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278


REMAINDER OF SOME FUNDAMENTALS IN VECTOR
AND MATRIX ALGEBRA

Matrix notation was invented to express linear algebra in a compact form.
Compactness enhances the visualization and understanding the essentials.
Considering the following linear relations between a set of n quantities and
another set of m quantities:

a
11
x
1
+ a
12
x
2
+ + a
1n
x
n
= y
1

a
21
x
1
+ a
22
x
2
+ + a
2n
x
n
= y
2


a
m1
x
1
+ a
m2
x
2
+ + a
mn
x
n
= y
m


they can be arranged as follows

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

=
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

m m mn m m
n
n
y
y
y
x
x
x
a a a
a a a
a a a
.
.
.
.
.
.
...
. ... . .
. ... . .
. ... . .
...
...
2
1
2
1
2 1
2 22 21
1 12 11


The two-dimensional array is a matrix called A and the one-dimensional
arrays are column vectors called x and y. Usually, to avoid brackets, a bold
format is used in condensed writing:

Ax = y,

meaning a matrix product of A times x.

Another advantage of the matrix notation is the computer implementation of
linear algebra in programming languages that offer array data structures.

A vector is a set on n numbers written in a column (column vector) or a row
(row vector).

______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

279
x =
(
(
(
(

n
x
x
x
.
2
1
, z = | |
n
z z z ...
2 1


The numbers x
i
or z
i
are called components (or entries) while n is the order
(or dimension) of the vector. Vectors of order 1 are scalars. Usually, using
condensed writing, vectors are typed in bold lowercase letters

a, b, c, x, y, z

or using brackets (component notation)

x = { }
i
x , a = { }
i
a ,

Two or three dimensional vectors have as geometrical interpretation in
mechanics a position vector. A null vector, written 0, is a vector whose all
components equals to zero. The unit vector, written e
i
, is the vector whose
components equals to zero except the i
th
component which is one. The
unitary vector, called e, is the vector with all components equal to unity.

The transpose of a column vector x is the row vector that has the same
components and is written x
T
:

x
T
= | |
n
x x x ...
2 1


Transposing a vector twice yields the original vector: (x
T
)
T
= x.

Two column vectors x and y of equal order n are equal (x = y) if and only if
their components are equal, x
i
= y
i
, for all i = 1 n.

The sum of two vectors of same order n, x + y, is defined as a new vector of
order n


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280
x + y =
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

+
+
+
n n
y x
y x
y x
.
.
.
2 2
1 1


the geometric interpretation for two and three-dimensional vectors being the
parallelogram rule for adding. The operation is commutative and
associative. The operation is undefined for vectors of different order.

Multiplication of a vector x by a scalar c is defined by

cx =
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

n
cx
cx
cx
.
.
.
2
1


The division of a vector by a scalar c 0 is equivalent to multiplication by
1/c.

The inner product of two column vectors of same order x and y is a scalar
function written (x, y) and defined by

(x, y) = x
T
y = y
T
x =
i
n
i
i
y x

=1


For vectors of different order, the product in undefined. The inner product is
commutative, but not generally associative: (x, (y, z)) ((x, y), z).

The Euclidean norm of a real vector x (the components are real numbers) is
a scalar written x that results as the vectors inner product by itself:


______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

281
( )

=
= =
n
i
i
x
1
2
, x x x

Because the norm is a sum of squares, it is zero only if x is the null vector. It
thus provides a meter on the vector magnitude. The Euclidean length or
simply length of a real vector, written x , is the positive square root of its
Euclidean norm:

x x + =

Cauchy Schwarz inequality: y x y x, ) (

Triangle inequality: y x y x + +

A vector of length one is called unit length vector. Any non null vector x
can be scaled to unit length by dividing all components by its original
length:

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

=
x
x
x
x x/
/
.
.
.
/
/
2
1
n
x
x
x


The operation is called normalization to unit length.

The angle in radians between two unit length vectors x and y, written <(x,
y), is the real number satisfying 0 . The value is defined by the
formula

cos = (x, y)

If the vectors are not unit length, they should be normalized

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282
cos =
( )
y x
y x,
y
y
x
x
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
,

The acute angle between vector x and y spans is the real number
satisfying 0 /2 and

cos =
( )
y x
y x,


Two vectors x and y are said to be orthogonal if (x, y) = 0. The acute angle
between two orthogonal vectors = /2.

