MATH1031 Mathematics for Life Sciences

Term 3, 2021

Zero, Identity and Inverse Matrices

Dr. Joshua Capel

Red Centre Room 5107

Based on the slides provided by Dr. Chi Mak

School of Mathematics and Statistics

University of New South Wales
j.capel@unsw.edu.au

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Zero matrices

A ZERO MATRIX is one where ALL the entries are ZERO.

If we multiply by the zero matrix we get a zero matrix.

Example.  
  0  
2 1 3   0
0 =
1 4 2 0
0

Similarly adding the zero matrix does not change the entries.
Example.
     
2 1 3 0 0 0 2 1 3
+ =
1 4 2 0 0 0 1 4 2

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Zero matrices (in surprising places)

Example.    
1 1 1 1
A= , B=
2 2 −1 −1
Calculate AB and BA.
  
1 1 1 1
AB = =
2 2 −1 −1
  
1 1 1 1
BA = =
−1 −1 2 2

For numbers we learnt that if xy = 0 then either x = 0 or y = 0. However,

in matrix algebra
6
AB = 0 =⇒ either A = 0 or B = 0.

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Multiplicative identities

The IDENTITY in any sort of multiplication is the quantity which when

you multiply by it gives an answer the same as you started with.
In the multiplication of numbers the identity is the number 1.
For example 6 × 1 = 6 = 1 × 6.

So what is the identity for matrices?

It would need to satisfy

A I = A and I A = A,

whenever the products defined.

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 The IDENTITY MATRIX is always square, whatever size is necessary to
do the calculation, and has 1 in every place on the leading diagonal and
0 everywhere else. An Identity matrix is denoted by I.

A I = A and I A = A, whenever the products defined.

Example.  
  1 0 0 0
  1 0 0
1 0  0 1 0 
 0
 1 0 0 

0 1  0 0 1 0 
0 0 1
0 0 0 1

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Identity matrices

Example.  
2 7 1
A= 1 0 2 
1 −2 3
Evaluate A − 2I.

Example. If  
2 7 1
A=
1 0 2
A − 2 I is not defined since I is always square.

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The matrix inverse

1 1
In algebra, a × = 1 therefore the inverse of a is .
a a
For a square matrix A, we call a square matrix B the INVERSE of A if
AB = I. The inverse of A is denoted by A−1 .
Note that the above definition gives us a way to check whether B is an
inverse of A. If both A and B are square, it is known that
AB = I ⇒ BA = I. That means
AA−1 = A−1 A = I and if B = A−1 , then A = B −1 .

If a matrix has an inverse it is called INVERTIBLE.

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The matrix inverse

Example.    
2 7 4 −7
A= , B=
1 4 −1 2

AB =

BA =

Therefore, B is the inverse of A.

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Powers of Matrices

As with algebra we can find powers of matrices.

 
2 3
Example. Given A = calculate A2 .
−2 1

  
2 3 2 3
A2 = =
−2 1 −2 1

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Powers of Matrices

Example. Show that  

2 3
A=
−2 1
satisfies the matrix polynomial
A2 − 3A + 8 I = 0.
Hence calculate A3 and A−1 .

A2 − 3A + 8 I =

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Powers of Matrices

In algebra, if we had
a2 − 3a + 8 = 0
we could multiply both sides by a to get

a3 − 3a2 + 8a = 0

or divide both sides by a to get

a − 3 + 8a−1 = 0.

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Powers of Matrices

Similarly, in matrix algebra we can do the same to solve for A3 :

A2 − 3A + 8 I = 0

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Powers of Matrices

For A−1 , multiply both sides by A−1 and rearrange:

Note: If n is a positive integer, An denotes the product of n factors of A.

Furthermore, A0 = I, and A−n = (A−1 )n .
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Finding the Inverse

We can use the following to find the inverse of a 2 × 2 matrix:

 −1  
a b 1 d −b
=
c d ad − bc −c a
The general calculation of the inverse of larger order matrices is beyond
the scope of this course. As an alternative, you may find the inverse of a
matrix using Maple.

Example.  
2 1
A=
5 3

A−1 =

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Verifying our answer

Check the matrix A−1 on the previous slide does what it should:

A A−1 =

A−1 A =

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