CHAPTER II

MATRICES
II.A. MATRIX REPRESENTATIONS:
1. Definition:
A rectangular array of elements arranged in m horizontal rows and n vertical columns is
referred to as a matrix of order m by n (or m n ).

NOTES:
a) The number of elements in a matrix of order m by n is the product mn.
b) The elements of a matrix can be numbers (real or complex), functions, integrals,
symbols, or even matrices.
c) A matrix is given a name (typically an upper-case letter), and the elements are
arranged in a rectangular array enclosed in brackets.
d) We can refer to matrix A that is of order m by n using the short-hand notation Amn .
e) A matrix of order 1 by 1 is a scalar. Thus, A11 [a] is the scalar a.

Example 1:

2 1
A22
is a 2 by 2 matrix of real numbers. It has 2(2) = 4 elements.
3 0
i
0
i
B23
is a 2 by 3 matrix of complex numbers.
2i 4 6i 3

C 33

dy

2x
dx
sin x
tan 5 x

e5x
cosh x

xdx

3 is a 3 by 3 matrix of functions.

3i

D22

1 2
1

2
4 3
is a 2 by 2 matrix of matrices.

1 0
2 1 4 0 0

2. General form of a matrix

We can represent a matrix in notation form by making reference to the location of its
elements (that is, identifying an element by its row and column locations).
If a is a typical element in row i and column j, we refer to it as aij .
If a matrix A is of order m by n, then A can be represented in the short-hand notation:
Amn [aij ]mn .

For 1 i m and 1 j n , matrix A can be written in the following general form:

Amn

a11 a12
a
21 a22
.
.

.
.

ai1 ai 2

.
.
.
.

am1 am 2

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. a1 j
. a2 j
. .
. .
. aij
. .
. .
. amj

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. a1n
. a2 n
. .

. .
.
. ain

. .
. .

. amn

Example 2:
Let matrix A have 3 rows and 2 columns, and typical element a, then A has the shorthand notation: A32 [aij ]32 , and the general form:

A32

a11 a12
a21 a22 .
a31 a32

Example 3:
Let A [aij ]33 where aij 2i 3 j . Find A.
Solution:
a11 2(1) 3(1) 1

a12 2(1) 3(2) 4

a13 2(1) 3(3) 7
a21 2(2) 3(1) 1
a22 2(2) 3(2) 2
a31 2(3) 3(1) 3
a32 2(3) 3(2) 0
a33 2(3) 3(3) 3.

1 4 7
Thus, A 1 2 3 .
3
0 3

Practice 1:
1. Give an example of a 2 by 4 matrix of real numbers.
2. Give an example of a 1 by 5 matrix of real numbers.
3. Give an example of a 3 by 1 matrix of real numbers.
4. Let A [aij ]24 where aij 2ij . Find A.

b11 b12
5. Write the matrix B b21 b22
b31 b32

b13
b23 in short-hand notation.
b33

6. Write the matrix C [cij ]43 in a general form.

3. Row and Column Matrices

In matrix Am n , if m = 1, then A is of order 1 by n. This is a matrix of one row and n
columns, and is referred to as a row matrix (or a row vector).
If n = 1, then A is of order m by 1. This is a matrix of m rows and 1 column, and is
referred to as a column matrix (or a column vector).

Example 4:

A 5 1 0 3 is a 1 by 4 row matrix (or row vector).

1
B 1 is a 3 by 1 column matrix (or column vector).
1

4. Matrix of Rows
We can represent the general matrix Am n as a matrix of rows, as follows.
Let:
R1 a11 a12 . . a1 j . . a1n

R2

21

.
.
Ri ai1

.
.
Rm am1

a22 . . a2 j

ai 2 . . aij

. . a2 n

. . ain

am12 . . amj

. . amn

then

Amn

R1
R
2
.

.
is an m by 1 column matrix referred to as matrix of rows.
Ri

.
.

