Stnote131 219 ch1

Chapter 1
Systems of Linear Equations and

Matrices
System of linear algebraic equations and their solution constitute one of the major topics
studied in the course known as “linear algebra.” In the first section we shall introduce
some basic terminology and discuss a method for solving such system.
1.1 Systems of Linear Equations

Linear Equations
Any straight line in the xy-plane can be represented algebraically by an equation of the
form
a1 x + a2 y = b
where a1 , a2 , and b are real constants and a1 and a2 are not both zero. An equation of
this form is called a linear equation in the variables x and y. More generally, we define
a linear equation in the n variables x1 , x2 , . . . , xn to be one that can be expressed in
the form
a1 x1 + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn = b
where a1 , a2 , . . . , an , and b are real constants. The variables in a linear equation are
sometimes called unknowns. For example, the equations
3x + y = 7, y = 51 x + 2z + 4, and x1 + 3x2 − 2x3 + 5x4 = 7
are linear. The equations
√
x + 3y = 2, 3x − 2y − 5z + yz = 4, and y = cos x
are not linear.
Observe that a linear equation does not involve any products or roots of variables. All
variables occur only to the first power and do not appear as arguments for trigonometric,
logarithmic, or exponential functions.
A solution of a linear equation a1 x1 + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn = b is a sequence of n
numbers s1 , s2 , . . ., sn such that the equation satisfied when we substitute x1 = s1 ,
x2 = s2 , . . ., xn = sn . The set of all solutions of the equation is called its solution set
or sometimes the general solution of the equation.
1
MA131: Prepared by Asst.Prof.Dr. Archara Pacheenburawana 2
Example 1.1.
Find the solution set of (a) 5x − 2y = 3 and (b) x1 − 3x2 + 4x3 = 2.
Solution
Linear Systems
A finite set of linear equations in the variables x1 , x2 , . . ., xn is called system of linear
equations or a linear system. A sequence of numbers s1 , s2 , . . ., sn is called a
solution of the system if x1 = s1 , x2 = s2 , . . ., xn = sn is a solution of every equation
in the system. For example, the system
4x1 − x2 + 3x3 = −1
3x1 + x2 + 9x3 = −4
the the solution x1 = 1, x2 = 2, and x3 = −1 since these values satisfy both equations.
However, x1 = 1, x2 = 8, x3 = 1 is not a solution since these values satisfy only the first
equation in the system. Thus, not all system of linear equations have solutions.
A system of equations that has no solutions is said to be inconsistent; if there is
at least one solution of the system, it is called consistent. To illustrate the possibilities
that can occur in solving systems of linear equations, consider a general system of two
linear equations in the unknowns x and y:
a1 x + b1 y = c1 (a1 , b1 not both zero)

a2 x + b2 y = c2 (a2 , b2 not both zero)
The graphs of these equations are lines; call them ℓ1 and ℓ2 . Since a point (x, y) lies on
a line if and only if the number x and y satisfy the equation of the line, the solutions of
the system of equations correspond to points of the intersection of ℓ1 and ℓ2 . There are
three possibilities, illustrated in Figure 1.1
y y y
ℓ1 ℓ2
ℓ1 ℓ2 ℓ1 and ℓ2
x x x
(a) No solution (b) One solution (c) Infinitely many solutions

Figure 1.1:
• The lines ℓ1 and ℓ2 may be parallel, in which case there is no intersection and
consequently no solution to the system.
• The lines ℓ1 and ℓ2 may intersect at only one point, in which case the system has
exactly one solution.
• The lines ℓ1 and ℓ2 may coincide, in which case there are infinitely many points of
intersection and consequently infinitely many solutions to the system.
Although we have considered only two equations with two unknowns here, we will
show later that the same three possibilities hold for arbitrary linear systems:
Every system of linear equations has no solutions, or has exactly one solution,
or has infinitely many solutions.
An arbitrary system of m linear equations in n unknowns can be written as
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn = b1

a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn = b2 (1.1)
.. .. .. ..
. . . .
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + · · · + amn xn = bm
where x1 , x2 , . . ., xn are the unknowns and the subscripted a’s and b’s denote constants.
For example, a general system of three linear equations in four unknowns can be written
as
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + a13 x3 + a14 x4 = b1

a21 x1 + a22 x2 + a23 x3 + a24 x4 = b2
a31 x1 + a32 x2 + a33 x3 + a34 x4 = b3
The double subscripting on the coefficients of the unknowns is a useful device that
is used to specify the location of the coefficient in the system. The first subscript on
the coefficient aij indicates the equation in which the coefficient occurs, and the second
subscript indicates which unknown it multiplies. Thus, a12 is in the first equation and
multiplies unknown x2 .
Augmented Matrices
A system of m linear equations in n unknowns can be abbreviated by writing only the
rectangular array of numbers
 
a11 a12 ··· a1n b1
 a21
 a22 ··· a2n b2 

 .. .. .. .. .
 . . . . 
am1 am2 ··· amn bm
This is called the augmented matrix for the system. For example, the augmented
matrix for the system of equations
x1 + x2 + 2x3 = 9
2x1 + 4x2 − 3x3 = 1
3x1 + 6x2 − 5x3 = 0
is  
1 1 2 9
 2 4 −3 1 .
3 6 −5 0
Remark When constructing an augmented matrix, we must write the unknowns in the
same order in each equation, and the constants must be on the right.
Exercise 1.1
1. Which of the following are linear equations in x1 , x2 and x3 ?

√
(a) x1 + 5x2 − 2 x3 = 1 (b) x1 + 3x2 + x1 x3 = 2
(c) x1 = −7x2 + 3x3 (d) x−2
1 + x2 + 8x3 = 5
3/5 √
(e) x1 − 2x2 + x3 = 4 (f) πx1 − 2 x2 + 13 x3 = 71/3
2. Find the solution set of each of the following linear systems.
(a) 7x − 5y = 3 (b) 3x1 − 5x2 + 4x3 = 7
(c) −8x1 + 2x2 − 5x3 + 6x4 = 1 (d) 3v − 8w + 2x − y + 4z = 0
3. Which of the following are linear systems?
√
(a) x1 − 3x2 = x3 − 4 (b) 2x − y + 3z = −1
x4 = 1 − x1 x + 2y − z = 2
x1 + x4 + x3 − 2 = 0 4x − y = −1
(c) 3x − xy = 1 (d) y = 2x − 1
x + 2xy − y = 0 y = −x
(e) 2x1 − sin x2 = 3 (f) x1 + x2 + x3 = 1

x2 = x1 + x3 −2x21 − 2x3 = −1
−x1 + x2 − 3x3 = 0 3x2 − x3 = 2
4. Find the augmented matrix for each of the following systems of linear equations.
(a) 3x1 − 2x2 = −1 (b) 2x1 + 2x3 = 1

4x1 + 5x2 = 3 3x1 − x2 + 4x3 = 7
7x1 + 3x2 = 2 6x1 + x2 − x3 = 0
(c) x1 = 1 (d) x1 + 2x2 − x4 + x5 = 1

x2 = 2 3x2 + x3 − x5 = 2
x3 = 3 x3 + 7x4 = 1
5. Find a system of linear equations corresponding to the augmented matrix.
   
2 0 0 3 0 −2 5
(a) 3 −4
 0  (b) 7 1
 4 −3 
0 1 1 0 −2 1 7
 
1 0 0 0 7
7 2 1 −3 5  0 1 0 0 −2 
(c) (d)  
1 2 4 0 1  0 0 1 0 3 
0 0 0 1 4
6. (a) Find a linear equation in the variables x and y that has the general solution
x = 5 + 2t, y = t.
(b) Show that

1 5
x = t, y = 2
t− 2
is also the general solution of the equation in part (a).

7. Consider the system of equations
ax + by = k
cx + dy = ℓ
ex + f y = m
Indicate what we can say about the relative positions of the line ax + by = k,
cx + dy = ℓ, and ex + f y = m when
(a) the system has no solutions.
(b) the system has exactly one solution.
(c) the system has infinitely many solutions.
8. Show that the linear system
ax + by = e
cx + dy = f
where a, b, c, d, e, f are constants, has a unique solution if ad − bc 6= 0. Express this
solution in terms of a, b, c, d, e, and f .
Answer to Exercise 1.1
1. (a), (c), (f)

3
2. (a) x = 7
+ 75 t, y = t (b) x1 = 35 s − 34 t − 18 , x2 = s, x3 = t
(c) x1 = 41 r − 58 s + 34 t − 81 , x2 = r, x3 = s, x4 = t
(d) v = 38 q − 23 r + 31 s − 34 t, w = q, x = r, y = s, z =t
3. (a), (d)
     
3 −2 −1 2 0 2 1 1 0 0 1
4. (a)  4 5 3  (b)  3 −1 4 7  (c)  0 1 0 2 
7 3 2 6 1 −1 0 0 0 1 3
 
1 2 0 −1 1 1
(d)  0 3 1 0 −1 2 
0 0 1 7 0 1
5. (a) 2x1 =0
3x1 − 4x2 = 0
x2 = 1
(b) 3x1 − 2x3 = 5
7x1 + x2 + 4x3 = −3
−2x2 + x3 = 7
(c) 7x1 + 2x2 + x3 − 3x4 = 5
x1 + 2x2 + 4x3 =1
(d) x1 =7
x2 = −2
x3 =3
x4 = 4
6. (a) x − 2y = 5 (b) Let x = t; then t − 2y = 5. Solving for y yields y = 21 t − 52 .
7. (a) The line have no common point of intersection.

