Determinants. Properties of Determinants.

Minors and Cofactors. Inverse matrix of

arbitrary order.

Nargiza Tazabekova
▶ Determinants of Orders 1 and 2
▶ Determinants of Order 3
▶ Alternative Form for a Determinant of Order 3
▶ Determinants of Arbitrary Order
▶ Properties of Determinants
▶ Minors and Cofactors
▶ Classical Adjoint
▶ Inverse Matrix of Arbitrary Order
Introduction

The determinant of an n × n matrix A is a scalar value,

denoted as det(A) or |A|, or

a11 a12 ... a1n

a21 a22 ... a2n
.. .. .. ..
. . . .
an1 an2 ... ann
Example

det(5) = 5, det(−6) = −6, det(t − 3) = t − 3

2 −1
= (2 · 4) − (−1 · 3) = 11
3 4

3 2
= (3 · 7) − (2 · (−5)) = 31
−5 7
Determinants of Order 3
 
a11 a12 a13
Consider an arbitrary 3 × 3 matrix A = a21 a22 a23 , the
 
a31 a32 a33
determinant is defined as follows:
det(A) = a11 a22 a33 + a12 a23 a31 + a13 a21 a32
− a13 a22 a31 − a11 a23 a32 − a12 a21 a33
Determinants of Order 3
 
a11 a12 a13
Consider an arbitrary 3 × 3 matrix A = a21 a22 a23 , the
 
a31 a32 a33
determinant is defined as follows:
det(A) = a11 a22 a33 + a12 a23 a31 + a13 a21 a32
− a13 a22 a31 − a11 a23 a32 − a12 a21 a33
Determinants of Order 3

Example
 
1 2 3
A = −1 0 1 
 
2 1 −1
det(A) = (1 · 0 · (−1)) + (2 · 1 · 2) + (3 · (−1) · 1)
− (3 · 0 · 2) − (1 · 1 · 1) − (2 · (−1) · (−1))
= 0 + 4 − 3 − 0 − 2 + 2 = −2
Alternative Form for a Determinant of Order 3

The determinant of the 3 × 3 matrix A may be rewritten as

follows:

a22 a23 a a a a
det(A) = a11 − a12 21 23 + a13 21 22
a32 a33 a31 a33 a31 a32

= a11 (a22 a23 −a23 a32 )−a12 (a21 a33 −a23 a31 )+a13 (a21 a32 −a22 a31 )
Alternative Form for a Determinant of Order 3

Example
 
1 2 3
A = −1 0 1 
 
2 1 −1

1 2 3
0 1 −1 1 −1 0
−1 0 1 = 1 · −2· +3·
1 −1 2 −1 2 1
2 1 −1
= 1(0 · (−1) − 1 · 1) − 2((−1) · (−1) − 1 · 2)
+ 3((−1) · 1 − 0 · 2) = −2
Properties of Determinants

Theorem 8.1
The determinant of a matrix A and its transpose AT are equal.

det(A) = det(AT )
Properties of Determinants

Theorem 8.2
Let A be a square matrix.
▶ If A has a row (column) of zeros, then det(A) = 0.
▶ If A has two identical rows (columns), then det(A) = 0.
▶ If A is triangular, then det(A) = product of diagonal
elements. Thus, in particular,det(I) = 1, where I is the
identity matrix.
Properties of Determinants

Theorem 8.3
Suppose B is obtained from A by an elementary row (column)
operation.
▶ If two rows (columns) of A were interchanged, then
|B| = −|A|.
▶ If a row (column) of A were multiplied by a scalar k, then
|B| = k|A|
▶ If a multiple of a row (column) of A were added to another
row (column) of A, then |B| = |A|.
Properties of Determinants

Theorem 8.4
The determinant of a product of two matrices A and B is the
product of their determinants

det(AB) = det(A)det(B)
Properties of Determinants

Theorem 8.5
Let A be a square matrix. Then the following are equivalent:
1. A is invertible.
2. AX = 0 has only the zero solution.
3. The determinant of A is not zero.
Minors and Cofactors
Consider an n-square matrix A.
 
a11 a12 ... a1j ... a1n
 . .. .. ..
 ..

 . ... . . 

A =  ai1 ai2 ... aij ... ain 
 
 . .. ..
..

 .
 . ...
. . .


an1 an2 . . . anj ... ann
Let Mij denote the (n − 1)-square submatrix of A obtained by
deleting its ith row and jth column.
 
a11 ... a1j−1 a1j+1 ... a1n
 . .. .. .. .. 
 .. . ... . . . 
 
a ... ai−1j−1 ai−1j+1 . . . ai−1n 
Mij =  i−11
 
ai+11 ... ai+1j−1 ai+1j+1 . . . ai+1n 

 .. .. .. .. .. 
 
 . . ... . . . 
an1 ... anj−1 anj+1 . . . ann
Minors and Cofactors

The determinant |Mij | is called the minor of the element aij of

A.
Definition
The cofactor of aij , denoted by Aij is the “signed” minor:

Aij = (−1)i+j |Mij |

Laplace Expansion

Theorem 8.8
The determinant of a square matrix A is equal to the sum of
the products obtained by multiplying the elements of any row
(column) by their respective cofactors:
For expanding along the i-th row:
n
X
det(A) = aij Aij
j=1

For expanding along the j-th column:

n
X
det(A) = aij Aij
i=1

The above formulas for |A| are called the Laplace expansions of
the determinant of A by the ith row and the jth column.
Example 8.9

Compute the determinant of a matrix

 
5 4 2 1
 2 3 1 −2
A=
 
−5 −7 −3 9 


1 −2 −1 4

Replace:
1. R1 by −2R2 + R1
2. R3 by 3R2 + R3
3. R4 by R2 + R4
Example 8.9

5 4 2 1 1 −2 0 5
2 3 1 −2 2 3 1 −2
|A| = =
−5 −7 −3 9 1 2 0 3
1 −2 −1 4 3 1 0 2

1 −2 5
2+3
|A| = 0 + (−1) ·1· 1 2 3 +0+0
3 1 2
|A| = −(4 − 18 + 5 − 30 − 3 + 4) = −(−38) = 38
Classical Adjoint

The classical adjoint of A, denoted adjA is the transpose of the

matrix of cofactors of A.

adjA = [Aij ]
Theorem 8.9
Let A be any square matrix. Then

A(adjA) = (adjA)A = |A|I

Thus, if |A| =
̸ 0
1
A−1 = (adjA)
|A|
Any questions?