Rm

5. Matrix of Columns
We can represent the general matrix
Let:

Amn as a matrix of columns, as follows.

 a1 j
a11
a12
a1n
a
a
a
a
2j
21
22
2n

.
.
.
.




.
.
.
.

C1
; C2
;..., C j
;..., Cn
aij
ai1
ai 2
ain




.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.




amj
am1
am 2
amn
then

Amn C1 C2 . . C j
columns.

. . Cn is a 1 by n row matrix referred to as matrix of

Practice 2:
1. Write the following matrix as a matrix of rows and as a matrix of columns:
1 3 6 0 1
A 2 2 2 2 2 .
1 1 1 0 0
2. Give an example of a row vector of 3 elements.
3. Give an example of a column vector of 2 elements.

II.B. SPECIAL MATRICES:

1. Square Matrices:
If in matrix A the number of rows equals the number of columns, then A is a square
matrix.

Example 5:
The following are square matrices:

A22

0 6 2
4 3

; B33 1 3 5.

5 1
1 4 4

2. General Form of a Square Matrix:

An n by n square matrix A takes the following general form:

Ann

a11 a12
a
21 a 22
.
.

.
.

ai1 ai 2

.
.
.
.

a n1 a n 2

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. a1i
. a2j
. .
. .
. aii
. .
. .
. a nj

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

a1n
a 2 n
.

.
.
ain

.
.

a nn

Square matrices possess a main diagonal (or a diagonal).

The elements with subscripts i=j, namely a11, a22 ,..., aii ,...ann , are the diagonal elements
in either a square matrix or a rectangular m by n matrix.

Example 6:
In Example 5, above, diagonal elements of matrix A are 4 and -1.

3. Diagonal Matrices:
A square matrix is said to be a diagonal matrix if and only if (iff) all of its non-diagonal
elements are zeros.

Example 7:
The matrix D33

4 0 0
0 1 0 is a diagonal matrix.
0 0 9

Note that we can represent this matrix in the form: D = diag[4

-1

9].

4. Scalar Matrices:
A scalar matrix is a diagonal matrix whose diagonal elements are equal.

Example 8:
S = diag[2

2] is a 4 by 4 scalar matrix.

5. Identity Matrix:
A scalar matrix whose diagonal elements are all equal to 1 is called the identity matrix.

The matrix I nn

1 0 . . 0
0 1 0 . 0

I n . 0 1 0 . = diag[1 1 1 11] is a diagonal matrix.

. . 0 1 0
0 . . 0 1

Example 9:

1 0
What is the matrix: I 22 ? (Answer: I 22
. )
0 1
Practice 3:
1. Give an example of a 3 by 3 square matrix that is not diagonal.
2. Give an example of a 3 by 3 square matrix that is diagonal.
3. What is the matrix diag[1 2 3 4]?
4. How many elements are in a square matrix of order n by n?
5. How many diagonal elements does an n by n square matrix have?
6. Is the matrix diag[0 0 0 0] a zero matrix (that is, a matrix all of its elements are
zeroes)?
7. Describe the elements of a general n by n diagonal matrix.
8. What are the identity matrices I 33 , I 44 ?
9. Can you find a non-square scalar or diagonal matrix?
10. Can you find a non-square identity or scalar matrix?
11. Can any of the diagonal elements of the identity matrix be zero?
12. Can any of the diagonal elements of a diagonal matrix be zero?
13. Can any of the diagonal elements of a scalar matrix be zero?

II.C. MATRIX ALGEBRA:

1. Equality of Matrices
Two matrices A [aij ] & B [bij ] are said to be equal (A = B) iff
a) A and B are of the same order (say m by n)
b) Their corresponding elements are equal ( aij bij for i=1,2,,m; j=1,2,,n.)

Example 10:

0 0 0
0 0

Is
0 0 0 ?
0
0

0 0 0

Answer: No; they are not of the same order.

2. Addition and Subtraction of Matrices

Two matrices A [aij ] & B [bij ] can be added or subtracted from each other (that is,
they conform to addition) only if they are of the same order. The result of addition is a
matrix C [cij ] of the same order as A or B, where cij aij bij .

