Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Matrices and Determinants

(A) Matrices
Historical Note.
In this lecture we introduce matrices. The singular of the word matrices is matrix, a term
coined by James Joseph Sylvester (1814-1897). In Sylvester’s time in England it was
necessary for a student to sign a religious oath to the Church of England before graduat-
ing from university. Sylvester, being Jewish, refused to take the oath and as a result could
not graduate. Despite this he managed to hold several lecturing positions at prestigious
universities.
Whilst lecturing at the University of Virginia, a student who had been reading a newspa-
per during his lecture insulted him. Outraged, Sylvester struck the student with a stick,
which resulted in the student collapsing from shock. Sylvester, thinking that he had killed
the student, fled the country and returned to England after having spent only a few
months in the US.
During his career Sylvester taught Florence Nightingale, became the second president of
the London Mathematical Society, published a book of poetry, and founded the American
Journal of Mathematics, the first mathematical journal in the USA.

The Definition and Order of a Matrix

A matrix is a rectangular array of elements arranged in rows and columns.

Matrices are similar to tables without their row and column headings. Consider the following
table which gives the results of 3 students on 2 tests.

Test 1 Test 2

Student A 20 3
Student B 25 12
Student C 30 20

The associated matrix would be

20 3
25 12
30 20

1
 Chapter 4

This matrix has 3 rows and 2 columns.

A matrix which has m rows and n columns is said to have order or dimension m  n (read “m
by n”).
Definition: If m = n then the matrix is a square matrix.

Example 1

–1 2
0 1 has order 3  2
2 3

1 1 0 has order 2  3
2 3 –1

1 0 is an important 2  2 square matrix.

0 1

The General Form of a Matrix

The most general form of a matrix is given by

a 11 a 12 a 13  a 1n
a 21 a 22 a 23  a 2n
a 31 a 32 a 33  a 3n
A = ,
· · · · ·
· · · · ·
a m1 a m2 a m3  a mn

where the element a ij is found in the ith row and jth column.

Note that the sequence of i and j is important here. For example, the element a 23 is in a dif-

ferent position to the element a 32 .

2
 Chapter 4

Example 2

Given the matrix A = 3 1 – 4 write down the elements a 21 , a 12 and a 23 .

0 2 6

Solution
a 21 = 0 a 12 = 1 a 23 = 6

Equality of Matrices

Two matrices A and B are equal if and only if corresponding elements are equal.

That is, A = B iff a ij = b ij for each i j .

For two matrices to be equal they must have the same order.

Example 3

2
Given A = x 1 and B = 1 1 find the value of x for which A = B .
2 x+4 2 3

Solution
Equating elements in corresponding positions we get:
2
x = 1
1 = 1
x =  1

x+4 = 3
2 = 2
x = – 1

Therefore, x = – 1 is the only solution.

3
 Chapter 4

Matrix Addition

Not all matrices can be added.

Given two matrices A and B , A + B exists only when A and B have the same order.

If A + B does exist, the resulting matrix is found by adding corresponding elements.

For example, given the matrices A = a b and B = e f we have A + B = a + e b + f .

c d g h c+g d+h

Example 4

2 1 1 –1 1 3 0
If A = 3 – 1 , B = – 1 – 2 and C = 2 then A + B = 2 – 3 ,
2 0 0 4 3 2 4

but A + C doesn’t exist because the order of A is not equal to the order of C .

Scalar Multiplication of a Matrix

Scalar multiplication is always possible. To multiply a matrix A by a scalar (constant) k , mul-

a 11 a 12
tiply each element of A by k . For example, given the matrix A = and the scalar k ,
a 21 a 22

ka 11 ka 12
we have kA = .
ka 21 ka 22

Example 5

2 1 2 1 4 2
If k = 2 and A = 3 – 1 then kA = 2 3 – 1 = 6 – 2 .
2 0 2 0 4 0

4
 Chapter 4

Matrix Multiplication

Matrix multiplication is not always possible.

Given two matrices A and B , AB exists only when the number of columns of A equals the

number of rows of B .

Example 6

Given the matrices A = 1 2 and B = – 2 determine whether or not AB and BA exist.

3 4 –1

Solution
AB BA
2  22  1 2  12  2

= 
exists does not exist

If A is an m  n matrix and B is an n  p matrix then AB exists and the order of AB will be

m  p . Knowing the order of the answer helps us to carry out the multiplication.

If AB exists then the elements  AB  ij are found by multiplying corresponding elements from

row i of A and column j of B, and adding.

Example 7
Find AB and BA , if they exist, for the matrices A and B given in Example 6.
Solution
We have already seen that BA doesn’t exist.

