Matrices

A matrix is an arrangement of numbers in rows and columns in the form of a rectangle. The
numbers appearing in a matrix are called its elements or entries. The entire arrangement of
numbers in a matrix is enclosed within a pair of brackets such as [ ], { }, ( ) or || ||.
We use capital letters to denote matrices and lowercase letters to denote elements of matrices. A
matrix with m rows and n columns is called a matrix of order m-by-n or a m-by-n matrix. The
order of the matrix is written as m × n.
The element that occurs in row i and column j of a matrix A is denoted by aij . Thus a general
m × n matrix can be written as
 
a11 a12 ··· a1n
 a21 a22 ··· a2n 
A= . ..  .
 
..
 .. . . 
am1 am2 ··· amn

The above matrix can also be written as [aij ]m×n or simply by [aij ].
A matrix with only one column is called a column matrix or a column vector.
A matrix with only one row is called a row matrix or a row vector.
A matrix with n rows and n columns is called a square matrix of order n. If A = [aij ]n×n is a
square matrix, the elements a11 , a22 , . . . , ann are said to lie on the principal diagonal of the
matrix and are called the diagonal elements of the matrix.
A square matrix of order n, in which the diagonal elements are all 1 and off diagonal elements are
all 0 is called a unit matrix of order n and is denoted by In or simply by I.
An (m × n) matrix all of whose elements are zero is called a zero matrix of order (m × n) and is
denoted by Om×n or simply by O.
Equality of matrices
Two matrices A and B are said to be equal if they have the same order and if their
corresponding elements are equal.
Thus if A = [aij ] and B = [bij ] are two matrices of the same order m × n then A = B if aij = bij
for 1 ≤ i ≤ m and 1 ≤ j ≤ n.
Matrix Addition and Subtraction:
If A and B are matrices of the same order, then the sum A + B is the matrix obtained by adding
the elements of A to the corresponding elements of B, and the difference A − B is the matrix
obtained by subtracting the elements of B from the corresponding elements of A. Matrices of
different orders cannot be added or subtracted.
Scaler Multiple of a Matrix:
If A is any matrix and c is any scaler, then the product cA is the matrix obtained by multiplying
each element of A by c. The matrix cA is called a scaler multiple of A.
Matrix Multiplication:
If A is an m × r matrix and B is an r × n matrix, then the product AB is an m × n matrix whose
elements are determined as follows. To find the element in row i and column j of AB multiply the
corresponding elements of row i and column j together, and then add up the resulting products.
Note: (i) The product AB can be formed only if the number of columns of the first factor A is
the same as the number of rows of the second factor B. If this condition is not satisfied the,
product AB is not defined.
(ii) The product AB and BA need not be equal.
Transpose of a Matrix:
Let A be any m × n matrix, then the transpose of A, denoted by AT is the n × m matrix
obtained by interchanging the corresponding rows and columns of A.
The Determinant of a Matrix:
Every square matrix A can be associated with a scaler called the determinant of the matrix,
denoted by det(A) or by |A|. The order of the determinant is the same as the order of the
square matrix.
Determinants of order two:  
a11 a12
The determinant of the matrix A = is given by det(A) = a11 a22 − a21 a12 .
a21 a22
Determinants of order three:  
a11 a12 a13
The determinant of the matrix A = a21 a22 a23  is given by
a31 a32 a33
det(A) = a11 a22 a33 + a12 a23 a31 + a13 a21 a32 − a13 a22 a31 − a12 a21 a33 − a11 a23 a32 .
Minors and Cofactors of a Matrix:
If A is a square matrix, then the minor of the element aij , denoted by Mij , is the determinant of
the matrix obtained by deleting the ith row and j th column of A. The cofactor of the element
aij , denoted by Cij , is given by Cij = (−1)i+j Mij .
Laplace Expansion Theorem:
Theorem: The determinant of any square matrix is equal to the sum of the products obtained by
multiplying the elements of any row (column) by their respective cofactors.
Triangular Matrices:
A square matrix is called upper triangular if it has all zero elements below its principal
diagonal and is called lower triangular if it has all zero elements above its principal diagonal.
A triangular matrix is one which is either upper triangular or lower triangular. A matrix which
is both upper triangular and lower triangular is called diagonal.
Determinant of a Triangular Matrix:
Theorem: If A = [aij ] is a triangular matrix of order n, then its determinant is the product of its
diagonal elements, i.e. det(A) = a11 a22 · · · ann .
Adjoint of a Matrix:
If A = [aij ] is any square matrix, then the matrix of cofactors of A is the matrix [Cij ] obtained
by replacing each element of A by its cofactor. The transpose of the matrix of cofactors of A is
called the adjoint of A and is denoted by adj(A).
Inverse of a Matrix:
If A is a square matrix, and if a matrix B can be found such that AB = BA =I, then the matrix
A is said to be invertible or non-singular and B is called the inverse of A. If no such matrix
B exists then A is called singular.
Condition for existence of inverse:
Theorem: (i) A square matrix A is invertible if and only if det(A) 6= 0.
(ii) The inverse of a matrix A, if it exists, is unique and is denoted by A−1 .
Note: A square matrix A is non-singular if det(A) 6= 0 otherwise it is singular.
Computation of inverse from the adjoint:
If A is an invertible square matrix then
1
A−1 = adj(A)
det(A)
   
a b 1 d −b
Note: If A = is invertible, then A−1 is given by A−1 = .
c d ad−bc −c a