Alphabeta Math
LemmaStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passaudited 2026-08-17
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A finite-dimensional vector space over an infinite field is not a finite union of proper subspaces

Statement

Let V be a finite-dimensional vector space over an infinite field F. No finite family of proper linear subspaces of V has union V.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: A finite-dimensional vector space V over an infinite field F, and a finite family W0,…,Wm−1 of proper linear subspaces.

[L1]

A vector space has addition and scalar multiplication satisfying the vector-space axioms (Vector space over a field).

[L2]

A finite-dimensional vector space has a finite basis, and the empty basis occurs exactly for the zero space (Basis of a vector space: a linearly independent spanning subset; and ordered basis: an injective finite list whose image is a basis).

[L3]

A finite set has a natural-number cardinality invariant under bijection (The cardinality ∣A∣ of a finite set).

Proof

technique · induction
1.1baseL1

For m=0, the union is empty and cannot equal the nonempty set V, even when V is the zero space.

1.2ih

Assume the assertion for families of fewer than m>0 proper subspaces, in every finite-dimensional vector space over F.

2.1step 1.2L1L2choose

If m=1, choose b∈V∖W0 and the result is immediate. For m>1, remove any Wi contained in another member; if this shortens the family, the induction hypothesis applies. Otherwise every Wm−1∩Wi is a proper subspace of Wm−1, so the induction hypothesis inside Wm−1 gives a nonzero a∈Wm−1 lying in none of the earlier Wi. Choose b∈V∖Wm−1.

3.1step 2.1L1algebra

In the unresolved case m>1, on the affine line {b+ta:t∈F} each Wi contains at most one point: two such points would have difference a nonzero scalar multiple of a, putting a in Wi for i<m−1, while any point in Wm−1 would put b there.

4.1step 2.1step 3.1L3discharge-induction∎

For m>1 the union therefore meets the line in at most a finite set of points by [L3], whereas t↦b+ta is injective and F is infinite. Some point of the line lies outside every Wi; together with the m=1 conclusion in step 2.1, this completes the induction.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

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Sources