Linear Algebra

Chapter 3

Determinants
 3.1 Introduction to Determinants
Definition
The determinant of a 2  2 matrix A is denoted |A| and is given
by
a11 a12
 a11a22  a12 a21
a21 a22
Observe that the determinant of a 2  2 matrix is given by the
different of the products of the two diagonals of the matrix.
The notation det(A) is also used for the determinant of A.
Example 1
A   2 4
 3 1
det( A)  2 4  (2 1)  (4  (3))  2  12  14
3 1
Ch03_2
Definition
Let A be a square matrix.
The minor of the element aij is denoted Mij and is the determinant
of the matrix that remains after deleting row i and column j of A.
The cofactor of aij is denoted Cij and is given by
Cij = (–1)i+j Mij
Note that Cij = Mij or Mij .

Ch03_3
 Example 2
Determine the minors and cofactors of the elements a11 and a32 of
the following matrix A.
1 0 3
A   4  1 2
0  2 1
Solution
1 0 3
Minor of a11 : M 11  4  1 2   1 2  (11)  (2  (2))  3
0 2 1 2 1
Cofactor of a11 : C11  (1)11 M 11  (1) 2 (3)  3
1 0 3
Minor of a32 : M 32  4  1 2  1 3  (1 2)  (3  4)  10
0 2 1 4 2
Cofactor of a32 : C32  (1)32 M 32  (1)5 (10)  10

Ch03_4
Definition
The determinant of a square matrix is the sum of the products
of the elements of the first row and their cofactors.
If A is 3  3, A  a11C11  a12C12  a13C13
If A is 4  4, A  a11C11  a12C12  a13C13  a14C14

If A is n  n, A  a11C11  a12C12  a13C13    a1nC1n

These equations are called cofactor expansions of |A|.

Ch03_5
 Example 3
Evaluate the determinant of the following matrix A.
 1 2  1
A  3 0 1
4 2 1
Solution
A  a11C11  a12C12  a13C13
 1(1) 2 0 1  2(1)3 3 1  (1)(1) 4 3 0
2 1 4 1 4 2
 [(0 1)  (1 2)]  2[(3 1)  (1 4)]  [(3  2)  (0  4)]
 2  2  6
 6

Ch03_6
 Theorem 3.1
The determinant of a square matrix is the sum of the products of
the elements of any row or column and their cofactors.
ith row expansion: A  ai1Ci1  ai 2Ci 2    ain Cin
jth column expansion: A  a1 j C1 j  a2 j C2 j    anj Cnj
Example 4
Find the determinant of the following matrix using the second row.
 1 2  1
A  3 0 1
Solution 4 2 1
A  a21C21  a22C22  a23C23
 3 2  1  0 1  1  1 1 2
2 1 4 1 4 2
 3[(2 1)  (1 2)]  0[(11)  (1 4)]  1[(1 2)  (2  4)]
 12  0  6  6
Ch03_7
 Example 5
Evaluate the determinant of the following 4  4 matrix.
2 1 0 4
0  1 0 2
7  2 3 5
0 1 0  3
Solution
A  a13C13  a23C23  a33C33  a43C43
 0(C13 )  0(C23 )  3(C33 )  0(C43 )
2 1 4
 3 0 1 2
0 1 3
 3(2)  1 2  6(3  2)  6
1 3

Ch03_8
 Example 6
Solve the following equation for the variable x.
x x 1  7
1 x  2
Solution
Expand the determinant to get the equation
x( x  2)  ( x  1)(1)  7
Proceed to simplify this equation and solve for x.
x2  2x  x 1  7
x2  x  6  0
( x  2)( x  3)  0
x  2 or 3
There are two solutions to this equation, x = – 2 or 3.
Ch03_9
 Computing Determinants of 2  2
and 3  3 Matrices
a a12 
A   11
a21 a22   A  a11a22  a12 a21
 a11 a12 a13   a11 a12 a13  a11 a12
A  a21 a22 a23   a21 a22 a23  a21 a22
a a32 a33  a a32 a33  a31 a32
 31  31
 A  a11 a22 a33  a12 a23a31  a13a21a32
(diagonal products from left to right)
 a13a22 a31  a11a23a32  a12 a21a33
(diagonal products from right to left)

Ch03_10
Homework

Exercise 3.1 pages 161-162:

1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13

Ch03_11
 3.2 Properties of Determinants
Theorem 3.2
Let A be an n  n matrix and c be a nonzero scalar.
(a) If A  B then |B| = c|A|.
cRk

(b) If A  B then |B| = –|A|.

Ri Rj

(c) If A  B then |B| = |A|.

