MATRICES: BASIC CONCEPTS

A matrix, in general sense, represents a

collection of information stored or arranged
in an orderly fashion. The mathematical
concept of a matrix refers to a set of numbers,
variables or functions ordered in rows and
columns. Such a set then can be defined as a
distinct entity, the matrix, and it can be
manipulated as a whole according to some
basic mathematical rules.

A matrix with 9 elements is shown below.

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =










= == =
8 1 9
6 4 7
2 5 3
A
33 32 31
23 22 21
13 12 11
a a a
a a a
a a a


Matrix [A] has 3 rows and 3 columns. Each
element of matrix [A] can be referred to by its
row and column number. For example,

6
23
= == = a

A computer monitor with 800 horizontal
pixels and 600 vertical pixels can be viewed as
a matrix of 600 rows and 800 columns.
In order to create an image, each pixel is
filled with an appropriate colour.
ORDER OF A MATRIX
The order of a matrix is defined in terms of
its number of rows and columns.

Order of a matrix = No. of rows

No. of
columns

Matrix [A], therefore, is a matrix of order 3

3.

COLUMN MATRIX
A matrix with only one column is called a
column matrix or column vector.










3
6
4


ROW MATRIX
A matrix with only one row is called a row
matrix or row vector.
[ [[ [ ] ]] ] 6 5 3

SQUARE MATRIX
A matrix having the same number of rows
and columns is called a square matrix.












9 4 2
4 3 5
7 4 2

RECTANGULAR MATRIX
A matrix having unequal number of rows and
columns is called a rectangular matrix.












13 1 4 5
8 2 9 2
1 7 3 5


REAL MATRIX
A matrix with all real elements is called a real
matrix
PRINCIPAL DIAGONAL and TRACE
OF A MATRIX

In a square matrix, the diagonal containing
the elements a
11
, a
22
, a
33
, a
44
, , a
nn
is called
the principal or main diagonal.

The sum of all elements in the principal
diagonal is called the trace of the matrix.

The principal diagonal of the matrix












9 4 2
4 3 5
7 4 2

is indicated by the dashed box. The trace of
the matrix is 2 + 3 + 9 = 14.

UNIT MATRIX
A square matrix in which all elements of the
principal diagonal are equal to 1 while all
other elements are zero is called the unit
matrix.











1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1


ZERO or NULL MATRIX

A matrix whose elements are all equal to zero
is called the null or zero matrix.










0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0

DIAGONAL MATRIX
If all elements except the elements of the
principal diagonal of a square matrix are
zero, the matrix is called a diagonal matrix.










9 0 0
0 3 0
0 0 2

RANK OF A MATRIX
The maximum number of linearly
independent rows of a matrix [A] is called
the rank of [A] and is denoted by
Rank [A].
For a system of linear equations, a unique
solution exists if the number of independent
equations is at least equal to the number of
unknowns.
In the following system of linear equations

2x - 4y + 5z = 36 (1)
- 3x + 5y + 7z = 7 (2)
5x + 3y - 8z = - 31 (3)
all three equations are linearly independent.
Therefor, if we form the augmented matrix
[A] for the system where
[ [[ [ ] ]] ]













= == =
31 8 3 5
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
A

the rank of [A] will be 3.

Consider the following linear systems with 2
independent equations.

2x - 4y + 5z = 36 (1)
- 3x + 5y + 7z = 7 (2)
- x + y + 12z = 43 (3)

In the above set, Eqn. (3) can be generated by
adding Eqn. (1) to Eqn. (2). Therefore, Eqn.
(3) is a dependent equation.
Therefor, if we form the augmented matrix
[A] for the system where
[ [[ [ ] ]] ]













= == =
43 12 1 1
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
A

the rank of [A] will be 2.
MATRIX OPERATIONS

Equality of Matrices
Two matrices are equal if all corresponding
elements are equal.

[A] = [B] if
ij ij
b a = == =
for all i and j

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
8 7 3
1 5 9
3 4 2
A

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
8 7 3
1 5 9
3 4 2
B


Addition and Subtraction
Two matrices can be added (subtracted) by
adding (subtracting) the corresponding
elements of the two matrices.