AB
2  2 2  1 

=
exists

order of AB is 2  1

5
 Chapter 4

Now that we know AB exists, and is of order 2  1 , we can carry out the multiplication:

AB = 1 2 – 2 = 1  – 2 + 2  – 1 = – 4
3 4 –1 3  – 2 + 4  –1 – 10

Example 8

Given the matrices A = 3 – 2 and B = 0 5 find AB and BA .

4 1 –7 1

Solution
First, we note that both AB and BA exist and are of order 2  2 . Now we carry out the multi-
plication:

AB = 3 – 2 0 5 = 3  0 – 2  – 7 3  5 – 2  1 = 14 13
4 1 –7 1 4  0 + 1  –7 4  5 + 1  1 – 7 21

BA = 0 5 3 – 2 = 0  3 + 5  4 0  – 2 + 5  1 = 20 5  AB
–7 1 4 1 –7  3 + 1  4 –7  – 2 + 1  1 – 17 15

Note: Examples 7 and 8 show that matrix multiplication is NOT commutative.

In general, for matrices

AB  BA

6
 Chapter 4

Identity Matrices

An identity matrix, denoted I , is an n  n (square) matrix with every diagonal1 element being
1, and zeros elsewhere. Thus, we have

1 0 0 0
1 0 0
I = 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 
0 1 0 0 1 0
0 0 1
0 0 0 1

The identity matrix is an important matrix because it satisfies the property that

AI = IA = A

Example 9

Show that AI = IA = A for the matrix A = 2 0 .

–1 4

Solution
First, consider AI = A .

LHS = AI = 2 0 1 0 = 2 0 = A = RHS
–1 4 0 1 –1 4

Next, consider IA = A .

LHS = IA = 1 0 2 0 = 2 0 = A = RHS
0 1 –1 4 –1 4

1. We define the diagonal of a square matrix to be the diagonal that runs from top left to bottom right.

7
 Chapter 4

Inverse Matrices

The inverse matrix of a 2  2 matrix A = a b is denoted A and is given by the formula

–1

c d

1
= ------------------ d – b ,
–1
A
ad – bc – c a

where ad – bc is called the determinant of matrix A , and may be denoted by  , A , or

det(A  .

Note:
–1 –1
• A does not always exist. In particular, A does not exist when the determinant is zero.
–1
• If A = 0 then A does not exist, and A is called singular.
–1
• If A  0 then A exists, and A is called regular or non-singular.
The inverse matrix is an important matrix because it satisfies the property that
–1 –1
AA = A A = I

Example 10
–1
Derive the formula for A for any 2  2 matrix A .

Solution

Let A = a b and A = e f . Then AA = I gives

–1 –1

c d g h

a b e f = 1 0
c d g h 0 1

 ae + bg af + bh = 1 0 ,
ce + dg cf + dh 0 1

from which we get the four equations

bh
ae + bg = 1 , af + bh = 0  f = – ------ ,
a

8
 Chapter 4

dg
ce + dg = 0  e = – ------ , cf + dh = 1 .
c
Substitution then gives the two equations

dg bh
a  – ------ + bg = 1 and c  – ------ + dh = 1
 c  a

ad cb
g  – ------ + b = 1 and h  – ------ + d = 1
 c   a 

1 –c 1 a
g = -------------------- = ------------------ and h = -------------------- = ------------------
ad ad – bc cb ad – bc
– ------ + b – ------ + d
c a
Therefore,
d d b b
e = – --- g = ------------------ and f = – --- h = – ------------------
c ad – bc a ad – bc

1
= ------------------ d – b
–1
A
ad – bc – c a

–1
Note: The task of finding A for square matrices larger than 2  2 is much more difficult,
and will not be covered in this course.
Historical Note.
The idea of the determinant as a constant associated with a square array of numbers
was considered as early as 1683 by the Japanese mathematician Seki Takakazu and
independently in 1693 by the German mathematician Gottfried Leibnitz, who was
one of the inventors of calculus. These events predate the development of the theory
of matrices by around 160 years.
After being born into a samurai warrior family, Seki Takakazu was adopted by a
noble family where he was introduced to mathematics by one of the family’s ser-
vants. Takakazu was a self-educated mathematician who made many important
mathematical discoveries. Some of his discoveries were made many years before
Western mathematicians were to encounter them.

References
• Elementary Linear Algebra (Fourth Edition), S. Venit and W. Bishop (Brooks/Cole 1996).
• Linear Algebra and its applications, D. C. Lay (Addison-Wesley 1994).
• The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/
• Elementary Linear Algebra, S.I. Grossman (Saunders 1994).