Ri cRj

Proof (a)
|A| = ak1Ck1 + ak2Ck2 + … + aknCkn
|B| = cak1Ck1 + cak2Ck2 + … + caknCkn
|B| = c|A|.
Ch03_12
 Example 1
3 4 2
Evaluate the determinant  1  6 3.
2 9 3

Solution
3 4 2 3 0 2
3 2
1  6 3  1 0 3  (3)  21
C2  2 C3 1 3
2 9 3 2 3 3

Ch03_13
 Example 2
 1 4 3
If A   0 2 5, |A| = 12 is known.
 2  4 10

Evaluate the determinants of the following matrices.

 1 12 3  1 4 3  1 4 3
(a ) B1   0 6 5 (b) B2   2  4 10 (c) B3  0 2 5
 2  12 10  0 2 5 0 4 16

Solution
(a) A  B1 Thus |B1| = 3|A| = 36.
3C 2

(b) A  B2 Thus |B2| = – |A| = –12.

R 2 R 3

A  B3
(c) R 3 2 R1 Thus |B3| = |A| = 12. Ch03_14
 Definition
A square matrix A is said to be singular if |A|=0.
A is nonsingular if |A|0.
Theorem 3.3
Let A be a square matrix. A is singular if
(a) all the elements of a row (column) are zero.
(b) two rows (columns) are equal.
(c) two rows (columns) are proportional. (i.e., Ri=cRj)
Proof
(a) Let all elements of the kth row of A be zero.
A  ak1Ck 1  ak 2Ck 2    aknCkn  0Ck1  0Ck 2    0Ckn  0

(c) If Ri=cRj, then A  B , row i of B is [0 0 … 0].

Ri cRj
 |A|=|B|=0 Ch03_15
 Example 3
Show that the following matrices are singular.
 2 0  7 2  1 3
(a ) A   3 0 1 (b) B   1 2 4
 4 0 9 2 4 8

Solution
(a) All the elements in column 2 of A are zero. Thus |A| = 0.
(b) Row 2 and row 3 are proportional. Thus |B| = 0.

Ch03_16
 Theorem 3.4
Let A and B be n  n matrices and c be a nonzero scalar.
(a) |cA| = cn|A|.
(b) |AB| = |A||B|.
(c) |At| = |A|.
1 1
(d) A  A (assuming A–1 exists)

Proof
(a)
A  cA  cA  c n A
cR1, cR 2 , ..., cRn

(d)
1
A  A1  A  A1  I  1  A1 
A
Ch03_17
 Example 4
If A is a 2  2 matrix with |A| = 4, use Theorem 3.4 to compute
the following determinants.
(a) |3A| (b) |A2| (c) |5AtA–1|, assuming A–1 exists
Solution
(a) |3A| = (32)|A| = 9  4 = 36.
(b) |A2| = |AA| =|A| |A|= 4  4 = 16.
–1  25 A
1
(c) |5A A | = (5 )|A A | = 25|A ||A |
t –1 2 t –1 t  25.
A
Example 5
Prove that |A–1AtA| = |A|
Solution

1 t 1 t 1 t 1 t 1
A A A  (A A )A  A A A  A A A AA A
A
Ch03_18
 Example 6
Prove that if A and B are square matrices of the same size, with A
being singular, then AB is also singular. Is the converse true?
Solution
()
|A| = 0  |AB| = |A||B| = 0
Thus the matrix AB is singular.

()
|AB| = 0  |A||B| = 0  |A| = 0 or |B| = 0
Thus AB being singular implies that either A or B is
singular.
The inverse is not true.

Ch03_19
 Homework
Exercise 3.2 pp. 170-171: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13

Exercise 11
Prove the following identity without evaluating the determinants.
ab cd e f a c e b d f
p q r  p q rp q r
Solut u v w u v w u v w
ion
ab cd e f
q r p r p q
p q r  ( a  b)  (c  d )  (e  f )
v w u w u v
u v w

Ch03_20
 3.3 Numerical Evaluation of a
Determinant
Definition
A square matrix is called an upper triangular matrix if all the
elements below the main diagonal are zero.
It is called a lower triangular matrix if all the elements above
the main diagonal are zero.

1 4 0 7 8 0 0 0
3 8 2  7 0 0 
0   0 2 3 5 2 1 0,
1
 4 0 0 

 1 5,  
0 0 0 9 7 0 2 0
0 0 9    3 9 8  
0 0 0 1 4 5 8 1
upper  triangular lower  triangular

Ch03_21
 Numerical Evaluation of a Determinant
Theorem 3.5
The determinant of a triangular matrix is the product of its
diagonal elements.