[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ] A B B A C + ++ + = == = + ++ + = == =


ij ij ij
b a c + ++ + = == =

Matrices [A], [B] and [C] must have the same
order.

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
33 32 31
23 22 21
13 12 11
A
a a a
a a a
a a a


[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
33 32 31
23 22 21
13 12 11
B
b b b
b b b
b b b


[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










+ ++ + + ++ + + ++ +
+ ++ + + ++ + + ++ +
+ ++ + + ++ + + ++ +
= == =
33 33 32 32 31 31
23 23 22 22 21 21
13 13 12 12 11 11
C
b a b a b a
b a b a b a
b a b a b a


Multiplication by a scalar
If a matrix is multiplied by a scalar k, each
element of the matrix is multiplied by k.

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
33 32 31
23 22 21
13 12 11
A
ka ka ka
ka ka ka
ka ka ka
k


Matrix multiplication

Two matrices can be multiplied together
provided they are compatible with respect to
their orders. The number of columns in the
first matrix [A] must be equal to the number
of rows in the second matrix [B]. The
resulting matrix [C] will have the same
number of rows as [A] and the same number
of columns as [B].
[ [[ [ ] ]] ]






= == =
23 22 21
13 12 11
A
a a a
a a a

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
32 31
22 21
12 11
b b
b b
b b
B


[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ][ [[ [ ] ]] ]
















= == = = == =
32 31
22 21
12 11
23 22 21
13 12 11
B A C
b b
b b
b b
a a a
a a a

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]






+ ++ + + ++ + + ++ + + ++ +
+ ++ + + ++ + + ++ + + ++ +
= == =
32 23 22 22 12 21 31 23 21 22 11 21
32 13 22 12 12 11 31 13 21 12 11 11
C
b a b a b a b a b a b a
b a b a b a b a b a b a


= == =
= == =
m
k
kj ik ij
b a c
1

where m is the number of columns in [A] and
also the number of rows in [B].
Example:
[ [[ [ ] ]] ]






= == =
4 7 5
1 3 2
A

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
6 5
4 1
3 2
B

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]






+ ++ + + ++ + + ++ + + ++ +
+ ++ + + ++ + + ++ + + ++ +
= == =
6 4 4 7 3 5 5 4 1 7 2 5
6 1 4 3 3 2 5 1 1 3 2 2
C

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]






= == =
67 37
24 12
C

Try the following multiplication:
[ [[ [ ] ]] ]











= == =
5 2 4
2 3 1
4 1 2
A

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
1 5
2 1
3 4
B


[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ][ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == = = == =
13 39
11 17
12 29
B A C

Transpose of a Matrix
The transpose
[ [[ [ ] ]] ]
T
A
of an n m matrix
[ [[ [ ] ]] ] A
is
the m n matrix obtained by interchanging
the rows and columns of
[ [[ [ ] ]] ] A
.
[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =










= == =
6 9 2
7 1 3
2 5 4
A
33 32 31
23 22 21
13 12 11
a a a
a a a
a a a
[ [[ [ ] ]] ]











= == =










= == =
6 7 2
9 1 5
2 3 4
A
33 23 13
32 22 12
31 21 11
T
a a a
a a a
a a a

Transpose of a sum
[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ] ( (( ( ) )) ) [ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ]
T T
T
B A B A + ++ + = == = + ++ +

Transpose of a product
[ [[ [ ] ]] ][ [[ [ ] ]] ] ( (( ( ) )) ) [ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ]
T T
T
A B B A = == =


Numerical example of the product rule
[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
1 5
4 0
3 2
A

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]






= == =
3 5 1 2
1 0 3 4
B

[ [[ [ ] ]] ][ [[ [ ] ]] ] ( (( ( ) )) )












= == =
8 12 11
5 20 15
16 4 9
22 8 14
B A
T

[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ] ? A B
T T
= == =

Symmetric Matrices
A matrix
[ [[ [ ] ]] ] A
is said to be symmetric if
ji ij
a a = == =
for all i and j.
[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ]
T
A A = == =

Example:

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
0 7 2
7 5 3
2 3 4
A

DETERMINANT OF A MATRIX

Why determinants?
In some forms of solutions for systems of
linear equations, determinants appear as
denominators in a routine manner.