Example 11:

2 0
3 4
1 0
;B
;C
Let A

.
1 1
6 5
0 2

Find A-B+C.

2 0 3 4 1 0 0 4
A BC

.
1 1 6 5 0 2 5 4

Properties of Addition:
Let A, B and C be matrices of the same order, then:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)

A+B = B+A (Commutative law)

A+(B+C) = (A+B)+C (Associative law)
A+B = B+C iff A=C (Cancellation law)
There exists an m by n matrix O (called the additive identity, which is the
zero matrix) such that for any m by n matrix A, A+O = O+A = A.
For every m by n matrix A there exists an m by n matrix -A (called the
additive inverse of A, obtained by multiplying each element of A by -1) such
that A+(-A) = O.

Example 12:

1 1
Find the additive inverse of the matrix A
.
5 3
1 1
Additive inverse of A is the matrix A
.
5 3

3. Multiplication of a Matrix by a Scalar:

Let Amn [aij ]mn and be a scalar (real or complex), then:

Amn [aij ]mn [aij ]mn .

Example 13:
In Example 11, above, find 3A-2iB.

8i
2 0
3 4 6 0 6i 8i 6 6i
3 A 2iB 3
2i

.
1 1
6 5 3 3 12i 10i 3 12i 3 10i

Properties of Matrix Multiplication by a Scalar:

Let A and B be matrices of the same order, and , real or complex scalars, then:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)

1.A = A
-1.A =-A
A A
( A B) A B
( ) A A A
(A) ( ) A ( ) A
A(B) ( AB).

4. Matrix Product (Multiplying a matrix by a matrix):

Rules for matrix multiplication:
(i)

(ii)

(iii)

The product of two matrices A and B is defined if the number of columns of

the first matrix (matrix on the left) is equal to the number of rows of the
second matrix (matrix on the right). The matrix on the left is said to premultiply the matrix on the right. The matrix on the right is said to postmultiply the matrix on the left.
If a product AB is defined, then the result is another matrix C that has the
same number of rows as A and the same number of columns as B.
Thus, Amn Bn p Cm p .
If AB = C is defined, where C [cij ] , then element cij is obtained by
multiplying the elements in row i of matrix A by the corresponding elements
in column j of matrix B, and adding. Thus, if Amn Bn p Cm p , then:
n

cij ai1b1 j ai 2 b2 j ... aik bkj ... ain bnj aik bkj .
k 1

Example 14: (A different way of looking at matrix products)

2 1 1 x
Find the product: AX 3 5 0 y .
5 2 1 z
Solution:
2 1 1 x
AX 3 5 0 y
5 2 1 z

2
1 1 2 x y z

x 3 y 5 z 0 3x 5 y .
5
2 1 5 x 2 y z

Example 15:

2 1 1 x a
Find the product: AX 3 5 0 y b .
5 2 1 z c
Solution:
The resulting matrix has 3 rows and 2 columns.
2 1 1 x
2
1 1 2 x y z

First column is 3 5 0 y x 3 y 5 z 0 3x 5 y .
5 2 1 z
5
2 1 5 x 2 y z
2 1 1 a
2 1 1 2a b c

Second column is 3 5 0 b a 3 b 5 c 0 3a 5b .
5 2 1 zc
5 2 1 5a 2b c

Practice 4:
1. Find the products AB and BA whenever possible. Also find 3A, and 4B-iA if
possible.

3
(i) A 2 1; B
2
4
(ii) A 3 0 5; B 3
2
1
(iii) A
3
1
(iv) A
3

2
2 1
;
B

1 0
4

2
1
0
1

;
B

0 1 0
4

2. Can we perform the following products? What are the resulting matrices?
(i)
A22 I 22
(ii)
Ann I nn
(iii) Amn I nn
(iv) I nn Anm .

