Matrix Reference Manual: Matrix Calculus 11/30/11 9:03 AM

Matrix Calculus
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Contents of Calculus Section

Notation
Differentials of Linear, Quadratic and Cubic Products
Differentials of Inverses, Trace and Determinant
Hessian matrices

Notation
j is the square root of -1
XR and XI are the real and imaginary parts of X = XR + jXI
XC is the complex conjugate of X
X: denotes the long column vector formed by concatenating the columns of X (see vectorization).
A ¤ B = KRON(A,B), the kroneker product
A • B the Hadamard or elementwise product
matrices and vectors A, B, C do not depend on X

Derivatives
In the main part of this page we express results in terms of differentials rather than derivatives for two
reasons: they avoid notational disagreements and they cope easily with the complex case. In most cases
however, the differentials have been written in the form dY: = dY/dX dX: so that the corresponding
derivative may be easily extracted.

Derivatives with respect to a real matrix

If X is p#q and Y is m#n, then dY: = dY/dX dX: where the derivative dY/dX is a large mn#pq matrix. If
X and/or Y are column vectors or scalars, then the vectorization operator : has no effect and may be
omitted. dY/dX is also called the Jacobian Matrix of Y: with respect to X: and det(dY/dX) is the
corresponding Jacobian. The Jacobian occurs when changing variables in an integration:
Integral(f(Y)dY:)=Integral(f(Y(X)) det(dY/dX) dX:).

Although they do not generalise so well, other authors use alternative notations for the cases when X and
Y are both vectors or when one is a scalar. In particular:

dy/dx is sometimes written as a column vector rather than a row vector

dy/dx is sometimes transposed from the above definition or else is sometimes written dy/dxT to
emphasise the correspondence between the columns of the derivative and those of xT.
dY/dx and dy/dX are often written as matrices rather than, as here, a column vector and row vector
respectively. The matrix form may be converted to the form used here by appending : or :T
respectively.

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Derivatives with respect to a complex matrix

If X is complex then dY: = dY/dX dX: can only be true iff Y(X) is an analytic function which normally
implies that Y(X) does not depend on XC or XH.

Even for non-analytic functions we can write uniquely dY: = dY/dX dX: + dY/dXC dXC: provided that
is analytic with respect to X and XC individually (or equivalently with respect to XR and XI individually).
dY/dX is the Generalized Complex Derivative and dY/dXC is the Complex Conjugate Derivative [R.4,
R.9].

We define the generalized derivatives in terms of partial derivatives with respect to XR and XI:

dY/dX = ! (dY/dXR - j dY/dXI)

dY/dXC = (dYC/dX)C = ! (dY/dXR + j dY/dXI)

We have the following relationships for both analytic and non-analytic functions Y(X):

Cauchy Riemann equations: The following are equivalent:

Y(X) is an analytic function of X
dY: = dY/dX dX:
dY/dXC = 0 for all X
dY/dXR + j dY/dXI = 0 for all X
dY: = dY/dX dX: + dY/dXC dXC:
dY/dXR = dY/dX + dY/dXC
dY/dXI = j (dY/dX - dY/dXC)
Chain rule: If Z is a function of Y which is itself a function of X, then dZ/dX = dZ/dY dY/dX. This
is the same as for real derivatives.
Real-valued: If Y(X) is real for all complex X, then
dY/dXC= (dY/dX)C
dY: = 2(dY/dX dX:)R
If W(X) is analytic with W(X)=Y(X) for all real X, then dW/dX = 2 (dY/dX)R for all real X
Example: If C=CH, y(x)=xHCx and w(x)=xTCx, then dy/dx = xHC and dw/dx = 2xTCR

Complex Gradient Vector

If f(x) is a real function of a complex vector then df/dxC= (df/dx)C and we can define grad(f(x)) = 2
(df/dx)H = (df/dxR+j df/dxI)T as the Complex Gradient Vector [R.9] with the following properties:

grad(f(x)) is zero at an extreme value of f .

grad(f(x)) points in the direction of steepest slope of f(x)
The magnitude of the steepest slope is equal to |grad(f(x))|. Specifically, if g(x) = grad(f(x)), then
lima->0 a-1( f(x+ag(x)) - f(x) ) = | g(x) |2
grad(f(x)) is normal to the surface f(x) = constant which means that it can be used for gradient
ascent/descent algorithms.