(b) The line intersect in exactly one point.
(c) The three lines coincide.
1.2 Elementary Operations

Elementary Row Operations
The basic method for solving a system of linear equations is to replace the given system
by a new system that has the same solution set but is easier to solve. This new system is
generally obtained in a series of steps by applying the following three types of operations
to eliminate unknowns systematically:
1. Multiply any equation, say the i th, by a nonzero constant α. This is denoted by
α ri .
2. Interchange of two equations, say the i th and j th. This is denoted by ri ↔ rj .
3. Add α times the i th equation to the j th equation. This is denoted by rj + α ri .

(This keeps the i th equation unchanged.)
Since the rows of an augmented matrix correspond to the equations in the associated
system, these three operations correspond to the following operations on the rows of the
augmented matrix:
1. Multiply any row by a nonzero constant: α ri .
2. Interchange of two rows: ri ↔ rj .
3. Add a multiple of one row to another: rj + α ri .
These are called elementary row operations. The following illustrates how these
operations can be used to solve system of linear equations.
Example 1.2.
Solve the following system by using elementary row operations.
x + y + 2z = 9
2x + 4y − 3z = 1
3x + 6y − 5z = 0
Solution In the left column we solve a system of linear equations by operating on the
equations in the system, and in the right column we solve the same system by operating
on the rows of the augmented matrix.
 
x + y + 2z = 9 1 1 2 9
2x + 4y − 3z = 1  2 4 −3 1 
3x + 6y − 5z = 0 3 6 −5 0
Add −2 times the first equation Add −2 times the first row
to the second to obtain to the second to obtain
 
x + y + 2z = 9 1 1 2 9
2y − 7z = −17  0 2 −7 −17 
3x + 6y − 5z = 0 3 6 −5 0
Add −3 times the first equation Add −3 times the first row
to the third to obtain to the third to obtain
 
x + y + 2z = 9 1 1 2 9
2y − 7z = −17  0 2 −7 −17 
3y − 11z = −27 0 3 −11 −27
Multiply the second equation Multiply the second row

by 12 to obtain by 21 to obtain
 
x + y + 2z = 9 1 1 2 9
y − 72 z = − 17
2
 0 1 − 7 − 17 
2 2
3y − 11z = −27 0 3 −11 −27
Add −3 times the second equation Add −3 times the second row
to the third to obtain to the third to obtain
 
x + y + 2z = 9 1 1 2 9
 
y − 72 z = − 17
2  0 1 − 72 − 17 2 
− 21 z = − 23 0 0 − 12 − 23
Multiply the third equation Multiply the third row

by −2 to obtain by −2 to obtain
 
x + y + 2z = 9 1 1 2 9
y − 72 z = − 17
2
 0 1 − 7 − 17 
2 2
z = 3 0 0 1 3
Add −1 times the second equation Add −1 times the second row
to the first to obtain to the first to obtain
 
x + 11
2
z = 35
2
1 0 11 2
35
2
7
y − 2z = − 17
2
 0 1 − 7 − 17 
2 2
z = 3 0 0 1 3
Add − 112
times the third equation Add − 112
times the third row
to the first and 27 times the third to the first and 27 times the third
equation to the second to obtain row to the second to obtain
 
x = 1 1 0 0 1
y = 2  0 1 0 2 
z = 3 0 0 1 3
The solution x = 1, y = 2, z = 3 is now evident. ♣
Echelon Forms
In previous example, we solved a linear system in the unknowns x, y, and z by reducing
the augmented matrix to the form
 
1 0 0 1
 0 1 0 2 .
0 0 1 3
This is an example of a matrix that is in reduced row-echelon form. To be of this
form, a matrix must have the following properties:
1. If the row does not consist entirely of zeros, then the first nonzero number in the
row is a 1. We call this a leading 1.
2. If there are any rows that consist entirely of zeros, then they are grouped together
at the bottom of the matrix.
3. In any two successive rows that do not consist entirely of zeros, the leading 1 in
the lower row occurs farther to the right than the leading 1 in the higher row.
4. Each column that contains a leading 1 has zeros everywhere else in that column.
A matrix that has the first three properties is said to be in row-echelon matrix.
(Thus, a matrix in reduced row-echelon form is of necessity in row-echelon form, but not
conversely.)
The following matrices are in reduced row-echelon form.

 
    0 1 −2 0 0
1 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 7  , 0 1 0 ,  1 3, 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 −1 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0
The following matrices are in row-echelon form.

     
1 4 −3 7 1 0 0 0 1 2 6 0
0 1 6 2  , 0 1 0 , 0 0 1 −1 0
0 0 1 −1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Example 1.3.
Suppose that the augmented matrix for a linear equations has been reduced by
row operations to the given reduced row-echelon form. Solve the system.
   
1 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 −5
(a)  0 1 0 4  (b)  0 1 0 4 −1 
0 0 1 −3 0 0 1 2 6
   
1 0 2 −3 1 0 4 0
(c)  0 1 1 4  (d)  0 1 −5 0 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Solution
Elimination Methods
We have just seen how easy it is to solve a system of linear equations once its augmented
matrix is in reduced row-echelon form.
• The process of using row operations to transform a linear system into one whose
augmented matrix is in row-echelon form is called Gaussian elimination.
• The process of using row operations to transform a linear system into one whose
augmented matrix is in reduced row-echelon form is called Gauss-Jordan elimi-
nation.
Remark It can be show that every matrix has a unique reduced row-echelon form.
Example 1.4.
Solve by Gauss-Jordan elimination.
x1 + 3x2 − 2x3 + 2x5 = 0

2x1 + 6x2 − 5x3 − 2x4 + 4x5 − 3x6 = −1
5x3 + 10x4 + 15x6 = 5
2x1 + 6x2 + 8x4 + 4x5 + 18x6 = 6
Solution
Back-Substitution
It is sometimes preferable to solve a system of linear equations by using Gaussian elimi-
nation to bring the augmented matrix into row-echelon form without continuing all the
way to the reduced row-echelon form. When this is done, the corresponding system of
equations can be solved by a technique called back-substitution. The next example
illustrates the idea.
Example 1.5.
Solve
x + y + 2z = 9
2x + 4y − 3z = 1
3x + 6y − 5z = 0
by Gaussian elimination and back-substitution.
Solution
Homogeneous Linear Systems

A system of linear equations is said to be homogeneous if the constant terms are all
zero; that is the system has the form
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn = 0

a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn = 0
.. .. .. ..
. . . .
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + · · · + amn xn = 0
Every homogeneous system of linear equations is consistent, since all such systems
have x1 = 0, x2 = 0, . . ., xn = 0 as a solution. This solution is called the trivial
solution; if there are other solutions, they are called nontrivial solution.
Because a homogeneous linear system always has the trivial solution, there are only
two possibilities for its solutions:
• The system has only the trivial solution.
• The system has infinitely many solutions in addition to the trivial solution.
In the special case of a homogeneous linear system of two equations in two unknowns,
say
a1 x + b1 y = 0 (a1 , b1 not both zero)

a2 x + b2 y = 0 (a2 , b2 not both zero)
the graphs of the equations are lines through the origin, and the trivial solution corre-
sponds to the point of intersection at the origin.
y y
a1 x + b1 y = 0
x x
a2 x + b2 y = 0 a1 x + b1 y = 0
and
a2 x + b2 y = 0
(a) Only the trivial solution (b) Infinitely many solutions
There is one case in which a homogeneous system is assured of having nontrivial

solution — namely, whenever the system involves more unknowns than equations. To
see why, consider the following example of four equations in five unknowns.
Example 1.6.
Solve the following homogeneous system of linear equations by using Gauss-

Jordan elimination.
2x1 + 2x2 − x3 + x5 = 0
−x1 − x2 + 2x3 − 3x4 + x5 = 0
x1 + x2 − 2x3 − x5 = 0
x3 + x4 + x5 = 0
Solution
Theorem 1.1.
A homogeneous system of linear equations with more unknowns than equations

has infinitely many solutions.
Remark Note that Theorem 1.1 applied only to homogeneous systems. A nonhomoge-
neous system with more unknowns than equations need not be consistent; however, if
the system is consistent, it will have infinitely many solutions.
Exercise 1.2
1. Which of the following 3 × 3 matrices are in reduced row-echelon form?