In a system with 3 unknowns, the
determinant may appear in the solution in the
following way.
D
D
z
D
D
y
D
D
x
z
y
x
= == = = == = = == =

33 32 31
23 22 21
13 12 11
a a a
a a a
a a a
D = == =

33 32 31
23 22 21
13 12 11
a a a
a a a
a a a
D = == =

33 32 31
23 22 21
13 12 11
a a a
a a a
a a a
D = == =

33 32 31
23 22 21
13 12 11
a a a
a a a
a a a
D = == =

23 22
13 12
31
33 32
13 12
21
33 32
23 22
11
a a
a a
a
a a
a a
a
a a
a a
a + ++ + = == =

( (( ( ) )) ) ( (( ( ) )) )
( (( ( ) )) )
22 13 23 12 31
32 13 33 12 21 32 23 33 22 11
a a a a a
a a a a a a a a a a
+ ++ +
= == =

6 5 3
2 4 1
4 3 2
D

= == =

2 4
4 3
3
6 5
4 3
1
6 5
2 4
2


+ ++ +



= == =

( (( ( ) )) ) ( (( ( ) )) ) ( (( ( ) )) )
76 30 38 68
4 4 2 3 3 5 4 6 3 1 5 2 6 4 2
= == = + ++ + = == =
+ ++ + + ++ + = == =

Find the determinant:
5 0 7
1 2 6
4 1 3

= == = D

Important Properties of Determinants

1. The value of a determinant is not altered if
its rows are written as columns in the same
order.
5 1 4
0 2 1
7 6 3
5 0 7
1 2 6
4 1 3

= == =


2. If any two rows ( or two columns) of a
determinant are interchanged, the
value of the determinant is multiplied
by 1.
5 0 7
4 1 3
1 2 6
5 0 7
1 2 6
4 1 3

= == =


3. A common factor of all elements of any row
( or column) can be placed before the
determinant.
3 3 1
2 1 5
1 2 3
4
3 3 4 1
2 1 4 5
1 2 4 3
3 12 1
2 4 5
1 8 3

= == =



= == =


4. If the corresponding elements of two rows (
or columns) of a determinant are
proportional, the value of the determinant
is zero.
0
8 7 2
10 4 6
5 2 3
= == =

Meaning: Row 2 ( Row 1) is linearly
dependent on Row 1 ( Row 2). Therefore,
the linear system with three unknowns does
not have a unique solution.
5. The value of a determinant remains
unaltered if the elements of one row (or
column) are altered by adding to them any
constant multiple of the corresponding
elements in any other row ( or column).

5 0 7
1 2 6
1 2 4 2 2 1 6 2 3
5 0 7
1 2 6
4 1 3

+ ++ + + ++ + + ++ +
= == =


6. If each element of a row ( or a column) of a
determinant can be expressed as a sum of
two, the determinant can be written as the
sum of two determinants.
5 0 2 5
1 2 3 3
4 1 4 1
5 0 7
1 2 6
4 1 3
+ ++ +
+ ++ +
+ ++ +
= == =


5 0 2
1 2 3
4 1 4
5 0 5
1 2 3
4 1 1

+ ++ +


= == =

= - 49
7. Determinant of a product of matrices
[ [[ [ ] ]] ][ [[ [ ] ]] ] ( (( ( ) )) ) [ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ] B A B A D D D = == =

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
1 2 4
3 1 1
4 3 2
A

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]










= == =
4 1 3
5 6 4
3 2 1
B


[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ][ [[ [ ] ]] ] B A C = == =

[ [[ [ ] ]] ]












= == =
26 3 15
10 11 6
37 10 26
C


[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ][ [[ [ ] ]] ] ( (( ( ) )) ) 1505 B A C = == = = == = D D

[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ] 35 B and 43 A = == = = == = D D

[ [[ [ ] ]] ] [ [[ [ ] ]] ] 1505 35 43 B A = == = = == = D D