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Definition (Integer Linear Combination Of Integers)
Let $a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_k$ be $k$ integers.
- An integer linear combination of these integers is an expression of the form $$c_1a_1+c_2 a_2+ \cdots+c_k a_k$$ where each coefficient $c_i$ is an integer.
- The span of the set of integers $\{a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_k\}$ is the set of all possible integer linear combinations of these integers, namely $$\text{span}(\{a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_k\})=\text{span}(a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_k)=\{c_1a_1+c_2 a_2+ \cdots+c_k a_k\mid c_i\in \mathbb{Z} \text{ for }1\leq i\leq k\}.$$ For ease of notation, we'll often leave off the set notation when spanning a set of integers.
- If the set $S$ of integers is infinite, then we still define the span of $S$ to be the set of all integer linear combinations of integers in $S$. Hence we know $x\in S$ if and only if there exists a natural number $k$ such that $x=c_1a_1+c_2 a_2+ \cdots+c_k a_k$ where $a_i\in S$ and $c_i\in \mathbb{Z}$ for $1\leq i\leq k$.
- When there are only two integers, we'll often use $a$ and $b$ as the integers, and $s$ and $t$ as the coefficients. So the set of all integer linear combinations of $a$ and $b$ is $$\text{span}(a,b) = \{sa+tb\mid s,t\in\mathbb{Z}\}.$$
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