Linear independence

This article is about the mathematical concept. For the statistical concept, see Independence (statistics) and Covariance.

In linear algebra, a set of vectors is said to be linearly independent if there exists no vector in the set that is equal to a linear combination of the other vectors in the set. If such a vector exists, then the vectors are said to be linearly dependent. Linear independence is part of the definition of linear basis.

A vector space can be of finite dimension or infinite dimension depending on the maximum number of linearly independent vectors. The definition of linear dependence and the ability to determine whether a subset of vectors in a vector space is linearly dependent are central to determining the dimension of a vector space.

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