       
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
(a) 0 1 0 (b) 1 0 0 (c) 0 0 1 (d) 0 0 1
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
       
1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0
(e) 0 0 0 (f) 0 1 0 (g) 0 1 3 (h) 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2. Which of the following 3 × 3 matrices are in row-echelon form?
       
1 0 0 1 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 0
(a) 0 1 0 (b) 0 0 1 (c) 0 1 2 (d) 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0
       
1 4 6 1 1 0 1 3 4 1 2 3
(e) 0 0 1 (f) 0 1 0 (g) 0 0 1 (h) 0 0 0
0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
3. In each part determine whether the matrix is in row-echelon form, reduced row-
echelon form, both, or neither.
   
0 1 3 5 7 1 0 0 5
1 0 3 1
(a) 0 0 1 2 3 (b) 0 0 1 3 (c)
0 1 2 4
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4
   
1 0 0 1 2 0 1
1 −7 5 5
(d) (e) 0
 1 0 2 4 (f) 0 0
0 1 3 2
0 0 1 3 6 0 0
4. Find the reduced row-echelon form of A when
 
2 2 −1 0 1 0
−1 −1 2 −3 1 0
A= 1
.
1 −2 0 −1 0
0 0 1 1 1 0
5. Find the reduced row-echelon form of B when

 
0 0 −2 0 7 12
B = 2 4 −10 6 12 28  .
2 4 −5 6 −5 −1
6. In each part suppose that the augmented matrix for a system of linear equations
has been reduced by row operations to the given reduced row-echelon form. Solve
the system.
   
1 0 0 −3 1 0 0 −7 8
(a)  0 1 0 0  (b)  0 1 0 3 2 
0 0 1 7 0 0 1 1 −5
 
1 −3 0 2
1 2 0 1 5
(c)  0 0 1 −2  (d)
0 0 1 3 4
0 0 0 0
 
1 −6 0 0 3 −2  
 0 0 1 0 4 7  1 −3 0 0
(e) 
 0 0 0 1 5 8 
 (f)  0 0 1 0 
0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0
7. Solve each of the following systems by Gauss-Jordan elimination.
(a) x1 + x2 + 2x3 = 8 (b) 2x1 + 2x2 + 2x3 = 0

−x1 − 2x2 + 3x3 = 1 −2x1 + 5x2 + 2x3 = 1
3x1 − 7x2 + 4x3 = 10 8x1 + x2 + 4x3 = −1
(c) 2x1 − 3x2 = −2 (d) −2b + 3c = 1
2x1 + x2 = 1 3a + 6b − 3c = −2
3x1 + 2x2 = 1 6a + 6b + 3c = 5
(e) 4x1 − 8x2 = 12 (f) x1 + 3x2 + x3 + x4 = 3
3x1 − 6x2 = 9 2x1 − 2x2 + x3 + 2x4 = 8
−2x1 + 4x2 = −6 3x1 + x2 + 2x3 − x4 = −1
(g) x − y + 2z − w = −1 (h) 3x1 + 2x2 − x3 = −15

2x + y − 2z − 2w = −2 5x1 + 3x2 + 2x3 = 0
−x + 2y − 4z + w = 1 3x1 + x2 + 3x3 = 11
3x − 3w = −3 −6x1 − 4x2 + 2x3 = 30
(i) x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 = 0 (j) 10y − 4z + w = 1

2x1 + x2 − x3 + 3x4 = 0 x + 4y − z + w = 2
x1 − 2x2 + x3 + x4 = 0 3x + 2y + z + 2w = 5
−2x − 8y + 2z − 2w = −4
x − 6y + 3z = 1
8. Solve each of the systems in Exercise 2 by Gaussian elimination.
9. Determine which of the following homogeneous systems have nontrivial solutions.

(a) 2x1 − 3x2 + 4x3 − x4 = 0 (b) x1 + 3x2 − x3 = 0

7x1 + x2 − 8x3 + 9x4 = 0 x2 − 8x3 = 0
2x1 + 8x2 + x3 − x4 = 0 4x3 = 0
(c) a11 x1 + a12 x2 + a13 x3 = 0 (d) 3x1 − 2x2 = 0

a21 x1 + a22 x2 + a23 x3 = 0 6x1 − 4x2 = 0
10. Solve the following homogeneous systems of linear equations by any method.
(a) 2x1 + x2 + 3x3 = 0 (b) 3x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 = 0

x1 + 2x2 =0 5x1 − x2 + x3 − x4 = 0
x2 + x3 = 0
(c) −x1 + x2 − x3 + 3x4 = 0 (d) − 21 x1 + 13 x2 + 21 x3 = 0

1
3x1 + x2 − x3 − x4 = 0 4 1
x − 23 x2 + 41 x3 = 0
1
2x1 − x2 − 2x3 − x4 = 0 4 1
x + 13 x2 − 34 x3 = 0
(e) 2x + 2y + 4z =0 (f) 2x − y − 3z = 0
w − y − 3z =0 −x + 2y − 3z = 0
2w + 3x + y + z =0 x + y + 4z = 0
−2w + x + 3y − 2z =0
11. Consider a linear system whose augmented matrix is of the form
 
1 2 1 1
 −1 4 3 2 
2 −2 α 3
For what values of α will the system have a unique solution?

 
1 2 1 0
 2 5 3 0 
−1 1 β 0
(a) Is it possible for the system to be consistent? Explain.

(b) For what values of β will the system have infinitely many solutions?

 
1 1 3 2
 1 2 4 3 
1 3 α β
(a) For what values of α and β will the system have infinitely many solutions?
(b) For what values of α and β will the system be inconsistent?
14. Solve the system
2x1 − x2 = λ x1
2x1 − x2 + x3 = λ x2
−2x1 + 2x2 + x3 = λ x3
for x1 , x2 , and x3 in the two cases λ = 1, λ = 2.
1. (a), (b), (d), (g), (h) 2. (a), (b), (c), (f), (g)
3. (a) Row-echelon (b) Neither (c) Both (d) Row-echelon (e) Both (f) Both
 
1 1 0 0 1 0  
0 1 2 0 3 0 7
0 1 0 1 0
4. 
0 5. 0 0 1 0 0 1
0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 2
0 0 0 0 0 0
6. (a) x1 = 3, x2 = 0, x3 = 7 (b) x1 = 7t + 8, x2 = −3t + 2, x3 = −t − 5, x4 = t
(c) x1 = 2 + 3t, x2 = t, x3 = −2 (d) x1 = 5 − 2s − t, x2 = s, x3 = 4 − 3t, x4 = t
(e) x1 = 6s − 3t − 2, x2 = s, x3 = −4t + 7, x4 = −5t + 8, x5 = t
(f) Inconsistent
7. (a) x1 = 3, x2 = 1, x3 = 2 (b) x1 = − 17 − 73 t, x2 = 1
7
− 74 t, x3 = t
(c) Inconsistent (d) Inconsistent (e) x1 = 3 + 2t, x2 = t
3
(f) x1 = 4
− 85 t, x2 = − 14 − 18 t, x3 = t, x4 = 3
(g) x = t − 1, y = 2s, z = s, w = t (h) x1 = −4, x2 = 2, x3 = 7
(i) x1 = − 34 t, x2 = 0, x3 = 13 t, x4 = t
14
(j) x = 5
− 65 t, y = − 10
7
+ 3
10
t− 1
10
s, z = −2 + t, w = t
9. (a), (c), (d)
10. (a) x1 = 0, x2 = 0, x3 = 0
(b) x1 = −s, x2 = −t − s, x3 = 4s, x4 = t
(c) x1 = t, x2 = −t, x3 = t (d) x1 = 53 t, x2 = t, x3 = t
(e) w = t, x = −t, y = t, z = 0 (f) x = 0, y = 0, z = 0
11. α 6= −2 12. β = 2 13. (a) α = 5, β = 4, (b) α = 5, β 6= 4
14. If λ = 1, then x1 = x2 = s, x3 = 0. If λ = 2, then x1 = − 21 s, x2 = 0, x3 = s
1.3 Matrices and Matrix Operations

In this section we begin our study of matrix theory by giving some of the fundamental
definitions of the subject. We shall see how matrices can be combined through the
arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
Matrix Notation and Terminology

