On The Matrices Ab and Ba: Darryl Mccullough

On the matrices
AB and BA
Darryl McCullough
University of Oklahoma
March 27, 2010
1
One of the first things we learn about matrices
in linear algebra is that AB need not equal BA.
For example,
" #" # " #
1 0 0 1 0 1
= ,
0 0 0 0 0 0
but
" #" # " #
0 1 1 0 0 0
= .
0 0 0 0 0 0
So we can even have AB 6= 0 but BA = 0!
How different can AB and BA be? Can we

even write any two n × n matrices X and Y as
X = AB and Y = BA?
2
No, AB and BA cannot be just any two matri-
ces. They must have the same determinant,
where for 2 × 2 matrices the determinant is
defined by
" #
a b
det = ad − bc .
c d
The determinant function has the remarkable

property that det(AB) = det(A) det(B).
So we have
det(AB) = det(A) det(B)

= det(B) det(A)
= det(BA)
Are there other functions f for which

f (AB) = f (BA)?
3
There is another function that satisfies
f (AB) = f (BA)— the trace function, which is
just the sum of the diagonal entries:
n
X
tr(A) = tr([aij ]) = aii
i=1
Unlike the determinant function, one does not

usually have tr(AB) = tr(A) tr(B).
But one always has tr(AB) = tr(BA):

n
X
tr(AB) = (AB)ii
i=1
n X
X n
= aij bji
i=1 j=1
n X
X n
= bjiaij
j=1 i=1
n
X
= (BA)jj
j=1
= tr(BA)
4
Are there are any other functions that satisfy
f (AB) = f (BA)?
Of course we can generate lots of silly exam-

ples using the trace and determinant, such as
f (AB) = cos(23 det(AB)) − 7 tr(AB) .
In fact, just taking polynomial expressions in

trace and determinant, we can get many poly-
nomials in the matrix entries that have this
property, e. g.
6 tr2(A) det(A) = 6(a + d)2(ad − bc) .
What we are actually wondering is:
Are there polynomials p in the matrix entries

such that p(AB) = p(BA), other than polyno-
mial expressions in the trace and determinant
themselves?
5
The answer is yes. There is a source that gives
both the trace and determinant, and others as
well— the characteristic polynomial:
char(A) = det(λIn − A)
It is a polynomial in λ, with coefficients that
are are polynomials in the entries of A.
For example, for a 3 × 3 matrix we have

 
a11 a12 a13
char a21 a22 a23
 
a31 a32 a33
 
λ − a11 −a12 −a13
= det  −a21 λ − a22 −a23 
 
−a31 −a32 λ − a33
=λ3 − (a11 + a22 + a33)λ2
+ a11a22 − a12a21 + a11a33

−a13a31 + a22a33 − a23a32 λ
−(a11a22a33 − a11a23a32 + a12a23a31
−a12a21a33 + a13a21a32 − a12a22a31)
= λ3 − tr(A) λ2 + p2(A) λ − det(A)
6
In general, for an n × n matrix we have
char(A) = λn − tr(A)λn−1 + p2(A)λn−2

+ · · · + (−1)n−1pn−1(A)λ + (−1)n det(A)
for certain polynomials pi in the entries of A.
We should actually write pn,i for these

polynomials, since their formulas depend on
the size n of the matrix. And we can write
pn,1(A) = tr(A) and pn,n(A) = det(A).
So we wonder whether char(AB) = char(BA).

That would be the same as saying that
pn,i(AB) = pn,i(BA) for each of these
polynomials.
7
The answer is yes:
Theorem: If A and B are n × n matrices, then

char(AB) = char(BA).
A beautiful proof of this was given in:
J. Schmid, A remark on characteristic polyno-

mials, Am. Math. Monthly, 77 (1970), 998-
999.
In fact, he proved a stronger result, that be-

comes the theorem above if we have m = n:
Theorem: Let A be an n × m matrix and B

an m × n matrix. Then
λm char(AB) = λn char(BA)
8
Theorem: Let A be an n × m matrix and B
an m × n matrix. Then
λm char(AB) = λn char(BA)
proof (J. Schmid): Put

" # " #
λIn A In 0
C= ,D =
B Im −B λIm
Then we have
" # " #
λIn − AB λA λIn A
CD = , DC =
0 λIm 0 λIm − BA
So
λm char(AB) = det(λIm ) det(λIn − AB)

= det(CD)
= det(DC)
= det(λIn ) det(λIm − BA)
= λn char(BA)
9
So, have we now found all the f ’s with f (AB) =
f (BA)?
Yes!
Every polynomial p in the matrix entries that

satisfies p(AB) = p(BA) can be written as a
polynomial in the pn,i.
Consider first the case of diagonal matrices, where the
entries are the eigenvalues. Any p with p(AB) = p(BA)
is a similarity invariant, so gives the same values if we
permute the diagonal entries. Therefore it is a symmet-
ric polynomial in the eigenvalues. The polynomials 1,
pn,1 , pn,2 , . . . , pn,n are the elementary symmetric polyno-
mials in the eigenvalues, so any symmetric polynomial
in the eigenvalues can be written (uniquely) as a poly-
nomial in them, say p = P (1, pn,1 , . . . , pn,n), on diagonal
matrices. Since p is invariant under similarity, it equals
P on all the set of all conjugates of diagonal matrices
with distinct nonzero eigenvalues, which form an open
2
subset of Mn(R) = Rn . Since p and P are polynomials,
this implies that p = P on all of Mn(R).
10
A final question: If pn,i(X) = pn,i(Y ) for all
the polynomials, does this ensure that we can
write X = AB and Y = BA for some A and B?
No, there are easy examples that show this is

not enough, such as
! !
1 0 1 1
X=I= and Y =
0 1 0 1
X and Y have the same trace and determi-
nant (i. e. p2,1(X) = p2,1(Y ) and p2,2(X) =
p2,2(Y )), but if AB = I then A and B are in-
verses, and BA = I as well.
There are many such examples for larger n.

The condition that pn,i(X) = pn,i(Y ) for all
i is equivalent to X and Y having the same
eigenvalues, which is much weaker than being
able to write X = AB and Y = BA (which
is equivalent to similarity when X and Y are
nonsingular).
11

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On the matrices

March 27, 2010

So we can even have AB 6= 0 but BA = 0!

How different can AB and BA be? Can we

The determinant function has the remarkable

det(AB) = det(A) det(B)

Are there other functions f for which

Unlike the determinant function, one does not

But one always has tr(AB) = tr(BA):

Of course we can generate lots of silly exam-

f (AB) = cos(23 det(AB)) − 7 tr(AB) .

In fact, just taking polynomial expressions in

6 tr2(A) det(A) = 6(a + d)2(ad − bc) .

What we are actually wondering is:

Are there polynomials p in the matrix entries

For example, for a 3 × 3 matrix we have

char(A) = λn − tr(A)λn−1 + p2(A)λn−2

We should actually write pn,i for these

So we wonder whether char(AB) = char(BA).

Theorem: If A and B are n × n matrices, then

A beautiful proof of this was given in:

J. Schmid, A remark on characteristic polyno-

In fact, he proved a stronger result, that be-

Theorem: Let A be an n × m matrix and B

proof (J. Schmid): Put

λm char(AB) = det(λIm ) det(λIn − AB)

Every polynomial p in the matrix entries that

No, there are easy examples that show this is

There are many such examples for larger n.

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