The projection of vector y onto a vector x is the vector p that has the
direction of x and is orthogonal to y p:

(p, y p) = 0, where p =
x
x
c

c = cos y
x
x
y, =
|
|
.
|

\
|


If, for a set of n-dimensional unit length vectors b
k
(k = 1, , m) which are
mutually orthogonal, a particular n-dimensional vector x admits the
representation

x =
k
m
k
k
c b

=1


the coefficients c
k
are given by the inner products

c
k
= (x, b
k
) =
k
i
n
i
i
b x

=1



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283
The set b
k
is called an orthonormal basis for the vector x. The set of all
vectors x forms a subspace of dimension m and the numbers c
k
are called
the coordinates of x with respect to that basis. If n = m, set b
k
forms a
complete orthogonal basis for the n-dimensional space.

An array with m rows and n columns, obeying the following properties, is
called a rectangular matrix of order m n. Conventionally, matrices are
written in condensed style using bold uppercase letters (A, B, etc). The
components (or entries) of a matrix have 2 indices, according to row and
column number.

A = [a
ij
]

Square matrices (m = n) have some special properties, such as symmetry
and antisymmetry, associated determinants and the possibility of calculating
eigenvalues. The a
ii
terms of a square matrix define the main (or cross)
diagonal. Square matrices for which a
ii
= a
ji
are called symmetric about the
main diagonal, while those for which a
ij
= - a
ji
are called antisymmetric (the
diagonal entries of an antisymmetric matrix must be zero).

The null matrix, written 0, is the matrix all of whose components are zero.
The identity matrix, written I, is a square matrix all of which entries are zero
except those on the main diagonal, which are ones. A diagonal matrix is a
square matrix all of which entries are zero except for those on the main
diagonal, which may be arbitrary. An upper triangular matrix is a square
matrix in which all elements underneath the main diagonal are zero. A lower
triangular matrix is a square matrix in which all elements above the main
diagonal are zero.

Two matrices A and B of same order m n are said to be equal if and only
if all of their components are equal: a
ij
= b
ij
, for all i = 1, . . .m, j = 1, . . . n
: A = B. Two matrices of different order can not be compared.

The transpose of a matrix A is another matrix written A
T
that has n rows and
m columns

A
T
= [a
ji
]


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284
(A
T
)
T
= A

The transpose of a square matrix is also a square matrix. The transpose of a
symmetric matrix equals the same matrix (A = A
T
) while the transpose of
an atisymmetric matrix is the negated of the original (A = -A
T
).

The sum of two matrices A and B is written A + B and is defined as

A + B = [a
ij
+ b
ij
]

The addition operation is commutative and associative.

To multiply a matrix by a scalar c means to multiply each entry by c

cA = [ca
ij
]

The matrix vector product, Ax = y, available only if the column dimension
of the matrix A (m n) equals the dimension of the vector x (n), is a new
vector y of order m, which entries are

y
i
=
j
n
j
ij
x a

=1
, i = 1, , m

The matrix-by-matrix product C of two matrices A and B:

C = AB

Here A = [a
i j
] is a matrix of order m n, B = [b
jk
] is a matrix of order n
p, and C = [c
ik
] is a matrix of order m p. The entries of the result matrix C
are defined by the formula

=
=
n
j
jk ij ik
b a c
1
, i = 1, , m, k = 1, , p

For product being possible, the column dimension of A must be the same as
the row dimension of B (matrices are product conforming). The matrix-by-

______________________Basics of the Finite Element Method Applied in Civil Engineering

285
matrix product is generally not commutative, even BA exists (m = n), AB
BA.

If A = B, the product AA is called the square of A and is denoted by A
2
. For
this definition to make sense, A must be a square matrix. Similarly,

A
3
= AAA = A
2
A.

This definition does not encompass negative powers.

The matrix-by-matrix product is associative

A(BC) = (AB)C = ABC

and distributive if B and C are of the same order

A(B + C) = AB + AC and (B + C)A = BA + CA

The transpose of a matrix product is equal to the product of the transposes
of the operands taken in reverse order:

(AB)
T
= B
T
A
T
.

If B is a symmetric matrix of order m and A is an arbitrary m n matrix,
then

S = A
T
BA

is a symmetric matrix of order n. Such an operation is called a congruential
transformation. It occurs very frequently in finite element analysis when
changing coordinate bases because such a transformation preserves energy.

The matrix product AB can be zero although A 0 and B 0. Similar, it is
possible that A 0, A
2
0, . . . , but A
p
= 0.

For x and y two column vectors of order n, and A a real square n n matrix,
the following triple product produces a scalar result:


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286
s = y
T
Ax

which is called a bilinear form. Transposing both sides (the transpose of a
scalar does not change)
s = x
T
A
T
y

For A symmetric (A
T
= A) and x = y the bilinear form becomes a quadratic
form

s = x
T
A
T
x

Transposing both sides of a quadratic form reproduces the same equation.