Definition 1.1.
A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers, each of which is called an entry

of the matrix.
For example,  
2 1
−1 2 (1.2)
0 5

1 −1 0
(1.3)
0 5 0
and √
1 2 π (1.4)
Each horizontal line of number is called a row of the matrix; each vertical one is
called a column. For example, in matrix (1.2) the third row consist of the entries 0 and
5, whereas the entries in the first column are 2, −1, and 0.
If the given matrix has m rows and n columns, it is called m × n matrix (read, m
by n matrix), and the numbers m and n are the sizes of the matrix. The matrices (1.2),
(1.3), and (1.4), are respectively, 3 × 2, 2 × 3, and 1 × 3 matrices.
A matrix with only one column or m × 1 matrix (with m > 1) is called a column
matrix (or a column vector ), and a matrix with only one row or 1 × n matrix (with
n > 1) is called a row matrix (or a row vector ). For example, the matrix (1.4) is
called a row matrix or a row vector.
Capital (uppercase) letters, such as A, B, and C, will be used to denote matrices,
whereas the entries of a matrix will be denoted by the corresponding lowercase letter
with “double subscripts.” The entry that occurs in row i and column j of a matrix A
will be denoted by aij . Thus, a general 2 × 4 matrix might be written as

a11 a12 a13 a14
A=
a21 a22 a23 a24
and a general m × n matrix as

 
a11 a12 · · · a1n
 a21
 a22 · · · a2n 

A =  .. .. ..  .
 . . . 
am1 am2 · · · amn
When compactness of notation is desired, the preceding matrix can be written as
[aij ]m×n and [aij ]
the first notation being used when it is important in the discussion to know the size, and
the second being used when the size need not be emphasized.
The entry in row i and column j of a matrix A is also commonly denoted by the
symbol (A)ij . Thus, for the matrix
 
3 6 −1
A= 4
 2 0
1 −3 −5
we have (A)12 = a12 = 6, (A)21 = a21 = 4, and (A)33 = a33 = 5.

Row and column matrices are of special importance, and it is common practice to
denote them by boldface lowercase letters rather than capital letters. For such matrices,
double subscripting of the entries is unnecessary. Thus a general 1 × n row matrix a and
a general m × 1 column matrix b would be written as
 
b1
 b2 
 
a = a1 a2 · · · an and b =  .. 
.
bn
A matrix A with n rows and n columns is called a square matrix of order n, and
the entries a11 , a22 , . . ., ann in (1.5) are said to be on the main diagonal of A.
 
a11 a12 · · · a1n
 a21 a22 · · · a2n 
 
 .. .. ..  . (1.5)
 . . . 
an1 an2 · · · ann
Definition 1.2.
A square matrix in which all the entries above the main diagonal are zero is
called lower triangular, and a square matrix in which all the entries below
the main diagonal are zero is called upper triangular. A matrix that is either
upper triangular or lower triangular is called triangular.
Operations on Matrices
Definition 1.3.
Given matrices A and B, the entries aij and bkp are corresponding entries
if and only if i = k and j = p. In other words, an entry of A corresponds to
an entry of B if and only if they occupy the same position in their respective
matrices.
For example, if
1 2 3 7 8 9
A= and B =
4 5 6 −1 −2 −3
then 1 and 7, 2 and 8, and 4 and −1 are all pairs of corresponding entries. We shall
speak of corresponding entries only when the two matrices in question have the same
size.
Definition 1.4 (Equality of matrices).
Two matrices A and B are equal, written A = B, if they have the same size
and their corresponding entries are equal.
In matrix notation, if A = [aij ] and B = [bij ] have the same size, then A = B if
and only if aij = bij for all i and j.
Example 1.7.
Which of the following matrices are equal:

1 2 −1 1 2
A= , B= ,
4 0 1+2 4 0

1 42 −1 1 2 −1
C= , D= ?
4 0 3 4 0 1
Solution
Definition 1.5 (Sum of matrices).
Let A and B be matrices with the same size. The sum of A and B, written
A + B, is the matrix obtained by adding corresponding entries of A and B
In matrix notation, if A = [aij ] and B = [bij ] have the same size, then C = A+B
if and only if cij = aij + bij for all i and j.
Example 1.8.

2 −1 5 −3 2 7 3 5
Let A = ,B = , and C = . Find A + B
3 0 −4 5 −6 2 −2 −1
and A + C, if defined
Solution
Definition 1.6 (Multiplication by a scalar).
Let A be a matrix and c be a scalar. Then the product cA is the matrix

obtained by multiplying each entry of A by scalar c. The matrix cA is said to
be a scalar multiple of A.
In matrix notation, if A = [aij ], then B = cA if and only if bij = caij for all i
and j.
Definition 1.7.
The negative of a matrix B, written −B, is the matrix (−1)B. It is obtained

from B by simply reversing the sign of every entry.
Example 1.9.

1 −1 0 3
Let A = . Find 3A and (−1)A.
2 6 −4 8
Solution
Definition 1.8 (Difference of matrices).
Let A and B be matrices with the same size. The difference of A and B,
written A − B, is the matrix C given by C = A + (−B).
Note The matrix A − B can be obtained by simply subtracting each entry of B from
the corresponding entry of A.
Example 1.10.
   
5 4 −3 0
Find C = 2A − B where A = −1 7  and B =  4 2 .
9 −3 5 −7
Solution
If A1 , A2 , . . . , An are matrices of the same size and c1 , c2 , . . . , cn are scalars, then an

expression of the form
c1 A1 + c2 A2 + · · · + cn An
is called a linear combination of A1 , A2 , . . . , An with coefficients c1 , c2 , . . ., cn . For
example, If

2 3 4 0 2 7 9 −6 3
A= , B= , and C= ,
1 3 1 −1 3 −5 3 0 12
then

1 2 3 4 0 2 7 1 9 −6 3
2A − B + C = 2 + (−1) +
3 1 3 1 −1 3 −5 3 3 0 12

4 6 8 0 −2 −7 3 −2 1
= + +
2 6 2 1 −3 5 1 0 4

7 2 2
=
4 3 11
is the linear combination of A, B, and C with scalar coefficients 2, −1, and 13 .
Definition 1.9 (Matrix multiplication).
If A is an m × r matrix and B is an r × n matrix, then the product AB is the

m×n matrix whose entries are determined as follows. To find the entry in row i
and column j of AB, single out row i from matrix A and column j from matrix
B. Multiply the corresponding entries from the row and column together, and
then add up the resulting products.
In other words, if C = AB, then
cij = ai1 b1j + ai2 b2j + · · · + ain bnj
or, using summation notation,

n
X
cij = aik bkj .
k=1
Example 1.11.
Given the pairs of matrices A and B, find the products AB and BA, if defined.
 
4 1 4 3
1 2 4
(a) A = , B = 0 −1 3 1
2 6 0
2 7 5 2
   
1 2 3 x
(b) A = 4 5 6, B = y 
7 8 9 z
Solution
Note It should be apparent from Example 1.11 that multiplication of matrices “act
differently” from multiplication of numbers. The latter has the property of commutativity
(for all numbers a and b, ab = ba), but matrix multiplication does not.
One situation in which the products AB and BA are both defined (although they
still need not be equal) is when A and B have the same size and are square.
Partitioned Matrices
A matrix can be subdivided or partitioned into small matrices by inserting horizontal
and vertical rules between selected rows and columns. For example, the following are
three possible partitions of a general 3 × 4 matrix A:
• partition of A into four submatrices A11 , A12 , A21 , and A22

 
a11 a12 a13 a14
A11 A12
A = a21 a22 a23 a24 =
 
A21 A22
a31 a32 a33 a34
• partition of A into its row matrices r1 , r2 , and r3

   
a11 a12 a13 a14 r1
A =  a21 a22 a23 a24  = r2 
a31 a32 a33 a34 r3
• partition of A into its column matrices c1 , c2 , c3 , and c4

 
a11 a12 a13 a14
A = a21 a22 a23
 a24  = c1 c2 c3 c4
a31 a32 a33 a34
Matrix Multiplication by Columns and by Rows

Sometimes it may be desirable to find a particular row or column of a matrix product
AB without computing the entire product. The following results are useful for that
purpose:

i th row matrix of AB = i th row matrix of A B (1.6)

j th column of AB = A j th column of B (1.7)
Example 1.12.
If A and B are the matrices in Example 1.11 (a), then find the first row and
second column of AB
Solution
Matrix Products as Linear Combinations

