spanning set generating set basis set linearly independent span
A set of vectors that spans a vector space is called a spanning set or generating set. If a spanning set S is linearly dependent (that is not linearly independent), then some element w of S is in the span of the other elements of S, and the span would remain the same if one remove w from S. One may continue to remove elements of S until getting a linearly independent spanning set. Such a linearly independent set that spans a vector space V is called a basis of V. The importance of bases lies in the fact that they are simultaneously minimal generating sets and maximal independent sets. More precisely, if S is a linearly independent set, and T is a spanning set such that S ⊆ T, then there is a basis B such that S ⊆ B ⊆ T.
