Skip to content
GATEiit

GATE CSE 2021 Set 2 Q47: Maximum number of mutually orthogonal non-zero vectors in R^10

Question

For two nn-dimensional real vectors PP and QQ, the operation s(P,Q)s(P, Q) is defined as follows:

s(P,Q)=∑i=1n(P[i]⋅Q[i])s(P, Q) = \sum_{i=1}^{n} (P[i] \cdot Q[i])

Let L\mathcal{L} be a set of 10-dimensional non-zero real vectors such that for every pair of distinct vectors P,Q∈LP, Q \in \mathcal{L}, s(P,Q)=0s(P, Q) = 0. What is the maximum cardinality possible for the set L\mathcal{L}?

Try it: multiple choice: exactly one correct option

Select one option
Wrong answer costs 2/3 mark in GATE.
Show answer and explanation

Answer: B (official GATE 2021 final answer key)

Concept used: Non-zero mutually orthogonal vectors are linearly independent.

First step: ss is the dot product, so L\mathcal{L} is an orthogonal set; how many linearly independent vectors can R10\mathbb{R}^{10} hold?

Full step-by-step solution

Detailed working, common mistakes and linked mock tests will be available with a free GATEiit account. Log-in is coming soon.

Share this question

WhatsAppDownload image

Source: official GATE 2021 Set 2 CS question paper and final answer key, organised by IIT Bombay. Question paper · Answer key