Suppose that   
a11 a12 · · · a1n x1
 a21
 a22 · · · a2n 

 x2 
 
A =  .. .. ..  and x =  .. 
 . . .  .
am1 am2 · · · amn xn
Then
 
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn

 a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn 

Ax =  .. .. .. 
 . . . 
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + · · · + amn xn
     
a11 a12 a1n
 a21   a22   a2n 
     
= x1  ..  + x2  ..  + · · · + xn  ..  (1.8)
 .   .   . 
am1 am2 amn
In words, (1.8) tell us that the product Ax of the matrix A with a column matrix x
is a linear combination of the column matrices of A with the coefficients coming from
the matrix x.
Moreover, the product yA of a 1 × m matrix y with an m × n matrix A is a linear
combination of the row matrices of A with scalar coefficients coming from y.
Example 1.13.
The matrix product

    
2 −1 3 −1 5
1 3 −2  2  = −1
−3 2 1 3 10
can be written as the linear combination of the column matrices

       
2 −1 3 5
−1 1 + 2 3 + 3 −2 = −1
      
−3 2 1 10
The matrix product

 
2 −1 3

5 −1 10  1 3 −2 = −21 12 27
−3 2 1
can be written as the linear combination of the row matrices

5 2 −1 3 − 1 1 3 −2 + 10 −3 2 1 = −21 12 27 ♣
Matrix Form of a Linear System

Matrix multiplication has an important application to system of linear equations. Con-
sider any system of m linear equations in n unknowns.
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn = b1

a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn = b2 (1.9)
.. .. .. ..
. . . .
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + · · · + amn xn = bm
Since two matrices are equal if and only if their corresponding entries are equal, we
can replace the m equations in this system by the single matrix equation
   
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn b1
 a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn   b2 
   
 .. .. ..  =  .. 
 . . .   . 
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + · · · + amn xn bm
The m × 1 matrix on the left side of this equation can be written as a product to give
    
a11 a12 · · · a1n x1 b1
 a21 a22 · · · a2n   x2   b2 
    
 .. .. ..   ..  =  ..  .
 . . .  .   . 
am1 am2 · · · amn xm bm
If we designate these matrices A, x, and b, respectively, then the original system of m

equations in n unknowns has been replaced by the single matrix equation
Ax = b
The matrix A in this equation is called the coefficient matrix of the system. The
augmented matrix for the system is obtained by adjoining b to A as the last column;
thus the augmented matrix is
 
a11 a12 · · · a1n b1
 a21 a22 · · · a2n b2 

A b =  .. .. .. ..  .
 . . . . 
am1 am2 · · · amn bm
Transpose of a Matrix
Definition 1.10 (Transpose of a matrix).
The transpose of the m × n matrix A, written AT , is the n × m matrix B whose

j th column is the j th row of A. Equivalently, B = AT if and only if bij = aji
for each i and j.
Example 1.14.
Find the transpose of

2 7 1 2 −7
(a) A = (b) B = (c) C = −1 3 4
−8 0 4 5 6
Solution
Definition 1.11.
If A is a square matrix, then trace of A, denoted by tr(A), is defined to be the

sum of the entries on the main diagonal of A. The trace of A is undefined if A
is not a square matrix.
Example 1.15.
Find the trace of matrices A and B.

 
  −1 2 7 0
a11 a12 a13 3 5 −8 4 
A = a21 a22 a23  , B=
1

2 7 −3
a31 a32 a33
4 −2 1 0
Solution
Exercise 1.3
1. Suppose that A, B, C, D, and E are matrices with the following dimensions:
A B C D E
(4 × 5) (4 × 5) (5 × 2) (4 × 2) (5 × 4)
Determine which of the following matrix expression are defined. For those that are
defined, give the dimension of the resulting matrix.
(a) BA (b) AC + D (c) AE + B (d) AB + B
(e) E(A + B) (f) E(AC) (g) E T A (h) (AT + E)D
2. If a matrix A is 3 × 5 and the product AB is 3 × 7, what is the size of B?
3. Solve the following matrix equation for a, b, c, and d

a−b b+c 8 1
=
3d + c 2a − 4d 7 6
4. Consider the matrices

 
3 0
4 −1 1 4 2
A = −1 2 , B= , C= ,
0 2 3 1 5
1 1
   
1 5 2 6 1 3
D = −1
 0 1 , E = −1 1 2
3 2 4 4 1 3
Compute the following (where possible).
(a) 2AT + C (b) D T − E T (c) (D − E)T (d) B T + 5C T
(e) 21 C T − 41 A (f) B − B T (g) 2E T − 3D T (h) (2E T − 3D T )T
5. Using the matrices in Exercise 4, compute the following (where possible).

(a) AB (b) BA (c) (3E)D (d) (AB)C
(e) A(BC) (f) CC T (g) (DA)T (h) (C T B)AT
(i) tr(DD T ) (j) tr(4E T − D) (k) tr(C T AT + 2E T )

1 −2 −1 2 −1
6. Let A = and AB = . Find the first and second columns
−2 5 6 −9 3
of B.
7. Let    
1 2 1 1 0 2
A =  3 3 5 and B = 2 1 1
2 4 1 5 4 1
Use the method of Example 1.12 to find
(a) the first row of AB (b) the third row of AB
(c) the second column of AB (d) the first column of BA
(e) the third row of AA (f) the third column of AA
8. Let A and B be the matrices Exercise7. Use the method of Example ?? to
(a) express each column matrix of AB as a linear combination of the column

matrices of A
(b) express each column matrix of BA as a linear combination of the column
matrices of B
9. In each part, express the given system of linear equations as a single matrix equa-
tion Ax = b.
(a) 3x1 + 2x2 = 1 (b) x1 + x2 =5
2x1 − 3x2 = 5 2x1 + x2 − x3 = 6
3x1 − 2x2 + 2x3 = 7
(c) 2x1 + x2 + x3 = 4 (d) 4x1 + −3x3 + x4 =1

x1 − x2 + 2x3 = 2 5x1 + x2 − 8x4 =3
3x1 − 2x2 − x3 = 0 2x1 − 5x2 + 9x3 − x4 =0
3x2 − x3 + 7x4 =2
10. In each part, express the matrix equation as a system of linear equations.
    
     3 −2 0 1 w 0
3 −1 2 x1 2 5 0 2 −2  x  0
   
(a)  4 3 7 x2  = −1 (b) 
3 = 
1 4 7   y  0
−2 1 5 x3 4
−2 5 1 6 z 0
11. In each part, find a 6 × 6 matrix [aij ] that satisfies the state condition. Make your
answers as general as possible by using letters rather than specific numbers for the
nonzero entries.
(a) aij = 0 if i 6= j (b) aij = 0 if i > j
(c) aij = 0 if i < j (d) aij = 0 if |i − j| > 1
12. Find the matrix A such that
   
x x+y
A y  = x − y 
z 0
for all choices of x, y, and z?
13. Indicate whether the statement is always true or sometimes false. Justify your
answer with a counterexample.
(a) The expressions tr(AAT ) and tr(AT A) are always defined, regardless of the
size of A.
(b) tr(AAT ) = tr(AT A) for every matrix A.
(c) If the first column of A has all zeros, then so does the first column of every
product AB.
(d) If the first row of A has all zeros, then so does the first row of every product
AB.
(e) If A is a square matrix with two identical rows, then AA has two identical
rows.
(f) If A is a square matrix and AA has a column of zeros, then A must have a
column of zeros.
(g) If B is an n × n matrix whose entries are positive even integers, and if A is an
n × n matrix whose entries are positive integers, then the entries of AB and
BA are positive even integers.
(h) If the matrix sum AB + BA is defined, then A and B must be square.
1. (a) Undefined (b) 4 × 2 (c) Undefined (d) Undefined (e) 5 × 5 (f) 5 × 2

(g) Undefined (h) 5 × 2
2. 5 × 7 3. a = 5, b = −3, c = 4, d = 1
   
−5 0 −1 −5 0 −1
7 2 4
4. (a) (b)  4 −1 1  (c)  4 −1 1  (d) Undefined
3 5 7
−1 −1 1 −1 −1 1
 1 3    
−4 2 9 1 −1 9 −13 0
0 −1
(e)  94 0  (f) (g) −13 2 −4 (h)  1 2 1
3 9 1 0
4 4
0 1 −6 −1 −4 −6
     
12 −3 42 108 75 3 45 9
5. (a) −4 5  (b) Undefined (c) 12 −3 21 (d) 11 −11 17
4 1 36 78 63 7 17 13
   
3 45 9 12 6 9
21 17 0 −2 11
(e) 11 −11 17 (f) (g) (h) 48 −20 14
17 35 12 1 8
7 17 13 24 8 16

