1.7 Diagonal, Triangular, and Symmetric Matrices

Lecture No.
12
1.7 Diagonal, Triangular, and Symmetric Matrices

In this section we will discuss matrices that have various special forms. These matrices arise in a wide variety of applications
and will also play an important role in our subsequent work.
Diagonal Matrices
A square matrix in which all the entries off the main diagonal are zero is called a diagonal matrix. Here are some examples:
A general diagonal matrix D can be written as
(1)
A diagonal matrix is invertible if and only if all of its diagonal entries are nonzero; in this case the inverse of 1 is
(2)
Confirm Formula 2 by showing that
Powers of diagonal matrices are easy to compute; we leave it for you to verify that if D is the diagonal matrix 1 and k is a
positive integer, then
(3)
E X A M P L E 1 Inverses and Powers of Diagonal Matrices
If
then
Matrix products that involve diagonal factors are especially easy to compute. For example,
In words, to multiply a matrix A on the left by a diagonal matrix D, one can multiply successive rows of A by the
successive diagonal entries of D, and to multiply A on the right by D, one can multiply successive columns of A by the
successive diagonal entries of D.
Triangular Matrices
A square matrix in which all the entries above the main diagonal are zero is called lower triangular, and a square matrix in
which all the entries below the main diagonal are zero is called upper triangular. A matrix that is either upper triangular or
lower triangular is called triangular.
E X A M P L E 2 Upper and Lower Triangular Matrices
Remark Observe that diagonal matrices are both upper triangular and lower triangular since they have zeros below and
above the main diagonal. Observe also that a square matrix in row echelon form is upper triangular since it has zeros below
the main diagonal.
Properties of Triangular Matrices

Example 2 illustrates the following four facts about triangular matrices that we will state without formal proof.
• A square matrix is upper triangular if and only if all entries to the left of the main diagonal are zero; that is,
if (Figure 1.7.1).
• A square matrix is lower triangular if and only if all entries to the right of the main diagonal are zero; that is,
if (Figure 1.7.1).
• A square matrix is upper triangular if and only if the ith row starts with at least zeros for every i.
• A square matrix is lower triangular if and only if the jth column starts with at least zeros for every j.
Figure 1.7.1
The following theorem lists some of the basic properties of triangular matrices.
THEOREM 1.7.1
(a) The transpose of a lower triangular matrix is upper triangular, and the transpose of an upper triangular matrix is
lower triangular.
(b) The product of lower triangular matrices is lower triangular, and the product of upper triangular matrices is upper
triangular.
(c) A triangular matrix is invertible if and only if its diagonal entries are all nonzero.
(d) The inverse of an invertible lower triangular matrix is lower triangular, and the inverse of an invertible upper
triangular matrix is upper triangular.
Part (a) is evident from the fact that transposing a square matrix can be accomplished by reflecting the entries about the main
diagonal; we omit the formal proof. We will prove (b), but we will defer the proofs of (c) and (d) to the next chapter, where
we will have the tools to prove those results more efficiently.
Proof (b) We will prove the result for lower triangular matrices; the proof for upper triangular matrices is similar. Let
and be lower triangular matrices, and let be the product . We can prove that C
is lower triangular by showing that for . But from the definition of matrix multiplication,
If we assume that , then the terms in this expression can be grouped as follows:
In the first grouping all of the b factors are zero since B is lower triangular, and in the second grouping all of the a factors are
zero since A is lower triangular. Thus, , which is what we wanted to prove.
E X A M P L E 3 Computations with Triangular Matrices

Consider the upper triangular matrices
It follows from part (c) of Theorem 1.7.1 that the matrix A is invertible but the matrix B is not. Moreover, the
theorem also tells us that , AB, and BA must be upper triangular. We leave it for you to confirm these three
statements by showing that
Lecture No. 13
Symmetric Matrices
DEFINITION 1
A square matrix A is said to be symmetric if .
It is easy to recognize a symmetric matrix by

inspection: The entries on the main diagonal have no
restrictions, but mirror images of entries across the
main diagonal must be equal. Here is a picture using
the second matrix in Example 4:
All diagonal matrices, such as the third matrix in

Example 4, obviously have this property.
E X A M P L E 4 Symmetric Matrices
The following matrices are symmetric, since each is equal to its own transpose (verify).

1.7 Diagonal, Triangular, and Symmetric Matrices

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Lecture No.

1.7 Diagonal, Triangular, and Symmetric Matrices

A general diagonal matrix D can be written as

Confirm Formula 2 by showing that

E X A M P L E 1 Inverses and Powers of Diagonal Matrices

E X A M P L E 2 Upper and Lower Triangular Matrices

Properties of Triangular Matrices

E X A M P L E 3 Computations with Triangular Matrices

A square matrix A is said to be symmetric if .

It is easy to recognize a symmetric matrix by

All diagonal matrices, such as the third matrix in

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