CS131 Part II, Linear Algebra and Matrices

CS131 Mathematics for Computer Scientists II Note 11

MATRICES AND LINEAR INDEPENDENCE

In an earlier note we looked at the effect of elementary row operations on

the determinant of an n × n matrix A. Since | A |=| AT |, and performing
elementary row operations on the transpose AT is equivalent to performing
the same operations on the columns of A, we have:

Elementary column operations and determinants.

If B is the matrix obtained from A by
1. multiplying a column of A by a number λ, then | B |= λ | A |
2. interchanging two columns of A, then | B |= − | A |
3. adding a multiple of one column of A to another, then | B |=| A |

Let A be an m × n matrix given by

 
a11 a12 . . . a1n
 a21 a22 . . . a2n 
A=  ... .. ..  .
. . 
am1 am2 . . . amn
The m vectors
(a11 , a12 , . . . , a1n ), (a21 , a22 , . . . , a2n ), . . . , (am1 , am2 , . . . , amn )
in Rn are called the row vectors of A. Similarly the n vectors
(a11 , a21 , . . . , am1 ), (a12 , a22 , . . . , am2 ), . . . , (a1n , a2n , . . . , amn )
in Rm are called the column vectors of A.

It was shown earlier that a subset of Rn is a basis if and only if it is a

linearly independent set containing n vectors. We now show that this linear
independence can be checked by computing a determinant.

Linear independence via determinant evaluation. A set of n vectors

in Rn is linearly independent (and therefore a basis) if and only if it is the
set of column vectors of a matrix with nonzero determinant.
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To verify this suppose the set of vectors is {u 1 , u 2 , . . . , u n } and let

u j = (u1j , u2j , . . . , unj ) 1 ≤ j ≤ n.

Then we have
α1 u 1 + α2 u 2 + · · · + αn u n = 0


 α1 u11 + · · · + αj u1j + · · · + αn u1n = 0
 α u +···+ α u +···+ α u
1 21 j 2j n 2n = 0
⇔ .. .. .. .. ..

 . . . . .
α1 un1 + · · · + αj unj + · · · + αn unn = 0


u11 · · · u1j · · · u1n

    
α1 0
 u21 · · · u2j · · · u2n   α2   0 
⇔ 
 ... .. ..   . = . 
 ..   .. 
. . 
un1 · · · unj · · · unn αn 0

Let U be the n × n matrix [uij ]. If | U |6= 0 then U is invertible and

multiplying both sides of the above matrix equation on the left by U −1
gives α1 = 0, α2 = 0, . . . , αn = 0 i.e. the set {u 1 , u 2 , . . . , u n } is linearly
independent.
If | U |= 0 then | U T |= 0 (since | U |=| U T |) so the transpose U T is
not invertible. Hence U T cannot be reduced to I by elementary row oper-
ations and so must be reducible to a matrix with a row of zeros. Therefore
elementary column operations can be applied to U to produce a column of
zeros. Hence some non-trivial linear combination of u 1 , u 2 , . . . , u n is 0 so
these vectors are linearly dependent.

Problem. Which of the following sets are a basis for R3 ?

(1) {(1, −1, 2), (0, 2, 3), (3, −5, 3)}
(2) {(−2, 3, 4), (2, 1, 3), (1, −2, −3)}

Solution. (1) We have

 
 1 0 3     

 −1 2 −5  + 3  −1 2
  
2 −5  =   = 6 + 15 + 3(−3 − 4) = 0

 2 3 3  2 3 
3 3
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so the set is not a basis for R3
(2) In this case
   
 −2 2 1   0 2 1     
 3 1 −2  =  4 1 −2  = −2  4 −2
      4 1 
+  = −2(−12+14)+(12−7) = 1
     7 −3  7 3 
 4 3 −3   7 3 −3 
so the set is a basis for R3
ABSTRACT
Content elementary column operations and determinants, linear independence and determinants
In this Note, we show how linear independence in a set of n vectors in R n is connected to the value of a
certain determinant. The result is also proved.

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