Properties of Matrix Multiplication:

(i)
(ii)
(iii)

A(BC) = (AB)C (Associative Law)

A(B+C) = AB + AC (Left Distributive Law)
((B+C)A = BA + CA (Right Distributive Law).

Notes: The following observations will be illustrated in Examples 16-19, below.

Note 1: Commutative law does not hold for matrix multiplication. AB is not necessarily
equal to BA.
Note 2: AB = O does not necessarily imply that A = O or B = O.
Note 3: Cancellation law does not hold for matrix multiplication. That is, AB = AC does
not necessarily imply that B = C.
Note 4: The algebraic operation of division is not defined or allowed for matrices.
Note 5: The identity matrix I is the multiplicative identity of matrices. That is,
Amn I nn Amn and I nn Anm Anm .

Example 16:

2
Let A 3 2; B . Find AB and BA, if possible.
3
Example 17:

4 2
3 4
;B
Let A

. Find AB and BA.

2
1

6
8

Can you find another example of non-zero matrices A and B whose product is zero?

Example 18:
Let A be an n by n matrix and O be an n by n zero matrix. Find AO and OA.
Let A be an m by n matrix and O be an n by p zero matrix. Find AO and OA if possible.

Example 19:

4 2
1 1
2 2
;B
;C
Let A

. Show that AB = AC, yet B and C are not

2 1
2 1
0 1
equal.

5. Transpose of a Matrix:
The transpose of matrix Amn is a matrix B of order n by m, and is denoted by AT . It is
obtained from A by interchanging the rows and columns of A.
Thus, if A [aij ]mn then AT [a ji ]nm .
Example 20:
Find the transpose of each of the matrices in Example 14.

Properties of the transpose:

(i)
( AT ) T A
(ii)
( A B) T AT B T
(iii)
( AB ) T B T AT
(iv)
A square matrix is symmetric iff AT A. That is, [aij ]mn = [a ji ]nm .
(v)

A square matrix is skew-symmetric iff AT A. That is, [aij ]mn =

[a ji ]nm .

Example 21:
Verify Properties (i), (ii), (iii) of the transpose for matrices A and B of Example 19.
Example 22:
Decide if the given matrix is symmetric, skew-symmetric, or neither:
1 1 1
cos sin
A
; B 1 1 1.

sin cos
1 1 1
Answer:
Matrix A is not symmetric (not equal to its transpose), and is not skew-symmetric (not
equal to negative of its transpose).
Matrix B is symmetric ( B B T ).

Example 23:
Give an example of a 3 by 3 skew-symmetric matrix. What do you notice about the
diagonal elements.
Answer:
The diagonal elements of a skew-symmetric matrix are all zero.
The following is a 3 by 3 skew-symmetric matrix.

a b
0
0 a b

T
A a 0 c ; A a 0 c ; A AT .
b c 0
b c
0

6. Trace of a Square Matrix:

The trace of a square matrix A, denoted by Tr(A), is the sum of its diagonal elements.
We will encounter the trace of a matrix when discussing the eigenvalue problem. In
particular, the sum of eigenvalues of a square matrix is equal to the trave of a matrix.

Example 24:

2 2
Let A
. Tr(A) = 2+(-1) = 1.
0 1

7. Orthogonal Matrices:
A square matrix A is said to be orthogonal iff AAT AT A I .
We will encounter orthogonal matrices in later Chapters. In particular, orthogonal
matrices are employed in orthogonal transformations.

Example 25:
a) Decide if the identity matrix (of any order) is orthogonal.
b) Decide if the following matrices are orthogonal:

 1 1 1
cos sin
A
; B 1 1 1.

sin cos
1 1 1
Solution:
a) Since I ( I T ) I , therefore I is orthogonal.
cos sin T cos sin
b) A
;A
; AA T I . Thus, A is orthogonal.

sin cos
sin cos
Matrix B is symmetric. Thus, B B T and BB T B 2 . For the given matrix, it is easy to
see that B 2 I . Hence, B is not orthogonal.
8. Integral Powers of Matrices:
A square matrix A raised to an integral power is defined as follows.
A0 I
A1 A

A 2 AA
A3 A 2 A
A n A n 1 A
Am An Am n
( A m ) n A mn
( AB ) n An B n .

