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Let $V$ and $W$ be vector spaces over a finite field $F$ of order $q$ and $m=\dim(V)\geq \dim(W)=n$. Find the number of surjective linear transformations from $V$ to $W$.

I know that if $B=\{v_1,\dotsc,v_m\}$ is a basis for $V$ and if $T:V\to W$ is linear, then $T$ is surjective if and only if $T(B)$ generates $W$. Clearly $|T(B)|\leq m$ and and since $T(B)$ generates $W$ then $|T(B)|\geq n$. Thus it enough to find the number of generators $G$ for $W$ such that $n\leq|G|\leq m$. But how to find such generators? I need help.

user149418
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  • What are you denoting by $|T(B)|$? – user208259 Jan 24 '15 at 10:04
  • I denote $|T(B)|$ to mean the number of elements in $T(B)={T(v_1),\dotsc,T(v_m)}$. – user149418 Jan 24 '15 at 10:06
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    Then you are wrong when you say that $T$ is surjective if and only if $|T(B)| \geq n$. For example, if $T\colon \mathbb{R}^3 \to \mathbb{R}^3$, it could happen that $T(v_1)$, $T(v_2)$ and $T(v_3)$ are distinct, but coplanar vectors. In that case $T$ cannot be surjective because its image is contained in a plane. Similar examples can be found with a finite field $F$. – user208259 Jan 24 '15 at 10:09
  • Can you solve this problem in the simpler case $m = n$? – user208259 Jan 24 '15 at 10:12
  • @ user208259 : Sorry I edited the problem. And if $m=m$ then $T$ is surjective $\Leftrightarrow$ $T$ is an isomorphism and in this case the number of such $T$'s is the number of ordered bases for $W$ and is equal to $(q^n -1)(q^n -q)\dotsm (q^n - q^{n-1})$. But how to find such $T$'s when $m>n$? – user149418 Jan 24 '15 at 10:36
  • Right. Your discussion in terms of the cardinality of $T(B)$ is still not helpful. Consider this instead. Selecting such a mapping $T$ is the same as selecting an $m-n$-dimensional subspace $K$ of $V$ to serve as the kernel of $T$, and then, also, an isomorphism between $V/K$ and $W$. – user208259 Jan 24 '15 at 10:40

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A surjective linear map $V\to W$ is precisely determined by (1) its kernel$~K$, which is a $n-m$-dimensional linear subspace of the $n$-dimensional space $V$, and (2) an isomorphism $V/K\to W$.

The basic ingredient to do the counting is a formula for the number of linearly independent families of $k$ vectors in $F^n$. By simple counting of choices this number is $$ (q^n-1)(q^n-q)\ldots(q^n-q^{k-1})=q^\binom k2(q-1)^k[n]_q[n-1]_q\ldots[n-k+1]_q $$ where $[m]_q=1+q+\cdots+q^{m-1}=\frac{q^m-1}{q-1}$ is a $q$-integer. In particular the number of different bases for a vector space of dimension$~m$ is $q^\binom m2(q-1)^m[m]_q[m-1]_q\ldots[1]_q$, which product of $q$-integers is usually written $[m]_q!$. The number of choices for $K$ now is obtained by dividing the number of independent $k$-families but the number of different bases for the same $m-n$ dimensional subspace: $$ \frac{q^\binom{n-m}2(q-1)^{n-m}[n]_q[n-1]_q\ldots[m+1]_q} {q^\binom{n-m}2(q-1)^{n-m}[n-m]_q!} =\frac{[n]_q[n-1]_q\ldots[m+1]_q}{[n-m]_q!} =\frac{[n]_q!}{[n-m]_q![m]_q!} $$ which is the Gaussian binomial coefficient usually written $\binom n{n-m}_q=\binom nm_q$. This gives the answer for (1). The answer for (2) is the number $q^\binom m2(q-1)^m[m]_q!$ of bases of$~W$. Multiply to get the final answer $$ \binom nm_qq^\binom m2(q-1)^m[m]_q! =q^\binom m2(q-1)^m\frac{[n]_q!}{[n-m]_q!}. $$