Projecting a vector b onto the column space of a matrix A generalizes the 1-D case via the normal equation, producing a projection matrix that retains symmetry and idempotency.
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The normal equation
Set , write for every column of , combine them into , and locate in the left null space.
The formulas for , and
Write , and , then reduce all three to the single-column case where is a scalar.
The cancellation pitfall in
Record that splitting into requires a square invertible , and note the special case when the column space is all of .
Algebraic check of and
Transpose factor by factor, then multiply it by itself and cancel the interior against its inverse, for subspaces of any dimension.