off jj and has uj(j)=0Vu^{(j)}_j = 0_V, while a list vanishing off a single index sums to its value there (The sum U+WU + W of two linear subspaces and the sum i<nUi\sum_{i<n} U_i of a finite family, The product g0g1gn1g_0 g_1 \cdots g_{n-1} of a finite list in a monoid, by recursion, with the empty product (n=0n = 0) equal to the identity).

[L3]

A linear subspace contains 0V0_V and is closed under ++ and under scalar multiplication (Linear subspace of a vector space).

[L5]

Cancellation in the abelian group (V,+,0V)(V,+,0_V): if x+y=x+zx + y = x + z then y=zy = z, and if y+x=z+xy + x = z + x then y=zy = z (Cancellation in a group: gx=gygx = gy or xg=ygxg = yg forces x=yx = y; equivalently left and right translation by gg are bijections of GG, so gx=hgx = h and xg=hxg = h each have exactly one solution, Group and abelian group).

[L6]

(V,+,0V)(V,+,0_V) is an abelian group: ++ is associative and commutative, 0V0_V is a two-sided identity, and each xx has an additive inverse x-x with x+(x)=0V=(x)+xx + (-x) = 0_V = (-x) + x (Vector space over a field, Group and abelian group).

[L7]

The index ii runs over the von Neumann natural n={0,,n1}n = \{0,\dots,n-1\} (The natural numbers N\mathbb{N} (von Neumann), On N\mathbb{N} the order is membership: m<n    mnm < n \iff m \in n).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1

Let uu be admissible and j<nj < n. The list u(j)u^{(j)} is admissible for the family U(j)U^{(j)}, since ui(j)=uiUi=Ui(j)u^{(j)}_i = u_i \in U_i = U^{(j)}_i for iji \ne j and uj(j)=0V{0V}=Uj(j)u^{(j)}_j = 0_V \in \{0_V\} = U^{(j)}_j; hence s:=i<nui(j)s := \sum_{i<n} u^{(j)}_i lies in ijUi\sum_{i \ne j} U_i, and i<nui=uj+s\sum_{i<n} u_i = u_j + s.

L1L2L7
1.2

A linear subspace WW of VV is closed under additive inverses: for xWx \in W we have (1F)xW(-1_F)x \in W by closure under scalar multiplication, and (1F)x=x(-1_F)x = -x.

L3L4
1.3

Let j<nj < n and xUjx \in U_j. The list z:nVz : n \to V with zj=xz_j = x and zi=0Vz_i = 0_V for iji \ne j is admissible, each UiU_i containing 0V0_V, and it sums to xx.

L2L3L7
1.4

(c) implies (b). Assume (c). Existence: since i<nUi=V\sum_{i<n} U_i = V, every vVv \in V is i<nui\sum_{i<n} u_i for some admissible uu. Uniqueness: suppose uu and ww are admissible with i<nui=i<nwi=:v\sum_{i<n} u_i = \sum_{i<n} w_i =: v. The mixed identity with λ=1F\lambda = -1_F, applied to ww and uu in that order, gives (1F)i<nwi+i<nui=i<n((1F)wi+ui)(-1_F)\sum_{i<n} w_i + \sum_{i<n} u_i = \sum_{i<n}\bigl((-1_F)w_i + u_i\bigr), whose left-hand side is v+v=0V-v + v = 0_V; the list i(1F)wi+ui=(wi)+uii \mapsto (-1_F)w_i + u_i = (-w_i) + u_i is admissible, each UiU_i being closed under additive inverses and addition; so by (c) every (wi)+ui=0V=(wi)+wi(-w_i) + u_i = 0_V = (-w_i) + w_i, and cancelling wi-w_i on the left gives ui=wiu_i = w_i for every i<ni < n.

L2L3L4L5L6
2.1

(a) implies (c). Assume (a). Condition (D1) is the first half of (c). For the second, let uu be admissible with i<nui=0V\sum_{i<n} u_i = 0_V and let j<nj < n. Writing s=i<nui(j)ijUis = \sum_{i<n} u^{(j)}_i \in \sum_{i \ne j} U_i, we get uj+s=0Vu_j + s = 0_V, while (s)+s=0V(-s) + s = 0_V as well, so cancelling ss on the right gives uj=su_j = -s; and sijUi-s \in \sum_{i \ne j} U_i because that set is a linear subspace. Hence ujUjijUiu_j \in U_j \cap \sum_{i \ne j} U_i, which is {0V}\{0_V\} by (D2), so uj=0Vu_j = 0_V. As j<nj < n was arbitrary, uu is the all-zero list.

step 1.1step 1.2L1L2L5L6
2.2

(b) implies (a). Assume (b). For (D1): every vVv \in V is i<nui\sum_{i<n} u_i for some admissible uu, so Vi<nUiV \subseteq \sum_{i<n} U_i, and the reverse inclusion holds because i<nUi\sum_{i<n} U_i is a subset of VV. For (D2): let j<nj < n and xUjijUix \in U_j \cap \sum_{i \ne j} U_i. Then x=i<nwix = \sum_{i<n} w_i for some list ww admissible for U(j)U^{(j)}; such a ww has wj=0Vw_j = 0_V and wiUiw_i \in U_i for iji \ne j, so it is admissible for UU as well, UjU_j containing 0V0_V. The list zz of step 1.3 is also admissible and also sums to xx, so uniqueness in (b) forces z=wz = w, and in particular x=zj=wj=0Vx = z_j = w_j = 0_V. Since {0V}\{0_V\} is contained in the intersection anyway, (D2) holds.

step 1.3L1L2L3
3.1

Steps 2.1, 1.4 and 2.2 give (a) implies (c), (c) implies (b) and (b) implies (a), so the three conditions are equivalent.

step 1.4step 2.1step 2.2

Remarks

  • Condition (c) is the one used in practice. Checking uniqueness of every decomposition is checking a single one: that of 0V0_V. The reduction is the content of the implication from (c) to (b), and it works because the difference of two admissible decompositions of the same vector is an admissible decomposition of 0V0_V.

  • This is what makes (D2) the right condition. If the definition of a direct sum had asked only for pairwise trivial intersections, the equivalence above would fail for n3n \ge 3: the companion examples page exhibits three linear subspaces of a plane whose pairwise intersections are trivial, whose sum is everything, and for which some vector has two different decompositions. So the equivalence proved here is not available for the pairwise notion, and (D2) is exactly the strengthening that restores it.

  • The two-summand case reads as usual. For n=2n = 2, condition (a) says U+W=VU + W = V and UW={0V}U \cap W = \{0_V\} (Internal direct sum V=i<nUiV = \bigoplus_{i<n} U_i: the sum is everything and each summand meets the sum of the others only in 0V0_V), and the lemma says that this holds exactly when every vVv \in V is u+wu + w with uUu \in U and wWw \in W in exactly one way.

  • No finiteness of VV and no dimension anywhere. The family of summands is finite because the sum i<nUi\sum_{i<n} U_i is defined through a finite sum of vectors; VV itself is arbitrary, and nothing above counts anything.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · next 3 levels

Direct dependencies and their dependencies through the next three levels: 56 results over 21 levels. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, and this result sits at the bottom with a heavier outline. Click the chart to enlarge it.

Sources