Example 26:
3 1
Let A
. Find A 2 .

2 7
What is I n ?
Solution:
3 1 3 1 11 10
A2

.
2 7 2 7 20 51

II.D. MATRIX REDUCTIONS and FURTHER SPECIAL MATRICES:

1. Upper-Triangular and Lower-Triangular Matrices:

A square matrix A is said to be lower-triangular iff all the elements above the diagonal
are zeroes. That is, iff aij 0 for j>i.
A square matrix A is said to be lupper-triangular iff all the elements below the diagonal
are zeroes. That is, iff aij 0 for j<i.
A diagonal matrix is both upper- and lower-triangular.

Example 27:
1 1
0 4
A
0 0

0 0

0
6
0
0

5
7
is a 4 by 4 upper-triangular matrix.
0

1 0
0 4
B
0 0

2 0

0
0
0
0

0
0
is a 4 by 4 lower-triangular matrix.
0

2. Real Matrices:
A matrix A is said to be real if all of its elements are numbers.

Example 28:
1 7 2
B
is a 2 by 3 real matrix.
0 4 9

3. Complex Matrices:
A matrix A is said to be complex if at least one of its elements is a complex number.
Note that since real numbers are also complex numbers, it follows that all matrices are
complex matrices.

Example 29:

3i 1 i
A
is a 2 by 2 complex matrix.
2 7 4i

4. Complex Conjugate of a Matrix:

The complex conjugate of a complex matrix Amn [aij ]mn is the matrix Amn [aij ]mn .

Example 30:

3i 1 i
Find the conjugate of the matrix A
.
2 7 4i
Solution:
3i 1 i
A
.
2 7 4i
Note:
If A A then A is a real matrix.

Practice 5:
a) Give an example of a real matrix. State its order.
b) Give an example of a complex matrix. State its order.
c) Give an example of two 3 by 3 lower-triangular matrices. Find their products.
d) Give an example of two 3 by 3 upper-triangular matrices. Find their products.
e) If A2 A then matrix A is a square matrix called IDEMPOTENT. For example,
matrix I is idempotent. Can you give another example of an idempotent matrix?
f) If A 2 O then matrix A is a square matrix called NILPOTENT. For example,
matrix O is nilpotent. Can you give another example of a nilpotent matrix?

5. Elementary Row Operations:

Any matrix Amn can be reduced to another matrix Bmn using the following row
operations:
1. Interchange: Interchange any two rows in matrix A.
2. Scaling: Multiply all entries in a row of A by a nonzero constant.
3. Replacement: Replace one row of A by the sum of itself and a multiple of another
row.
When matrix A is row-reduced to matrix B, the two matrices are said to be row
equivalent.
Row reduction of matrices using row operation is an important tool in the solution to
systems of linear equations (as we will see in a later chapter). We can use row operations
to reduce a matrix to an upper or lower triangular matrices, and to reduce a square matrix
to the identity matrix. Row reduction is used in general to obtain echelon forms of
matrices (defined below).
The process of row reduction is illustrated in the following example.

Example 31:

0 5
Reduce the matrix A
to the identity matrix.
3 2
Solution:
1 0
Using row operations, we need to reduce A to I
.
0 1
We proceed with one column at a time, starting with the first column of A. We call the
column selected the pivot column. In the pivot column, we choose a pivot element. This
is a nonzero element with respect to which we create zeroes in all other entries of the
pivot column.
For the above matrix A, choose the first column to be the pivot column.
Since the element a11 = 0, we cannot use it as a pivot element. Therefore, we interchange
3 2
rows 1 and 2, to get:
.
0 5
Now, we can choose a11 3 as the pivot element.
In order to produce the first column of I, we divide row 1 by 3. Thus we get:
1 2 / 3
.
0
5

Now, the element a 21 is already zero, and nothing further is to be done with column 1.
Next, choose column 2 as a pivot column, with a 22 as the pivot element.