7 −8
(i) 61 (j) 35 (k) 28 6. b1 = , b2 =
4 −5
     
6 5 12
7. (a) 10 6 5 (b) 15 8 9 (c) 23   (d) 7  (e) 16 20 23 (f)
 23
8 19 23
       
10 1 2 1
8. (a) 34 = 1 3 + 2 3 + 5 5
15 2 4 1
       
6 1 2 1
23 = 0 3 + 1 3 + 4 5
8 2 4 1
       
5 1 2 1
14 = 2 3 + 1 3 + 1 5
9 2 4 1
       
5 1 0 2
(b) 7 = 1 2 + 3 1 + 2 1
      
19 5 4 1
       
10 1 0 2
11 = 2 2 + 3 1 + 4 1
26 5 4 1
       
3 1 0 2
 8  = 1 2 + 5 1 + 1 1
26 5 4 1
    
1 1 0 x1 5
3 2 x1 1
9. (a) = (b) 2 1 −1
   x2 = 6
 
2 −3 x2 5
3 −2 2 x3 7
    
     4 0 −3 1 x1 1
2 1 1 x1 4 5 1 0 −8  x2  3
(c) 1 −1 2  x2  = 2 (d)  2 −5 9 −1 x3  = 0
   
3 −2 −1 x3 0
0 3 −1 7 x4 2
10. (a) 3x1 − x2 + 2x3 = 2

4x1 + 3x2 + 7x3 = −1
−2x1 + x2 + 5x3 = 4
(b) 3w − 2x + z=0
5w + 2y − 2z = 0
3w + x + 4y + 7z = 0
−2w + 5x + y + 6z = 0
   
a11 0 0 0 0 0 a11 a12 a13 a14 a15 a16
 0 a22 0 0 0 0 0 a22 a23 a24 a25 a26 
 
 
0 0 0 0 0
a  (b)  0 0 a33 a34 a35 a36 
33
 
11. (a) 
0

 0 0 a44 0 0  0
 0 0 a44 a45 a46 

0 0 0 0 a55 0  0 0 0 0 a55 a56 
0 0 0 0 0 a66 0 0 0 0 0 a66
   
a11 0 0 0 0 0 a11 a12 0 0 0 0
a21 a22 0 0 0 0 a22 a23 0 0 0
a21
 
 
a31 a32 a33 0 0 0 0 a32 a33 a34 0 0
(c) 
a41 a42 a43 a44 0 (d)  
 0 0
 0 a43 a44 a45 0 
a51 a52 a53 a54 a55 0  0 0 0 a54 a55 a56 
a61 a62 a63 a64 a65 a66 0 0 0 0 a65 a66
 
1 1 0
12. 1 −1 0
0 0 0

0 2 1 2
13. (a) True (b) True (c) False; for example, A = and B =
0 4 3 4

1 −1
(d) True (e) True (f) False; for example, A = (g) True (h) True
1 −1
1.4 Inverses; Rules of Matrix Arithmetic

In this section we shall discuss some properties of the arithmetic operations on matrices.
We shall see that many of the basic rules of arithmetic for real numbers also hold for
matrices, but a few do not.
Properties of Matrix Operations

For real numbers a and b, we always have ab = ba, which is called the commutative law
for multiplication. For matrices, however, AB and BA need not be equal.
Example 1.16.
Consider the matrices

1 0 1 2
A= , B=
2 3 3 4
Multiplying gives
1 2 5 6
AB = , BA =
11 16 11 16
Thus, AB 6= BA ♣
Theorem 1.2 (Properties of Matrices Arithmetic).
Let A, B, and C be matrices and a and b be scalars. Assume that the sizes of
the matrices are such that each operation is defined. Then
(a) A + B = B + A (Commutative law for addition)
(b) A + (B + C) = (A + B) + C (Associative law for addition)
(c) A(BC) = (AB) C (Associative law for multiplication)
(d) A(B + C) = AB + AC (Left distributive laws)
(e) (B + C)A = BA + CA (Right distributive laws)
(f) A(B − C) = AB − AC (g) (B − C)A = BA − CA
(h) a(B + C) = aB + aC (i) a(B − C) = aB − aC
(j) (a + b) C = aC + bC (k) (a − b) C = aC − bC
(l) (ab) C = a(b C) (m) a(BC) = (aB)C = B(aC)
Example 1.17.
Let
     
1 0 −1 −1 2 3 −2 1 1
A = 2 1 −1 , B= 0 1 0 , C= 1 1 0 
3 −2 0 −2 −1 0 3 0 −3
Find A(BC), (AB)C, A(B + C), and AB + AC.
Solution
Zero Matrices
Definition 1.12.
The matrix analog of the number 0 is called a zero matrix. A zero matrix,
denoted by 0, is a matrix of any sizes consisting of only zero entries.
For example, the matrices

   
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 , 0 0 0 0 ,

, and 0 0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0 0
are all zero matrices.

Since we already know that some of the rules of arithmetic for real number do not
carry over to matrix arithmetic. For example, consider the following two standard results
in the arithmetic of real numbers.
• If ab = ac and a 6= 0, then b = c. (This is called the cancellation law.)
• If ad = 0, then at least one of the factors on the left is 0
As the next example shows, the corresponding results are not generally true in matrix
arithmetic.
Example 1.18.

0 1 1 1 2 5 3 7
A= , B= , C= , D=
0 2 3 4 3 4 0 0
Then
3 4 0 0
AB = AC = and AD =
6 8 0 0
Thus, although A 6= 0, it is incorrect to cancel the A from both sides of the
equation AB = AC and write B = C. Also, AD = 0, yet A 6= 0 and D 6=
0. Thus, the cancellation law is not valid for matrix multiplication, and it is
possible for a product of matrices to be zero without either factor being zero.
♣
Theorem 1.3 (Properties of Zero Matrices).
Assuming that the sizes of the matrices are such that the indicated operations
can be performed, the following rules of matrix arithmetic are valid.
(a) A + 0 = 0 + A = A
(b) A − A = 0
(c) 0 − A = −A
(d) A0 = 0; 0A = 0
Identity Matrices
Of special interest are square matrices with 1’s on the main diagonal and 0’s off the main
diagonal, such as  
  1 0 0 0
1 0 0
1 0 0 1 0 0
, 0 1 0 ,  0 0 1 0 .

0 1
0 0 1
0 0 0 1
A matrix of this form is called an identity matrix and is denoted by I. If it is important
to emphasize the size, we shall write In for the n × n identity matrix.
The identity matrix is so named because it has the property that AIn = A and
Im A = A for any m × n matrix A. Thus it is the matrix analog of the number 1, the
multiplicative identity for numbers.
Example 1.19.

   
3 4 1 b11 b12
A =  2 6 3 and B = b21 b22 
0 1 8 b31 b32
Then     
1 0 0 3 4 1 3 4 1
I3 A = 0 1 0 2 6 3 = 2 6 3 = A
0 0 1 0 1 8 0 1 8
and    
b11 b12 b11 b12
1 0
BI2 = b21 b22  = b21 b22  = B ♣
0 1
b31 b32 b31 b32
Theorem 1.4.
If R is the reduced row-echelon form of an n × n matrix A, then either R has a

row of zeros or R is the identity matrix In .
Definition 1.13.
Let A be a square matrix. If there exist a matrix B such that AB = BA = I,

we say that A is invertible (or nonsingular) and that B is the inverse of A.
If A has no inverse, it is said to be noninvertible (or singular).
Example 1.20.

3 5 2 −5
Show that the matrix B = is an inverse of A = .
1 2 −1 3
Solution
Properties of Inverses
Theorem 1.5.
If B and C are both inverses of the matrix A, then B = C.
As a consequence of Theorem 1.5, we can say now speak of the inverse of an invertible
matrix. If A is invertible, then its inverse will be denoted by the symbol A−1 . Thus,
AA−1 = I and A−1 A = I

Theorem 1.6.
The matrix
a b
A=
c d
is invertible if ad − bc 6= 0, in which case the inverse is given by the formula
 
d b
1

d −b
−
=  ad −c bc ad − bc 

A−1 = a .
ad − bc −c a −
ad − bc ad − bc
Theorem 1.7.
If A and B are invertible matrices of the same dimension, then AB is invertible

and
(AB)−1 = B −1 A−1
Theorem 1.8.
If A1 , A2 , . . . , An are invertible matrices of the same dimension, then A1 A2 · · · An

is invertible and
(A1 A2 · · · An )−1 = A−1

n An−1 · · · A2 A1
−1 −1 −1
Example 1.21.

7 −3 4 1
Let A = and B = . Show that (AB)−1 = B −1 A−1 .
5 −2 3 1
Solution
Powers of a Matrix
Definition 1.14.
If A is a square matrix, then we define the nonnegative integer powers of A to

be
A0 = I An = AA
| {z· · · A} (n > 0)
n factors
Moreover, if A is invertible, then we define the negative integer powers to be
A−n = (A−1 )n = A
| A {z· · · A }
−1 −1 −1
n factors
Note In general, if A is a square matrix, and r and s are positive integers, we have
Ar As = Ar+s . It is also true that under the same condition, (Ar )s = Ars .
Example 1.22.

