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Determinants (CTD) : Evaluating Determinants by Row Reduction (Section 2.2)

This document discusses various methods for evaluating determinants of matrices, including row reduction, cofactor expansion, and properties of determinants. It introduces theorems about how elementary row and column operations, scalar multiplication, and transposition affect the determinant. Cramer's rule relating the determinant and inverse of a matrix is also summarized. Examples are provided to illustrate the different concepts.

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224 views9 pages

Determinants (CTD) : Evaluating Determinants by Row Reduction (Section 2.2)

This document discusses various methods for evaluating determinants of matrices, including row reduction, cofactor expansion, and properties of determinants. It introduces theorems about how elementary row and column operations, scalar multiplication, and transposition affect the determinant. Cramer's rule relating the determinant and inverse of a matrix is also summarized. Examples are provided to illustrate the different concepts.

Uploaded by

asah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Determinants (ctd) Math 1850U

Evaluating Determinants by Row Reduction (Section 2.2)


Recall: Last day, we introduced the method of cofactor expansion for finding
determinants. Today, we will learn to evaluate determinants using row reduction
(to make the matrix triangular). This involves fewer computations, so it is better
for larger matrices.

Theorem. Let A be a square matrix. If A has a row of zeros or a column of


zeros, then det(A) = 0.

Proof:

Example:

Theorem. Let A be a square matrix. Then det(A) = det(AT ).

Proof: (2 ⇥ 2)

Proof: (3 ⇥ 3) Try as an exercise.


The following theorem tells us how elementary row or column operations a↵ect
the value of a determinant.

1
Theorem. Let A be an n ⇥ n matrix.

(a) If B is the matrix that results when a single row or single column of A
is multiplied by a scalar k, then det(B) = k det(A).

(b) If B is the matrix that results when two rows or two columns of A are
interchanged, then det(B) = det(A).

(c) If B is the matrix that results when a multiple of one row of A is added to
another row, or when a multiple of one column of A is added to another
column, then det(B) = det(A).

Notes of Caution:
Elementary row and column operations may change the value of the de-
terminant (this is in contrast to systems of equations for which elementary
row operations do not change solutions).
Unlike in solving for systems of equations, to find the determinant of a
matrix, you can use column operations as well as row operations.

Example: Let
2 3 2 3
a b c a b c
A = 4d e f 5 ,B =4d e f5
g h i 2g 2h 2i
2 3 2 3
d + 5g e + 5h f + 5i 6a 2b 2c
C=4 a b c 5 , D = 43d e f 5 .
g h i 3g h i
If det(A) = 3, find

(a) det(B)

(b) det(C)

(c) det(D)

2
Example: (ctd)

Theorem. If A is a square matrix with two proportional rows or two pro-


portional columns, then det(A) = 0.

3
Example: Use row reduction to evaluate the determinant of the given ma-
trix. 2 3
1 1 2 5
63 0 1 37
A=6 42
7
2 4 10 5
0 5 1 1

Example: Use row reduction to evaluate the determinant of the given ma-
trix. 2 3
1 1 2 1
62 2 1 37
A=6 4 1 1 4 65
7

0 1 2 1

Note: Sometimes it is convenient to use row or column operations to get the


matrix into a form that is good for cofactor expansion.

4
Let’s redo the above example using a combination of row/column operations and
cofactor expansion.

Example: Use row reduction to evaluate the determinant of the given ma-
trix. 2 3
1 1 2 1
62 2 1 37
A=6 4 1 1 4 65
7

0 1 2 1

5
Properties of Determinants; Cramer’s Rule (Section 2.3)

Theorem. For an n ⇥ n matrix A, det(kA) = k n det(A), where k is any


scalar.

Example: Find det(2A) if det(A) = 5, where A is 4 ⇥ 4.

Caution: In general, det(A + B) 6= det(A) + det B.

Example: Verify that det(A + B) 6= det(A) + det B for these matrices.


 
1 2 0 3
A= , B= .
0 0 0 2

Question: Is there a rule for the determinant of a product of two matrices?


Let’s start with the special case when one of the matrices is an elementary matrix.

Lemma: If B is an n ⇥ n matrix, and E is an n ⇥ n elementary matrix, then


det(EB) = det(E) det(B).

Theorem. A square matrix is invertible if and only if det(A) 6= 0.

Proof:

6
Theorem. If A and B are square matrices of the same size, then

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

That is, the determinant of the product is equal to the product of the deter-
minants.

Exercise: Verify that the above theorem holds for


 
2 3 5 3
A= , B= .
4 1 2 2

(Answer: det(AB) = 40 and det(A) det(B) = 40 too.)

One nice consequence of the theory developed here is that we can finally tackle
the proofs of a couple of theorems from earlier sections:
Proof of theorem from Section 1.6: If A and B are square matrices of the
same size, and if AB is invertible, then so are A and B.

Proof of theorem from Section 1.7 (Properties of triangular matrices):


A triangular matrix is invertible if and only if its diagonal entries are all non-zero.

Theorem. If A is invertible, then

1 1
det(A = .
det(A)

7
Proof:

Example: If A is a 2⇥2 matrix with det(A) = 2, find the quantities below:

(a) det(A 1 )

(b) det(3A 1 )

(c) det((3A) 1 )

Adjoint Method for Inverse (Enrichment—not tested on


this):
Definition: If A is any n ⇥ n matrix and Cij is the cofactor of aij , then the
matrix 2 3
C11 C12 · · · C1n
6 C21 C22 · · · C2n 7
6 7
6 .. .. .. 7
4 . . . 5
Cn1 Cn2 · · · Cnn
is called the matrix of cofactors of A. The transpose of this matrix is
called the adjoint of A (or the classical adjoint) and is denoted adj(A).

8
Theorem (Inverse of a Matrix using its Adjoint). If A is an invertible matrix,
then
1
A 1= adj(A).
det(A)

1
Example: Find A for the matrix A using the adjoint method.
2 3
1 2 2
A= 4 1 0 15
2 4 5

Note: In general, this is not the most efficient way to find the inverse, but the
formula is useful for proofs related to inverses.

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