1 2 / 3
Divide row 2 by 5 to obtain:
.
1
0
Next, we need to reduce element a12 2 / 3 to zero. This is accomplished with respect
to the pivot element with the following row operation:
Row 1 becomes Row 1 +(2/3) times Row 2.
1 0
We thus obtain:
.
0 1

Practice 6
Use elementary row operations to reduce the given matrix to the identity, if possible:
0 5 4
2 1
; B 1 5 1 .
A

4 0
2 5 1

6. Elementary Matrices:
An elementary matrix is a square matrix obtained by performing a single elementary row
operation on the identity matrix.

1 0 0
Example 32: I 33 0 1 0 .
0 0 1
Interchanging Row 1 and Row 3 of I 33 results in the elementary matrix:
0 0 1
E1 0 1 0 .
1 0 0
Multiplying Row 2 of I 33

1 0 0
by 7 results in the elementary matrix E 2 0 7 0 .
0 0 1

Replacing Row 3 of I 33 by Row 3 + 6Row 1 results in the elementary matrix

1 0 0
E3 0 1 0 .
6 0 1

Note:
If an elementary row operation is performed on A then the resulting matrix can be written
as EA, where E is an elementary matrix created by the same row operation.

3 1 0
For instance, if A 1 2 4 and Rows 1 and 3 are interchanged, the resulting matrix
1 5 3
1 5 3
0 0 1

is 1 2 4 . The same row interchange produces E 0 1 0 .

3 1 0
1 0 0
0 0 1 3 1 0 1 5 3
Now, EA 0 1 0 1 2 4 1 2 4 .
1 0 0 1 5 3 3 1 0

Practice 7:
In Example 31, what elementary matrices are multiplied with matrix A to produce I ?

7. Echelon Forms of Matrices:

A rectangular matrix is said to be in Row Echelon Form (r.e.f.) if it has the following
three properties:
1. All zero rows are below nonzero rows.
2. Each leading entry of a nonzero row is in a column to the right of the leading
entry of the row above it.
3. All entries in a column below a leading entry are zeroes.
A matrix in Row Echelon Form is said to be in Reduced Row Echelon Form (r.r.e.f.) if
the following additional conditions are met:
4. The leading entry in each nonzero row is 1.
5. Each leading 1 is the only nonzero entry in its column.

Note:
Each matrix is row equivalent to one and only one Reduced Row Echelon Form.

Example 33: The following matrices are in Row Echelon Form:

3 4 1 3 4 1 3 0 0
0 0 2 ; 0 3 2 ; 0 0 0 .

0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0
Example 34: The following matrices are in Reduced Row Echelon Form:
1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
0 1 2 ; 0 1 0 ; 0 0 0 .

0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Assignment 2
Q1: Explain why in matrix algebra ( A B) 2 is not in general equal to A2 2 AB B 2 .
Q2: Expand ( A B)3.

0 i
2 3 4
n
Q3: Let A
. Compute A , A , A . Find a rule for A . (Try treating the cases
i
0

of odd and even n separately).

Q4: Under what conditions is the matrix product ABC defined according to the
associative law? Hint: Find the order of each matrix.
Q5: Let D be a diagonal matrix of order n by n, and p a positive integer. Give a
formula for D p .
Q6: What may be said about the main diagonal elements of AAT when A is a real skewsymmetric matrix? What about those of A2 in this case?
Q7: Let A and B be both symmetric or both skew-symmetric n by n matrices.
Illustrate by A [aij ]33 and B [bij ]33 whether the product AB is symmetric in each
cases.
Q8: Determine whether the given matrix is in r.e.f. or in r.r.e.f.:
1 0 0 0
a) 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 1

1 0 1 0
b) 0 1 1 0
0 0 0 1
1 0 0 0
c) 0 2 0 0
0 0 1 1

1 0 1 1
d) 0 1 1 1
0 0 0 0