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Determinants
5.1 Introduction
Every square matrix has associated with it a scalar called its
determinant.
Given a matrix A, we use det(A) or |A| to designate its determinant.
We can also designate the determinant of matrix A by replacing the
brackets by vertical straight lines. For example,
2 1 2 1
A det( A)
0 3 0 3
Definition 1: The determinant of a 11 matrix [a] is the scalar a.
2
1
Definition 1: Given a matrix A, a minor is the determinant of any
31313222221
1 2132
1 2
square submatrix of A.
Definition 2: Given a matrix A=[aij] , the cofactor of the element
aij is a scalar obtained by multiplying together the term (-1)i+j
and the minor obtained from A by removing the ith row and the
jth column.
In other words, the cofactor Cij is given by Cij = (1)i+jMij.
For example,
a11 a12 a13
A a21 a22 a23
a31 a32 a33
)
det(A aC
aC aC
aC
5.2 Expansion by Cofactors
nij1iji1ji2jinjn
To find the determinant of a matrix A of arbitrary order,
a)Pick any one row or any one column of the matrix;
b)For each element in the row or column chosen, find its
cofactor;
c)Multiply each element in the row or column chosen by its
cofactor and sum the results. This sum is the determinant of the
matrix.
In other words, the determinant of A is given by
ith row
expansion
jth column
expansion
Example 1: 1 2 3
We can compute the determinant
T 4 5 6
7 8 9
by expanding along the first row,
5 6 4 6 4 5
T 1 2 3
11 1 2 1 3
3 12 9 0
8 9 7 9 7 8
4 6 2 2 1 3 3 2 1 3
T 2 5 8
1 2
12 60 48 0
7 9 7 9 4 6
1 5 0
23 1 5
2 1 1 1 16
3 1
3 1 0
5.3 Properties of determinants
Property 1: If one row of a matrix consists entirely of zeros, then
the determinant is zero.
Property 2: If two rows of a matrix are interchanged, the
determinant changes sign.
Property 3: If two rows of a matrix are identical, the determinant
is zero.
Property 4: If the matrix B is obtained from the matrix A by
multiplying every element in one row of A by the scalar , then |
B|= |A|.
Property 5: For an n n matrix A and any scalar , det(A)=
ndet(A).
5.3 Properties of determinants
Property 6: If a matrix B is obtained from a matrix A by adding to
one row of A, a scalar times another row of A, then |A|=|B|.
(2)
7(1)(1)(1) 7
(1
)
5.5 Inversion
Theorem 1: A square matrix has an inverse if and only if its
determinant is not zero.
2 1 0 1 0 2
0 2 1 2 1 0 4 1 2
3 2 1 2 1 3 6 0 3
0 2
1 2 1 0 7 1 2
3 2 1 2 1 3
2 1
0 1 0 2
4 6 7
Aa 1 0 1
2 3 2
Inversion using determinants
Theorem 2: A Aa = Aa A = |A| I .
Aa Aa
If |A| 0 then from Theorem 2, A
A
AI
A
1 1 a
A A if A 0
A
4 6 7 4
3
2 7
3
1 a 1
1
A A 1 0 1 1
3 0 1
3
A 3
2 3 2 2
3 1 2
3
5.6 Cramers rule
If a system of n linear equations in n variables Ax=b has
a coefficient matrix with a nonzero determinant |A|,
then the solution of the system is given by
det( A1 ) det( A2 ) det( An )
x1 , x2 , , xn ,
det( A) det( A) det( A)
where Ai is a matrix obtained from A by replacing the ith
column of A by the vector b.
Example:
a11 x1 a12 x2 a13 x3 b1
a21x1 a22 x2 a23 x3 b2
a x a x a x b
31 1 32 2 33 3 3
1 2 3
A 2 0 1 10
3 4 4 1 2 3
0 0 1
A1 2 4 4 (2)(1)(2) (4)(1)(1) 8 4
x
A 10 10 10 5
3 8
y , z
2 5