Unit 18 Determinants

Every square matrix has a number associated with it, called its determinant. In this section, we determine how to calculate this number, and also look at some of the properties of the determinant of a (square) matrix. Calculating the determinant of a small matrix is easy. But as the order of the square matrix increases, the calculation of the determinant becomes more complicated. We dene the determinant recursively. That is, for a square matrix of order 1 or 2, we will dene a simple formula for calculating the determinant. However, for a square matrix of order 3 or higher, we dene the determinant of the matrix in terms of the determinants of certain submatrices. Thus, we calculate the determinant of a large matrix by calculating the determinants of various smaller matrices. Denition 18.1. The Denition of Determinant, Part 1 (n 2) Let A = (aij ) be an n n matrix. Then A has associated with it a number, called the determinant of A and denoted by detA. For n = 1 or 2, the value of detA is calculated as follows: If n = 1, then detA = a11 . If n = 2, then detA = a11 a22 a12 a21 .

Example 1. Find the determinants of the following matrices: a b (a) A = [4] (b) B = (c) C = c d

1 2 3 5

Solution: (a) Here, A is 1 1, so detA = a11 = 4. That is, for a 11 matrix, the determinant is the single number in the matrix.

(b) For a 2 2 matrix, we use the formula detB = b11 b22 b12 b21 . That is, we take the product of the numbers going diagonally down to the right (i.e., on the main diagonal) and then subtract from that the product of the numbers going diagonally down to the left (i.e., on the other diagonal). So assuming that a, b, c and d in matrix B are any scalars, the number detB is given by detB = ad bc. (c) Again, we have a 2 2 matrix, so we do the same calculation as in (b). We get detC = c11 c22 c12 c21 = (1)(5) (2)(3) = 5 (6) = 11. Now we are ready to dene the notation and terminology needed to build up to the denition of detA for A a square matrix of order n 3. We will need to express certain submatrices of a matrix, as well as the determinant of such a submatrix and also a particular scalar multiple of this number. These are the focus of the next 2 denitions, after which we will be able to complete our denition of determinant.

Denition 18.2. Consider any square matrix A of order n 2. We dene the submatrix Aij to be the (n 1) (n 1) matrix obtained by deleting the ith row and the j th column from the matrix A. 3 1 , nd A11 and A23 . 4 9

1 2 Example 2. For A = 2 3 Solution: To nd A11 , 1 3 We get A11 = 5 3 7 8

2 1 5 7

1 3 3 8

we delete both the rst row and the rst column. 1 4 9 row 2 and also column 3 from the matrix A. 2 3 5 4 7 9 2

For A23 , we must delete 1 We see that A23 = 2 3

Denition 18.3. Consider any nn matrix A = (aij ) with submatrices Aij . (1) The (i, j)-minor of A, denoted Mij , is dened to be Mij = detAij (2) The (i, j)-cofactor of A, denoted Cij , is dened to be Cij = (1)i+j Mij That is, Cij = Mij if i + j is even, but Cij = Mij if i + j is odd.

Example 3. Find the minors and cofactors of: 3 2 1 5 6 A= 4 2 3 1 We get: M11 = det 5 6 3 1 4 6 2 1 = 23 = 8 = 22 and C11 = (1)2 M11 = 23 and C12 = (1)3 M12 = 8 and C13 = (1)4 M13 = 22 and C21 = (1)3 M21 = 5

M12 = det

M13 = det

4 5 2 3

M21 = det

2 1 3 1

=5

Similarly, we can calculate: C22 = M22 = 5, M23 = 5 and C23 = 5, C31 = M31 = 7, M32 = 22 and C32 = 22 and nally C33 = M33 = 23.

Denition 18.4. The Denition of Determinant, Part 2 (n 3) Let A = (aij ) be an n n matrix with n 3. Let Cij be the (ij)-cofactor of A. Then the value of the determinant of A can be calculated using: detA = a11 C11 + a12 C12 + + a1n C1n .
n

That is, detA =

j=1

a1j C1j .

Note: This particular calculation for detA is called expanding the determinant along the rst row of A. 1 2 3 Example 4. Find detA, where A = 2 1 3 . 3 2 1

Solution: Recall that Cij = (1)i+j Mij , where Mij = detAij . We calculate detA as:
3

detA =

j=1

a1j C1j

= a11 (1)1+1 detA11 + a12 (1)1+2 detA12 + a13 (1)1+3 detA13 = (1)(1)2 det 1 3 2 1 + (2)(1)3 det 2 3 3 1 + (3)(1)4 det 2 1 3 2

= [(1)(1) (3)(2)] 2[(2)(1) (3)(3)] + 3[(2)(2) (1)(3)] = 5 2(7) + 3(1) = 5 + 14 + 3 = 12 Notice: The (1)i+j multipliers on the minors alternate between + and as we expand along the row. When we dened the determinant of an n n matrix, for n 3, we expanded along the rst row. The following Theorem tells us that we may, in fact, expand the determinant along any row or any column of a matrix and still get the same answer.

Theorem 18.5. Suppose A is a square (n n) matrix with n > 1. Then the value of detA can be found by expanding along any row or column of A. That is: (1) for any xed value of i, with 1 i n, detA = ai1 (1)i+1 (detAi1 ) + ai2 (1)i+2 (detAi2 ) + + aij (1)i+j (detAij ) + + ain (1)i+n (detAin )
n

=
j=1

aij (1)i+j (detAij ) =

aij Cij
j=1

(this is expansion along row i) and (2) for any xed value of j, with 1 j n, detA = a1j (1)1+j (detA1j ) + a2j (1)2+j (detA2j ) + + aij (1)i+j (detAij ) + + anj (1)n+j (detAnj )
n

=
i=1

aij (1)

i+j

(detAij ) =
i=1

aij Cij

(this is expansion along column j) Notice: As before, the sign of (1)i+j always alternates between + and as we expand along any row or column, although whether the pattern begins with + or depends on which row or column we expand along (i.e., whether the xed i or j is odd or even).