Proof
a11 a12  a1n a22 a23  a2 n a33 a34  a3n
0 a22  a2 n 0 a33  a3n 0 a44  a4 n
 a11  a11a22    a11a22  ann
           
0  0 ann 0  0 ann 0  0 ann

Example 1
 2  1 9
Let A  0 3  4, find A . Sol. A  2  3  (5)  30.
0 0  5
Ch03_22
 Numerical Evaluation of a Determinant
Example 2
 2 4 1
Evaluation the determinant.  2  5 4
 4 9 10

Solution (elementary row operations ）

2 4 1  2 4 1
2 5 4 R2  R1 0 1 5
4 9 10 R 3  (2)R1 0 1 8

 2 4 1  2  (1) 13  26

R3  R 2 0  1 5
0 0 13
Ch03_23
 Example 3
1 0 2 1
2 1 1 0
Evaluation the determinant. 1 0 0 3
1 0 2 1
Solution
1 0 2 1  1 0 2 1
2  1 1 0 R2  (2)R1 0  1  3  2
1 0 0 3 R3  (1)R1 0 0  2 2
 1 0 2 1 R4  R1 0 0 4 2
1 0 2 1
 0 1  3  2
R4  2R3 0 0 2 2
0 0 0 6

 1 (1)  (2)  6  12 Ch03_24

 Example 4
1 2 4
Evaluation the determinant.  1 2 5
2  2 11
Solution
1 2 4  1 2 4
1 2  5 R2  R1 0 0 1
2  2 11 R 3  (2)R1 0 2 3
1 2 4

(1) 0 2 3
R2  R3
0 0 1
 (1) 1 2  (1)  2

Ch03_25
 Example 5
1 1 0 2
1 1 2 3
Evaluation the determinant. 2  2 3 4
6 6 5 1
Solution
1 1 0 2  1 1 0 2
1 1 2 3 R2  R1 0 0 2 5 0
2  2 3 4 R3  (2)R1 0 0 3 0
6 6 5 1 R4  (6)R1 0 0 5  11
diagonal element is zero and
all elements below this
diagonal element are zero.

Ch03_26
 3.3 Determinants, Matrix Inverse,
and Systems of Linear Equations
Definition
Let A be an n  n matrix and Cij be the cofactor of aij.
The matrix whose (i, j)th element is Cij is called the matrix of
cofactors of A.
The transpose of this matrix is called the adjoint of A and is
denoted adj(A).
 C11 C12  C1n  t
 C11 C12  C1n 
C  C2 n  C 
 21 C22  21 C 22  C 2n 
       
   
Cn1 Cn 2  Cnn  C
 n1 C n2  C nn 
matrix of cofactors adjoint matrix

Ch03_27
 Example 1
Give the matrix of cofactors and the adjoint matrix of the
following matrix A.  2 0 3
A   1 4  2
 1  3 5
Solution The cofactors of A are as follows.
C11  4  2  14 C12    1  2  3 C13   1 4  1
3 5 1 5 1 3
C21   0 3  9 C22  2 3  7 C23   2 0 6
3 5 1 5 1 3
0 3 2 3
C31   12 C32    1 C33  2 0  8
4 2 1  2 1 4
The matrix of cofactors The adjoint of A is
of A is  14 3  1  14  9  12
 9 7 6 adj( A)   3 7 1
  1 6 8
 12 1 8
Ch03_28
 Theorem 3.6
Let A be a square matrix with |A|  0. A is invertible with
1 1
A  adj( A)
A
Proof
Consider the matrix product Aadj(A). The (i, j)th element of this
product is
(i, j ) th element  (row i of A)  (column j of adj( A))
 C j1 
C j 2 
 ai1 ai 2  ain  
 
C jn 
 ai1C j1  ai 2C j 2    ainC jn

Ch03_29
 Proof of Theorem 3.6
If i = j, ai1C j1  ai 2C j 2    ainC jn  A .

If i  j, let A  B. Matrices A and B have the same cofactors

Rj is replaced by Ri
Cj1, Cj2, …, Cjn.

So ai1C j1  ai 2C j 2    ain C jn  B  0.
row i = row j in B

A if i  j
Therefore (i. j ) th element    A adj(A) = |A|In
0 if i  j
1 
Since |A|  0, A adj( A)   I n
A 
1  1
Similarly,  adj( A)  A  I n .
 1
Thus A  adj( A)
A  A
Ch03_30
 Theorem 3.7
A square matrix A is invertible if and only if |A|  0.
Proof
() Assume that A is invertible.
 AA–1 = In.
 |AA–1| = |In|.
 |A||A–1| = 1
 |A|  0.
() Theorem 3.6 tells us that if |A|  0, then A is invertible.