3 −2 1 2
Let A = and A =
−1
. Find the matrices A3 and A−3 .
−1 1 1 3
Solution
Theorem 1.9 (Laws of Exponents).
If A is invertible matrix, then:
(a) A−1 is invertible and (A−1 )−1 = A .
(b) An is invertible and (An )−1 = (A−1 )n for n = 0, 1, 2, . . ..
1 −1
(c) For any nonzero scalar k, the matrix kA is invertible and (kA)−1 = A .
k
Example 1.23.
−1
1 2 −1
If A = , then find A.
3 −5 3
Solution
Properties of the Transpose

Theorem 1.10.
If the sizes of the matrices are such that the state operations can be performed,
then
(a) (AT )T = A
(b) (A + B)T = AT + B T and (A − B)T = AT − B T
(c) (kA)T = kAT , where k is any scalar
(d) (AB)T = B T AT
Invertibility of a Transpose
Theorem 1.11.
If A is an invertible matrix, then AT is also invertible and
(AT )−1 = (A−1 )T .
Example 1.24.

−3 1
Let A = . Show that (AT )−1 = (A−1 )T .
5 −2
Solution
Exercise 1.4
1. Let    
1 −2 0 6 0 2
A = 3 5 −1 , B =  4 1 −1
2 3 4 −3 8 5
 
4 −5 3
C= 5  7 −2 , a = 3, b = −5
−3 2 −1
Show that
(a) A + (B + C) = (A + B) + C (b) (AB)C = A(BC)
(c) (a + b)C = aC + bC (d) a(B − C) = aB − aC
(e) a(BC) = (aB)C = B(aC) (f) A(B − C) = AB − AC
(g) (B + C)A = BA + CA (h) a(bC) = (ab)C
(i) (AT )T = A (j) (A + B)T = AT + B T
(k) (aC)T = aC T (l) (AB)T = B T AT
2. Let 0 denote a 2 × 2 matrix, each of whose entries is zero. Find
(a) 2 × 2 matrix A such that A 6= 0 and AA = 0 and

(b) 2 × 2 matrix A such that A 6= 0 and AA = A.
3. Use Theorem 1.6 to compute the inverses of the following matrices.

1 3 2 3
(a) A = (b) B =
2 −4 1 1

−4 −5 3 −7
(c) C = (d) D =
5 6 −6 13
4. Use the matrices A, B, and C in Exercise 3 to verify that
(a) (A−1 )−1 = A (b) (B T )−1 = (B −1 )T

(c) (AB)−1 = B −1 A−1 (d) (ABC)−1 = C −1 B −1 A−1

1 −1
5. Let A = . Find the power A2 and A3 .
−1 2
 
1 0 0
6. Let A = 2 1 0. Find the power A2 and A3 .
3 2 1

1 1
7. Let A = . Find a general formula for An .
0 1
8. In each part, use the given information to find A.

2 −1 −3 7
(a) A−1 = (b) (7A)−1 =
3 5 1 −2

−3 −1 −1 2
(c) (5AT )−1 = (d) (I + 2A)−1 =
5 2 4 5

cos θ sin θ
9. Find the inverse of .
− sin θ cos θ
1 x 1 x

(e + e−x
) (e − e−x
)
10. Find the inverse of 12 x 2 .
2
(e − e−x ) 12 (ex + e−x )
11. Consider the matrix  
a11 0 · · · 0
 0 a22 · · · 0 
 
A =  .. .. .. 
 . . . 
0 0 · · · ann
where a11 a22 · · · ann 6= 0. Show that A is invertible and find its inverse.
12. Let A, B, and 0 be 2 × 2 matrices. Assuming that A is invertible, find a matrix C

such that −1
A 0
C A−1
is the inverse of the partitioned matrix

A 0
B A
13. Use the result in Exercise 12 to find the inverses of the following matrices.
   
1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
−1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
(a) 
1
 (b)  
1 1 1 0 0 1 1
1 1 −1 1 0 0 0 1
14. (a) Find a nonzero 3 × 3 matrix A such that A is symmetric.

(b) Find a nonzero 3 × 3 matrix A such that A is skew-symmetric.
15. A square matrix A is called symmetric if AT = A and skew-symmetric if

AT = −A. Show that if B is a square matrix, then
(a) BB T and B + B T are symmetric,

(b) B − B T is skew-symmetric.
16. Indicate whether the statement is always true or sometimes false. Justify your
answer with a counterexample.
(a) (AB)2 = A2 B 2 , where A are B are n × n matrices.

(b) (A − B)2 = (B − A)2 , where A are B are n × n matrices.

(c) (A + B)(A − B) = A2 − B 2 , where A are B are n × n matrices.
(d) (AB −1 )(BA−1 ) = In , where A are B are n × n matrices.
(e) Let A and B be square matrices such that AB = 0. Show that if A is
invertible, then B = 0.
(f) If a square matrix A satisfies A2 − 3A + I = 0, then A−1 = 3I − A.
(g) If A and B are m × n matrices, then AB T and AT B are defined.
(h) If AB = BA and if A is invertible, then A−1 B = BA−1 .
(i) If AT is singular, then A is singular.
(j) A matrix with a row of zeros cannot have an inverse.
(k) A matrix with a column of zeros cannot have an inverse.
(l) If A is invertible and AB = AC, then B = C.
(m) Let A be an n × n matrix and let x and y be n × 1 matrices. If Ax = Ay and
x 6= y, then A is singular.
(n) If A is invertible and k is any nonzero scalar, then (kA)n = k n An for all
integer values of n.
(o) Sum of two invertible matrices is invertible.
(p) If AB is invertible, then B is invertible.

a b x y
(q) + is symmetric.
b a y x

0 1 1 0
2. (a) (b)
0 0 0 0
" #
2 3
5 10 −1 3 6 5
3. (a) A −1
= (b) B −1
= (c) C −1
=
1 1
− 10 1 −2 −5 −4
5
" #
− 13
3
− 37
(d) D −1 =
−2 −1

2 2 −3 3 5 −8
5. A = , A =
−3 5 −8 13
   
1 0 0 1 0 0
2 3 n 1 n
6. A = 4 1 0 , A = 6
   1 0  7. A =
0 1
10 4 1 21 6 1
" # " # " #
5 1 2
13 13 7
1 − 25 1
8. (a) A = 3 2
(b) A = 1 3 (c) A =
− 13 13 7 7
− 15 53
" #
9 1
− 13 13
(d) A = 2 6
13
− 13
1 x

cos θ − sin θ (e + e−x ) − 21 (ex − e−x )
9. 10 2
sin θ cos θ − 21 (ex − e−x ) 1 x
2
(e + e−x )
 1 
a11
0 ··· 0
0 1
 a22
··· 0 

11. A =  . . ..  12. C = −A−1 BA−1
 .. .. . 
1
0 0 ··· ann
 1

− 12 0 0  

2
 1 −1 0 0
1 1
0 0 
 (b) 0 1 0 0 
 2 2
 
13. (a)  1 0 0 1 −1
0
 0 2
− 12 

1 1 0 0 0 1
−1 0 2 2
   
1 2 3 0 −1 −1
14. (a) 2 1
 4 (b) 1 0 −1
3 4 5 1 1 0

0 1 1 2
16. (a) False; for example, A = and B = (b) True
0 2 3 4

0 1 1 2
(c) False; for example, A = and B = (d) True (e) True
0 2 3 4
(f) True (g) True (h) True (i) True (j) True (k) True (l) True (m) True

1 0 −1 0
(n) True (o) False; for example, A = and B = (p) True
0 1 0 −1
(q) True
1.5 Elementary Matrices and a Method for Finding

A−1
In this section we shall develop an algorithm for finding the inverse of an invertible
matrix. We shall also discuss some of the basic properties of invertible matrices.
Definition 1.15.
An n × n matrix is called an elementary matrix if it can be obtained from

the n × n identity matrix In by performing a single elementary row operation.
List below are three elementary matrices and the operations that produce them.