The above theorem is very important in simplifying our calculations for nding the determinant of a matrix. Suppose we are asked to nd the determinant of a matrix such as: 1 2 3 4 2 1 3 1 A= 2 0 0 0 3 7 8 9 Then expanding along the rst row, as in our original denition of detA, we have: detA = (1)C11 + (2)C12 + (3)C13 + (4)C14 = (1)(1)2 detA11 + (2)(1)3 detA12 + (3)(1)4 detA13 + (4)(1)5 detA14 5

Each of the matrices A11 , A12 , A13 , and A14 is a 3 3 matrix, and so each of the 4 determinants we need to calculate, in order to calculate detA, requires as much calculation as the determinant in the earlier example. We can reduce the amount of work required to calculate the determinant of a relatively large matrix by choosing wisely which row or column to expand along. Generally, we want to choose a row or column containing as many zeroes as possible, so that we only need to calculate determinants of the fewest submatrices possible. 2 4 6 Example 5. Find detA, where A = 0 3 1 0 0 5 Solution: Looking carefully at A, we see that it will save some work if we expand along column 1. (Alternatively, we could choose row 3.) detA = a11 C11 + a21 C21 + a31 C31 = (2)C11 + (0)C21 + (0)C31 = (2)(1)1+1 M11 + 0 + 0 = (2)(1)2 det 3 1 0 5

= (2)(15) = 30 1 2 Example 6. Find detA, where A = 2 3 2 1 0 7 3 3 0 8 4 1 0 9

Solution: For this matrix, as we saw previously, expanding along row 1 requires us to calculate determinants of four 3 3 submatrices. However, we see that row 3 contains 3 zeroes. This means that if we calculate detA by expanding along row 3, then 3 of the 4 cofactors are going to be multiplied by 0, so there is only one 3 3 submatrix whose determinant we actually need to calculate. Choosing row 3 to expand along, we get:

detA = a31 C31 + a32 C32 + a33 C33 + a34 C34 = 2C31 + 0C32 + 0C33 + 0C34 = (2)(1)3+1 M31 + 0 + 0 + 0 = (2)(1)4 detA31 2 3 4 = (2)det 1 3 1 7 8 9 = (2) 2det 3 1 8 9 3det 1 1 7 9 + 4det 1 3 7 8

= 2{2[3(9) 1(8)] 3[1(9) 1(7)] + 4[1(8) 3(7)]} = 2[(2)(19) (3)(2) + (4)(13)] = 2(20) = 40 This is much faster than if we had expanded along row 1. Notice: Here, detA31 was calculated by expanding along row 1. However, if submatrix A31 had contained some zeroes, we could have reduced the work even more by selecting an appropriate row or column to expand along for this calculation as well. There are several theorems which can be used to nd the determinants of certain kinds of matrices with little or no work. Theorem 18.6. If a square matrix A has any row or column containing only zeroes, then detA = 0. Proof: If matrix A has a row (column) of zeros we simply choose to expand the determinant along that row (column), giving us the result detA = 0. Example 7. Find detA, where

2 4 2 A= 1 3 1 0 0 0 7

Solution: We see, without any calculation, that detA = 0 since the last row contains only zeroes. Theorem 18.7. If a square matrix A has two equal rows, or two equal columns, then detA = 0. Proof: We leave this proof until later. In the next section we will encounter another theorem which makes this proof very easy. (We will simply subtract one of the equal rows (columns) from the other, yielding a zero row (column), and then use the previous theorem).

Example 8. Find detA, where 2 4 2 A= 1 3 1 5 0 5 Looking at A, we see that the rst and last columns are equal, so detA = 0. Denition 18.8. A square matrix A is called upper triangular if all entries below the main diagonal are zero, and is called lower triangular if all entries above the main diagonal are zero. If all entries above the main diagonal and all entries below the main diagonal are zero, then A is called a diagonal matrix. For instance, among the matrices shown below, A is upper triangular, B is lower triangular and C is a diagonal matrix. 1 4 2 2 0 0 2 0 0 A = 0 3 1 B= 1 2 0 C= 0 7 0 0 0 5 5 0 1 0 0 3 Theorem 18.9. If a square matrix A = (aij ) is either upper or lower triangular, or is a diagonal matrix, then the determinant of A is the product of the elements lying on the main diagonal. i.,e., detA = (a11 )(a22 )(a33 )...(ann )

Sketch of proof: Repeatedly choosing column 1 (for an upper triangular or diagonal matrix) or row 1 (for a lower triangular matrix) to expand along yields the stated result. Corollary 18.10. For any n 1, the determinant of the identity matrix of order n is detI = 1. Proof: By denition, the identity matrix is a diagonal matrix with each of the main diagonal entries 1, so by the above theorem we have: detI = (1)(1)...(1) = 1 Example 9. Find 1 4 0 3 (a) A = 0 0 the determinants of 2 2 0 0 1 (b) B = 1 2 0 5 5 0 1

2 0 0 and (c) C = 0 7 0 0 0 3

Solution: (a) Here, A is a 3 3 upper triangular matrix, so we get detA = (a11 )(a22 )(a33 ) = (1)(3)(5) = 15 (b) We see that B is lower triangular, so detB = (2)(2)(1) = 4. (c) For this diagonal matrix, we get detC = (2)(7)(3) = 42.