Chapter : More on Matrices

Transpose of a Matrix
Denition. Given an m n matrix A, the transpose of A is the n m matrix, denoted by AT , whose columns are formed from the corresponding rows of A. (Equivalently, the rows of AT are formed from the corresponding columns of A.) Example. Let A= Then AT = a c , b d BT = 5 1 0 , 2 3 4 a b , c d

5 2 B = 1 3 , 0 4

C=

1 1 1 1 3 5 2 7 1 3 1 5 CT = 1 2 1 7

Properties of Transpose For any matrix A, (AT )T = A. (Transpose of the transpose of a matrix is same as the original matrix.) For any two matrices, A and B of the same size, (A + B )T = AT + B T . (Transpose of a sum is the same as the sum of the transposes.) For any number r, and any matrix A, (rA)T = r(AT ). (Transpose of a scalar multiple of a matrix is the same as the scalar multiple of the transpose of the matrix.) If A is an m n matrix and B is an n k matrix, then (AB )T = B T AT . (Transpose of a product of matrices is the same as the product of their transposes in the reverse order.) If A is a square matrix, which has an inverse, then AT is also a square matrix with an inverse and the inverse of AT is the transpose of A1 . That is, (AT )1 = (A1 )T .

Symmetric Matrices
Denition. A square matrix, A is said to be symmetric if it is equal to its transpose, AT , that is, if A = AT . The entries of a symmetric matrix are symmetric with respect to the main diagonal (top left to bottom right). Penn State University, University Park Page 1

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Example. The following matrices are symmetric. 0 1 0 1 0 8 , , 1 5 0 3 0 8 7 The following matrices are non-symmetric. 1 4 0 1 3 , 6 1 4 , 0 3 0 6 1

a b c b d e c e f

5 4 3 2 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 0

Remark. Suppose A is an mn matrix. Then AAT and AT A are both symmetric matrices. Proof. Note that if A is an m n matrix, then AT is an n m matrix. So both the products AAT and AT A exist. AAT is an m m matrix and AT A is an n n matrix. Suppose B = AAT . To show that B is a symmetric matrix, we need to show that T B = B . Now, B T = (AAT )T = (AT )T AT since the transpose of a product of matrices is the same as the product of their transposes in the reverse order. Now, since (AT )T = A, we have B T = (AT )T AT = AAT = B. Thus, B is a symmetric matrix. We can similarly show that AT A is also symmetric.

Antisymmetric Matrices
Denition. A square matrix, A is said to be antisymmetric if it is equal to the negative of its transpose, AT , that is, if A = AT or equivalently, AT = A.

These matrices are also commonly called skew-symmetric Example. The following matrices are 0 0 3 1 , 3 0 0 antisymmetric. 1 0 0 b c 0 8 , b 0 e 8 0 c e 0

The following matrices are not antisymmetric. 1 3 , 0 3 1 4 8 4 1 4 , 8 4 1 5 4 3 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 3 0 3 4 5 Page 2

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Remark. An antisymmetric matrix must have 0s on the main diagonal. Remark. Suppose A is a square matrix. Then the following facts follow easily from the properties of transpose. The matrix A + AT is a symmetric matrix. Proof. Note that (A + AT )T = AT + (AT )T = AT + A = A + AT . Thus, A + AT is symmetric. The matrix A AT is an antisymmetric matrix. Proof. Note that (A AT )T = AT (AT )T = AT A = (A AT ). Thus, A AT is antisymmetric.

Diagonal Matrices
Denition. A diagonal matrix is a square matrix whose non-diagonal entries are zero. Example. Any n n identity matrix is a diagonal matrix. Any n n zero-matrix is a diagonal matrix. The following matrices provide other examples of diagonal matrices. 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 , 0 9 10 , 0 0 6 0 0 3 0 0 7 0 0 0 7 Remark. The following are some easy observations. A diagonal matrix is symmetric. Any square zero-matrix is both symmetric and antisymmetric. There is no other diagonal matrix that is antisymmetric. There is no other matrix which is both symmetric and antisymmetric.

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Triangular Matrices
Denition. A triangular matrix is a square matrix, where either all the entries below (upper triangular ), or all the entries above (lower triangular ) the main diagonal are zero. Example. Any diagonal matrix is triangular (both matrices are upper triangular. 0 6 3 5 0 1 6 0 0 , 0 0 1 , 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 The following matrices are lower triangular. 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 6 0 , 5 0 0 , 2 6 0 3 0 1 0 9 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 upper and lower). The following 2 9 3 1 0 2 0 0

Remark. The transpose of an upper triangular matrix is a lower triangular matrix, and vice-versa. Remark. Any matrix can be expressed as the sum of an upper triangular matrix and a lower triangular matrix. Example. Suppose 1 4 9 A = 2 5 6 4 2 8 1 4 9 0 0 0 A = 0 5 6 + 2 0 0 0 0 8 4 2 0 Note that this decomposition is not unique, because we can break the diagonal entries in many dierent ways. Following is another decomposition of A. 1 1 4 9 0 0 2 2 A = 0 4 6 + 2 1 0 0 0 6 4 2 2

Then clearly,

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