Matrices

Introduction

Dr. Asha V. Nair

“Necessity is the mother of invention”
• The term ‘matrix’ was first used in 1850 by J.J.Sylvester.
• In 1858 Arthur Cayley began the systematic development of matrices.
• They are useful in every branches of science and engineering.
• A great number of the operations performed by the giant ‘electronic
brains’ are computations with matrices.
• They are extremely important in the study of atomic physics.

Dr. Asha V. Nair

• Linear Algebra comprises of the theory and applications of linear
system of equations, linear transformations, eigen value problems

Here we make a systematic use of matrices and to a lesser extent of

determinants and their properties

Determinants are first introduced for solving linear systems and have
important engineering applications in the systems of differential
equations, electrical networks, eigen value problems and so on…

Dr. Asha V. Nair

Many complicated expressions occurring in electrical and mechanical
systems can be elegantly simplified by expressing them in the form of
determinants.

Utility in many branches like mechanics theory of electrical circuits,

nuclear physics, aerodynamics, and astronomy

With the help of computers , the usage of matrix methods has been
greatly facilitated.

Dr. Asha V. Nair

Preliminaries
• Definition: A system of 𝑚𝑛 numbers arranged in a rectangular
formulation along 𝑚 rows and 𝑛 columns and bounded by brackets is
called an 𝑚 × 𝑛 matrix which is read as ‘ 𝑚 𝑏𝑦 𝑛’ .
 a11 a12 .. .. a1 j .. .. a1n 
a .. .. a 2 j .. .. a 2 n 
 21 a 22
 . . .. .. . .. .. . 
 
 . . .. .. . .. .. . 
 ai1 ai 2 .. .. aij .. .. ain 
 
 . . .. .. . .. .. . 
 . . .. .. . .. .. . 
 
a m1 a m 2 .. .. a mj .. .. a mn 

Dr. Asha V. Nair

• A matrix should be treated as a single entity with a number of
components, rather than a collection of components.
• Interchange of rows and columns gives an extremely different matrix
but for determinants interchanging rows and columns does not affect.
• Different Types of Matrices
1) Row Matrix 2) Column Matrix
3) Unit Matrix 4) Null Matrix
5) Square Matrix 6) Diagonal Matrix
7) Symmetric and skew – symmetric Matrix
8) Triangular Matrix 9) Zero Matrix

Dr. Asha V. Nair

• Equality of Matrices
• Operations like addition , subtraction, multiplication of Matrices
• Elementary row transformations
Interchange of any two rows (eg: 𝑅1 ↔ 𝑅2 )
Multiplication of any row by a non-zero number (eg: 3𝑅1 )
Addition /subtraction to any row a multiple of any other row.
(eg: 𝑅1 = 2𝑅1 + 𝑅2 )
These 3 operations can be done for the columns as well and are known
as column transformations.

Dr. Asha V. Nair

• Continues……….

Dr. Asha V. Nair