A–1 exists if and only if |A|  0.

Ch03_31
 Example 2
Use a determinant to find out which of the following matrices are
invertible.
 2 4  3  1 2  1
A   1  1 B  4 2 C   4 12  7 D   1 1 2
3 2 2 1
 1 0 1  2 8 0
Solution
|A| = 5  0. A is invertible.
|B| = 0. B is singular. The inverse does not exist.
|C| = 0. C is singular. The inverse does not exist.
|D| = 2  0. D is invertible.

Ch03_32
 Example 3
Use the formula for the inverse of a matrix to compute the
inverse of the matrix  2 0 3
A   1 4  2
 1  3 5
Solution
|A| = 25, so the inverse of A exists.We found adj(A) in Example 1
 14  9  12
adj( A)   3 7 1
 1 6 8
 14 9 12 
  
14 9 12  25 25 25 
1 1    3 7 1
A1  adj( A)   3 7 1  
A 25    25 25 25 
 1 6 8  1 6 8

 25 25 25 
Ch03_33
Homework

Exercise 3.3 page 178-179: 1, 3, 5, 7.

Exercise
Show that if A = A-1, then |A| = 1.
Show that if At = A-1, then |A| = 1.

Ch03_34
 Theorem 3.8
Let AX = B be a system of n linear equations in n variables.
(1) If |A|  0, there is a unique solution.
(2) If |A| = 0, there may be many or no solutions.
Proof
(1) If |A|  0
 A–1 exists (Thm 3.7)
 there is then a unique solution given by X = A–1B (Thm
2.9).
(2) If |A| = 0
 since A  C implies that if |A|0 then |C|0 (Thm 3.2).
 the reduced echelon form of A is not In.
 The solution to the system AX = B is not unique.
 many or no solutions. Ch03_35
 Example 4
Determine whether or not the following system of equations has
an unique solution.
3 x1  3x2  2 x3  2
4 x1  x2  3 x3  5
7 x1  4 x2  x3  9
Solution
Since
3 3 2
4 1 3 0
7 4 1
Thus the system does not have an unique solution.

Ch03_36
 Theorem 3.9 Cramer’s Rule
Let AX = B be a system of n linear equations in n variables such
that |A|  0. The system has a unique solution given by
A1 A2 An
x1  , x2  , ... , xn 
A A A
Where Ai is the matrix obtained by replacing column i of A with
B.
Proof
|A|  0  the solution to AX = B is unique and is given by
X  A1 B
1
 adj( A) B
A

Ch03_37
 Proof of Cramer’s Rule
xi, the ith element of X, is given by
1
xi  [row i of adj( A)]  B
A
 b1 
1  
 C1i C2i Cni b2 
A 
b 
 n
1
 (b1C1i  b2C2i    bnCni )
A
the cofactor expansion of |Ai|
in terms of the ith column
Ai
Thus xi 
A

Ch03_38
 Example 5
Solving the following system of equations using Cramer’s rule.
x1  3 x2  x3  2
2 x1  5 x2  x3  5
x1  2 x2  3 x3  6
Solution
The matrix of coefficients A and column matrix of constants B are
 1 3 1   2
A  2 5 1 and B    5
 1 2 3  6
It is found that |A| = –3  0. Thus Cramer’s rule be applied. We
get
 2 3 1  1  2 1  1 3  2
A1    5 5 1 A2  2  5 1 A3  2 5  5
 6 2 3  1 6 3  1 2 6
Ch03_39
Giving A1  3, A2  6, A3  9

Cramer’s rule now gives

A1  3 A2 6 A3  9
x1    1, x2    2, x3   3
A 3 A 3 A 3
The unique solution is x1  1, x2  2, x3  3.

Ch03_40
 Example 6
Determine values of  for which the following system of
equations has nontrivial solutions.Find the solutions for each
value of . (  2) x  (  4) x  0
1 2

2 x1  (  1) x2  0
Solution
homogeneous system
 x1 = 0, x2 = 0 is the trivial solution.
 nontrivial solutions exist  many solutions
 2 4 0
2  1

 (  2)(  1)  2(  4)  0      6  0  (  2)(  3)  0

2

  = – 3 or  = 2.
Ch03_41
 = – 3 results in the system
 x1  x2  0
2 x1  2 x2  0
This system has many solutions, x1 = r, x2 = r.

 = 2 results in the system

4 x1  6 x2  0
2 x1  3x2  0
This system has many solutions, x1 = – 3r/2, x2 = r.

Ch03_42
Homework

Exercise 3.3 pages 179-180:

9, 11, 13, 15.

Ch03_43