Square matrix and determinant

Definition 4. If n = p we say that A is a square matrix. In this case, we denote A ∈ Mn (K)

 
a1,1 a1,2 ··· a1,n
a ··· 
 2,1 a2,2 a2,n 
A=
 .. .. .. ..


 . . . . 
an,1 an,2 ··· an,n

a1,1 , a2,2 , · · · , an,n are said to be diagonal elements of A

(a1,1 , a2,2 , · · · , an,n ) is called the diagonal of A

Example 7. !
3 4
A= ⇒ A ∈ M2 (R)
−2 1

Theorem 1. ∀A, B ∈ Mn (K), AB ∈ Mn (K)

∀A ∈ Mn (K), AT ∈ Mn (K)

Example 8.   

3 4 −2 3
A= ⇒ AT =
−2 1 1 4
     
3 4 1 −1 15 5
A= B= ⇒ AB =
−2 1 3 2 1 4

Definition 5.

1. A matrix whose non-diagonal terms are zero is said to be a diagonal matrix.

2. The identity matrix denoted In is a diagonal matrix in which all the diagonal terms are
equal to 1.

Example 9.  
    1 0 0
2 0 1 0
D= I1 = 1 I2 = I3 = 0 1 0
0 −1 0 1
0 0 1

Theorem 2. ∀A ∈ Mn (K), In A = AIn = A

Example 10.
     
1 3 −2 1 0 0 1 3 −2
A = −5 0 3 I3 = 0 1 0 ⇒ I3 A = AI3 = −5 0 3 =A
2 2 1 0 0 1 2 2 1

Definition 6.

1. A matrix A is said to be symmetric if and only if it is equal to its transpose , i.e. A = AT

2. If A = −AT , A is said to be antisymmetric.

Example 11.
   
1 2 −1 0 −4 −3
A= 2 2 5 B = 4 0 1  ⇒ A = AT and B = −B T
−1 5 3 3 −1 0

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Determinant of a square matrix
Definition 7. There is only one map det : Mn (K) → K called determinant such that:

1. The determinant is linear with respect to each column.

2. If A has two identical columns, then its determinant is zero.
3. The determinant of the identity matrix In is 1

Practical calculation of the determinant

Example 12.  
a1,1 a1,2
A1 = a1,1 A2 =
a2,1 a2,2
a1,1 a1,2
det A1 = a1,1 det A2 = = a1,1 a2,2 − a2,1 a1,2
a2,1 a2,2

Example 13.  
1 2
A1 = 5 A2 =
−3 2
1 2
det A1 = 5 det A2 = = 1(2) − (−3)2 = 8
−3 2

Definition 8.
Let A ∈ Mn (K) and Aij the matrix A from which we have removed the ith row and the jth
column.
We call minor of order n − 1 the number detAij
We call cofactor of A relatively to the element aij the number Cij = (−1)i+j det Aij
Theorem 3. Let A ∈ Mn (K)

X
n
∀i ∈ {1, · · · , n}, det A = aij Cij
j=1

X
n
∀j ∈ {1, · · · , n}, det A = aij Cij
i=1

Example 14.  
3 2 −1
A3 =  1 2 −1
−1 2 3
We can calculate the determinant with respect to the first row by choosing i = 1

X
3
2 −1 1 −1 1 2
i = 1 ⇒ det A = a1j C1j = a11 C11 + a12 C12 + a13 C13 = 3 −2 + (−1)
2 3 −1 3 −1 2
j=1

= 3(8) − 2(2) + (−1)4 = 16

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 We can also calculate the determinant with respect to the second column by choosing j = 2

X
3
1 −1 3 −1 3 −1
j = 2 ⇒ det A = ai2 Ci2 = a12 C12 + a22 C22 + a32 C32 = −2 +2 −2
−1 3 −1 3 1 −1
i=1

= −2(2) + 2(8) − 2(−2) = 16

Theorem 4. det AB = det A × det B

det AT = det A

Example 15.    
3 2 −1 3 1 −1
A =  1 2 −1 ⇒ AT =  2 2 2
−1 2 3 −1 −1 3
     
2 2 2 2 2 2
det A = 3
T
− − = 3(8) − 8 − 0 = 16 = det A
−1 3 −1 3 −1 −1

Definition 9. A square matrix A is said to be upper triangular if all the terms below the diagonal
are zero. It said to be lower triangular if all the terms located above the diagonal are zero.

Theorem 5. Let A ∈ Mn (K)

If A is diagonal, upper triangular or lower triangular then its determinant is equal to the
product of its diagonal elements .

Example 16.  
2 0 0
D = 0 −1 0 ⇒ det A = 2(−1)3 = −6
0 0 3
 
3 0 0
L = −1 2 0 ⇒ det L = 3(2)3 = 18
1 3 3
 
1 2 −1
U = 0 1 2  ⇒ det L = 1(1)1 = 1
0 0 1

Theorem 6. Let A ∈ Mn (K)

We pose A = (C1 , C2 , · · · , Cj , · · · , Ck , · · · , Cp ) with Cj the j th column of A, then:

1. det (C1 , C2 , · · · , αCj , · · · , Ck , · · · , Cp ) = α det (C1 , C2 , · · · , Cj , · · · , Ck , · · · , Cp ) = α det A

2. det (C1 , C2 , · · · , Cj + αCk , · · · , Ck , · · · , Cp ) = det (C1 , C2 , · · · , Cj , · · · , Ck , · · · , Cp ) = det A

3. det (C1 , C2 , · · · , Ck , · · · , Cj , · · · , Cp ) = −det (C1 , C2 , · · · , Cj , · · · , Ck , · · · , Cp ) = −det A

The theorem remains valid if we replace the columns by the rows because det t A = det A

Example 17.  
1 2 −1
A= 3 2 −1
−1 2 3

1 2 −1 ← L1 1 2 −1 ← L′1 = L1 1 2 −1 ← L′′1 = L′1

det A = 3 2 −1 ← L2 = 0 −4 2 ← L′2 = L2 − 3L1 = 0 −4 2 ← L′′2 = L′2
−1 2 3 ← L3 0 4 2 ← L′3 = L3 + L1 0 0 4 ← L′′3 = L3 + L′2
′

So detA = 1 × (−4) × 4 = −16

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