Basic Properties
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We may write the following differentials unambiguously without parentheses:

Transpose: dYT=d(YT)=(dY)T
Hermitian Transpose: dYH=d(YH)=(dY)H
Conjugate: dYC=d(YC)=(dY)C
Linearity: d(Y+Z)=dY+dZ
Chain Rule: If Z is a function of Y which is itself a function of X, then for both the normal and the
generalized complex derivative: dZ: = dZ/dY dY: = dZ/dY dY/dX dX:
Product Rule: d(YZ) =Y dZ + dY Z
d(YZ): = (I ¤ Y) dZ: + (ZT ¤ I) dY: = ((I ¤ Y) dZ/dX + (ZT ¤ I) dY/dX ) dX:
Hadamard Product: d(Y • Z) =Y • dZ + dY • Z
Kroneker Product: d(Y ¤ Z) =Y ¤ dZ + dY ¤ Z

Differentials of Linear Functions

d(Ax) = d(xTA): =A dx
d(xTa) = d(aTx) = aT dx
d(ATXB): = (AT dX B): = (B ¤ A)T dX:
d(aTXb) = (b ¤ a)T dX: = (abT):T dX:
d(aTXa) = d(aTXTa) = (a ¤ a)T dX: = (aaT):T dX:
d(XB): = (dX B): = (BT ¤ I) dX:
d(xbT): = (dx bT): = (b ¤ I) dx
d(aTXTb) = (a ¤ b)T dX: = (baT):T dX:
[x: Complex]
d (xHA): = AT dxC
Writing In = I[n#n] and Tq,m = TVEC(q,m),
d(X[m#n] ¤ A[p#q]): = (In ¤ Tq,m ¤ Ip)(Imn ¤ A:) dX: = (Inq ¤ Tm,p )(In ¤ A: ¤ Im) dX:
d(A[p#q] ¤ X[m#n]): = (Iq ¤ Tn,p ¤ Im)(A: ¤ Imn) dX: = (Tm,n ¤ Ipq )(In ¤ A: ¤ Im) dX:

Differentials of Quadratic Products

d(Ax+b)TC(Dx+e) = ((Ax+b)TCD + (Dx+e)TCTA) dx
d(xTCx) = xT(C+CT)dx = [C=CT] 2xTCdx
d(xTx) = 2xTdx
d(Ax+b)T (Dx+e) = ( (Ax+b)TD + (Dx+e)TA)dx
d(Ax+b)T (Ax+b) = 2(Ax+b)TAdx
d(Ax+b)TC(Ax+b) = [C=CT] 2(Ax+b)TCA dx
d(Ax+b)HC(Dx+e) = (Ax+b)HCD dx + (Dx+e)TCTAC dxC
d (xHCx) =xHC dx +xTCT dxC = [C=CH] 2(xHC dx)R
d (xHx) = 2(xH dx)R
d(aTXTXb) = X(abT + baT):T dX:
d(aTXTXa) = 2(XaaT ):T dX:
d(aTXTCXb) = (CTXabT + CXbaT):T dX:
d(aTXTCXa) = ((C + CT)XaaT ):T dX: = [C=CT] 2(CXaaT):T dX:

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d((Xa+b)TC(Xa+b)) = ((C+CT)(Xa+b)aT ):T dX:

d(X2): = (XdX + dX X): = (I ¤ X + XT ¤ I) dX:
d(XTCX): = (XTCdX): + (d(XT) CX): = (I ¤ XTC) dX: + (XTCT ¤ I) dXT:
d(XHCX): = (XHCdX): + (d(XH) CX): = (I ¤ XHC) dX: + (XTCT ¤ I) dXH:

Differentials of Cubic Products

d(xxTAx) = (xxT(A+AT)+xTAxI )dx

Differentials of Inverses
d(X-1) = -X-1dX X-1 [2.1]
d(X-1): = -(X-T ¤ X-1) dX:
d(aTX-1b) = - (X-TabTX-T ):T dX: = - (abT):T (X-T ¤ X-1) dX: [2.6]
d(tr(ATX-1B)) = d(tr(BTXTA)) = -(X-TABTX-T):T dX: = -(ABT):T (X-T ¤ X-1) dX:

Differentials of Trace
Note: matrix dimensions must result in an n*n argument for tr().

d(tr(Y))=tr(dY)
d(tr(X)) = d(tr(XT)) = I:T dX: [2.4]
d(tr(Xk)) =k(Xk-1)T:T dX:
d(tr(AXk)) = (SUMr=0:k-1(XrAXk-r-1)T ):T dX:
d(tr(AX-1B)) = -(X-1BAX-1)T:T dX:= -(X-TATBTX-T):T dX: [2.5]
d(tr(AX-1)) =d(tr(X-1A)) = -(X-TATX-T ):T dX:
d(tr(ATXBT)) = d(tr(BXTA)) = (AB):T dX: [2.4]
d(tr(XAT)) = d(tr(ATX)) =d(tr(XTA)) = d(tr(AXT)) = A:T dX:
d(tr(ATX-1BT)) = d(tr(BXTA)) = -(X-TABX-T):T dX: = -(AB):T (X-T ¤ X-1) dX:
d(tr(AXBXTC)) = (ATCTXBT + CAXB):T dX:
d(tr(XAXT)) = d(tr(AXTX)) = d(tr(XTXA)) =( X(A+AT)):T dX:
d(tr(XTAX)) = d(tr(AXXT)) = d(tr(XXTA)) = ((A+AT)X):T dX:
d(tr(AXBX)) = (ATXTBT + BTXTAT ):T dX:
d(tr((AXb+c)(AXb+c)T) = 2(AT(AXb+c)bT):T dX:
d(tr((XTCX)-1A) = [C:symmetric] d(tr(A (XTCX)-1) = -((CX(XTCX)-1)(A+AT)(XTCX)-1):T dX:
d(tr((XTCX)-1(XTBX)) = [B,C:symmetric] d(tr( (XTBX)(XTCX)-1) = 2(BX(XTCX)-1-
(CX(XTCX)-1)XTBX(XTCX)-1 ):T dX:

Differentials of Determinant
Note: matrix dimensions must result in an n#n argument for det(). Some of the expressions below involve
inverses: these forms apply only if the quantity being inverted is square and non-singular; alternative

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forms involving the adjoint, ADJ(), do not have the non-singular requirement.

d(det(X)) = d(det(XT)) = ADJ(XT):T dX: = det(X) (X-T):T dX: [2.7]

d(det(ATXB)) = d(det(BTXTA)) = (A ADJ(ATXB)TBT):T dX: = [A,B: nonsingular] det(ATXB) !
(X-T):T dX: [2.8]
d(ln(det(ATXB))) = [A,B: nonsingular] (X-T):T dX: [2.9]
d(ln(det(X))) = (X-T):T dX:
d(det(Xk)) = d(det(X)k) = k ! det(Xk) ! (X-T):T dX: [2.10]
d(ln(det(Xk))) = k ! (X-T):T dX:
d(det(XTCX)) = [C=CT] 2det(XTCX)!(CX(XTCX)-1):T dX: [2.11]
= [C=CT, CX: nonsingular] 2det(XTCX)!(X-T):T dX:
d(ln(det(XTCX))) = [C=CT] 2(CX(XTCX)-1):T dX:
= [C=CT, CX: nonsingular] 2(X-T):T dX:
d(det(XHCX)) = det(XHCX) ! (CTXC (XTCTXC)-1)dX: + (CX(XHCX)-1):T dXC:) [2.12]
d(ln(det(XHCX))) = (CTXC (XTCTXC)-1):TdX: + (CX(XHCX)-1):T dXC: [2.13]

Jacobian
dY/dX is called the Jacobian Matrix of Y: with respect to X: and JX(Y)=det(dY/dX) is the corresponding
Jacobian. The Jacobian occurs when changing variables in an integration:
Integral(f(Y)dY:)=Integral(f(Y(X)) det(dY/dX) dX:).

JX(X[n#n]-1)= (-1)ndet(X)-2n

Hessian matrix
If f is a real function of x then the Hermitian matrix Hx f = (d/dx (df/dx)H)T is the Hessian matrix of f(x).
A value of x for which grad f(x) = 0 corresponds to a minimum, maximum or saddle point according to
whether Hx f is positive definite, negative definite or indefinite.

[Real] Hx f = d/dx (df/dx)T

Hx f is symmetric
Hx (aTx) = 0
Hx (Ax+b)TC(Dx+e) = ATCD + DTCTA
Hx (Ax+b)T (Dx+e) = ATD + DTA
Hx (Ax+b)TC(Ax+b) = AT(C + CT)A = [C=CT] 2ATCA
Hx (Ax+b)T (Ax+b) = 2ATA
Hx (xTCx) = C+CT = [C=CT] 2C
Hx (xTx) = 2I
[x: Complex] Hx f = (d/dx (df/dx)H)T = d/dxC (df/dx)T
Hx f is hermitian

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Hx (Ax+b)HC(Ax+b) = [C=CH] (AHCA)T [2.14]

Hx (xHCx) = [C=CH] CT

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