1 0
Multiply the second row of I2 by −5.
0 −5
 
1 0 0
0
0 0 0
1

0
 Interchange the second and fourth rows of I4 .
0 1
0
0 1 0
0
 
1 0 −2
0 1 0 Add −2 times the third row of I3 to the first row.
0 0 1
Theorem 1.12.
If the elementary matrix E results from performing a certain row operation on

Im and A is an m × n matrix, then the product EA is the matrix that results
when this same row operation is performed on A.
Example 1.25.
Let      
1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
E1 =  0 1 0 , E2 = 1 0 0 , E3 = 0 1 0
−4 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
and  
a b c
A = d e f 
g h i
Find the product E1 A, E2 A, and E3 A.
Solution
If an elementary row operation is applied to an identity matrix I to produce an

elementary matrix E, then there is a second row operation that, when applied to E,
produces I back again. For example, if E is obtained by multiplying the ith row of I
by a nonzero constant k, then I can be recovered if the ith row of E is multiplied by k1 .
The various possibilities are listed in the following table. The operations on the right
side of this table are called the inverse operations of the corresponding operations on
the left.
Row Operation on I Row Operation on E

That Produces E That Reproduces I
Multiply row i by k 6= 0 Multiply row i by k1
Interchange rows i and j Interchange rows i and j
Add k times row i to row j Add −k times row i to row j
Example 1.26.
In each of the following, an elementary row operation is applied to the 2 × 2

identity matrix to obtain an elementary matrix E, then E is restored to the
identity matrix by applying the inverse row operation.

1 0 1 0 1 0
−→ −→
0 1 0 3 0 1
↑ ↑
Multiply the Multiply the
second row by 3 second row by 13

1 0 0 1 1 0
−→ −→
0 1 1 0 0 1
↑ ↑
Interchange the first Interchange the first
and second rows and second rows

1 0 1 −7 1 0
−→ −→
0 1 0 1 0 1
↑ ↑
Add −7 times the Add −7 times the
second row to second row to
the first the first
The next theorem gives an important property of elementary matrices.
Theorem 1.13.
Every elementary matrix is invertible, and the inverse is also an elementary

matrix.
Theorem 1.14.
If A is an n × n matrix, then the following statements are equivalent, that is,

all true or all false.
(a) A is invertible.
(b) Ax = 0 has only the trivial solution.
(c) The reduced row-echelon form of A is In .
(d) A is expressible as a product of elementary matrices.
By Theorem 1.14 (c), we can find elementary matrices E1 , E2 , . . ., Ek−1 , Ek such

that
Ek Ek−1 · · · E2 E1 A = In (1.10)
By Theorem 1.13, E1 , E2 , . . ., Ek−1 , Ek are invertible. Multiplying both sides of
Equation (1.10) on the left successively by Ek−1 , Ek−1
−1
, . . ., E2−1 , E1−1 we obtain
A = E1−1 E2−1 · · · Ek−1
−1
Ek−1 In = E1−1 E2−1 · · · Ek−1
−1
Ek−1
By Theorem 1.13, this equation expresses A as a product of elementary matrices.
Row Equivalence
If a matrix B can be obtained from a matrix A by performing a finite sequence of
elementary row operations, then obviously we can get from B back to A by performing
the inverses of these elementary row operations in reverse order. Matrices that can be
obtained from one another by a finite sequence of elementary row operations are said to
be row equivalent.
In other words, a matrix B is row equivalent to A if there exists a finite sequence E1 ,
E2 , . . ., Ek−1 , Ek of elementary matrices such that
B = Ek Ek−1 · · · E2 E1 A.
Example 1.27.
Let  
1 2 −3
A = 1 −2 1  .
5 −2 −3
Find the elementary matrices E1 , E2 , . . ., Ek−1 , Ek such that
Ek Ek−1 · · · E2 E1 A = Ar
where Ar is the reduced row-echelon form of A.
Solution
A Method for Inverting Matrices

As our first application of Theorem 1.14, we shall establish a method for determining
the inverse of an invertible matrix. Multiplying (1.10) on the right by A−1 yields
(Ek Ek−1 · · · E2 E1 A)A−1 = In A−1

Ek Ek−1 · · · E2 E1 In = A−1
which tells us that A−1 can be obtained by multiplying In successively on the left by the
elementary matrices E1 , E2 , . . ., Ek−1 , Ek . Since each multiplication on the left by one
of these elementary matrices performs a row operation, it follow that the sequence of row
operations that reduces A to In will reduce In to A−1 . Thus we have the following result:
To find the inverse of an invertible matrix A we must find a sequence of

elementary row operations that reduces A to identity and then perform
this sequence of operation on In to obtain A−1
To accomplish this we shall adjoint the identity matrix to the right side of A, thereby
producing a matrix of the form
[A | I].
Then we shall apply row operations to this matrix until the left side is reduced to I;
these operations will convert the right side to A−1 , so the final matrix will have the form
[I | A−1 ]
Example 1.28.
 
1 −2 1
Find the inverse of A = 2 −5 2 .
3 2 −1
Solution
Often it will not be known in advance whether a given matrix is invertible. If an n×n
matrix A is not invertible,then it cannot be reduced to In by elementary row operation
part (c) of Theorem 1.14 . Stated another way, the reduced row-echelon form of A has
at least one row of zeros. Thus, if the procedure in the last example is attempted on a
matrix that is not invertible, then at some point in the computations a row of zeros will
occur on the left side. It can then be concluded that the given matrix is not invertible,
and the computations can be stopped.
Example 1.29.
 
1 3 4
Let A be the matrix −2 −5 −3. Determine whether A is invertible.
1 4 9
Solution
Example 1.30.
 
1 −2 1
In Example 1.28 we show that A = 2 −5 2  is an invertible matrix. From
3 2 −1
Theorem 1.14, it follows that the homogeneous system
x1 − 2x2 + x3 = 0
2x1 − 5x2 + 2x3 = 0
3x1 + 2x2 − x3 = 0
has only the trivial solution. ♣
Exercise 1.5
1. Which of the following are elementary matrices?

 
1 0 0
0 1 −3 1 1 √0
(a) (b) (c) (d) 0 1 0
1 0 1 0 0 2
  5 0 1
    2 0 0 2
1 1 0 0 1 0  0 1 0 0
(e) 0 0 1 (f) 1 0 0 (g) 

 0 0 1 0

0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 1
2. Find a row operation that will restore the given elementary matrix to an identity
matrix.
 
1 0 0
1 0
(a) (b) 0 1 0
−3 1
0 0 5
   
1 0 0 0 1 0 − 14 0
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
(c) 
0
 (d)  
0 1 0 0 0 1 0
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
3. For each of the following pairs of matrices, find an elementary matrix E such that
EA = B.

2 −1 −4 2
(a) A = B =
5 3 5 3
   
2 1 3 2 1 3
(b) A = −2 4 5 B = 3 1
 4
3 1 4 −2 4 5
   
4 −2 3 4 −2 3
(c) A =  1 0 2 B = 1 0 2
−2 3 1 0 3 5
   
3 4 1 3 4 1
(d) A = 2 −7 −1 B = 2 −7 −1
2 −7 3 8 1 5
4. Given      
1 2 4 1 2 4 1 2 4
A = 2 1 3 , B = 2 1 3 , C = 0 −1 −3
1 0 2 2 2 6 2 2 6
(a) Find an elementary matrix E such that EA = B.
(b) Find an elementary matrixF such that F B = C.
(c) Is C row equivalent to A? Explain.
5. Given  
2 1 1
A = 6 4 5
4 1 3
Find elementary matrices E1 , E2 , E3 such that
E3 E2 E1 A = U
where U is an upper triangular matrix.

6. Use the method shown in Example 1.28 and Example 1.29 to find the inverse of
the given matrix if the matrix is invertible.

1 4 −3 6 6 −4
(a) (b) (c)
2 7 4 5 −3 2
     
1 0 1 1 1 1 2 0 5
(d) 3 3 4 (e) 0 1 1 (f) 0 3 0
2 2 3 0 0 1 1 0 3
  1 1 2
  √ √ 
2 1 4 5 5
− 5 √2 3√ 2 0
(g) 3 2 5 (h)  51 15 1 
10 (i) −4 2 2 0
1 4 1
0 −1 1 5
− 5 10 0 0 1
     
1 0 0 0 −8 17 2 13 0 0 2 0
1 3 0 0  4 0 2 −9 1 0 0 1 
(j) 
1 3 5 0
 (k) 
0 0 0 0
5  (l) 
0 −1 3 0 

1 3 5 7 −1 13 4 2 2 1 5 −3
7. Find all values of a such that the following matrices are invertible:
 
1 a 0
2 a
(a) A = (b) A = −1 0 1
3 4
0 1 1
8. Given
3 1 1 2
A= and B =
5 2 3 4
compute A−1 and use it to:
(a) Find a 2 × 2 matrix X such that AX = B.

(b) Find a 2 × 2 matrix Y such that Y A = B.
9. Consider the matrix

1 0
A=
−5 2
(a) Find elementary matrices E1 and E2 such that E2 E1 A = I.
(b) Write A−1 as a product of two elementary matrices.
(c) Write A as a product of two elementary matrices.
10. Express the matrix  

0 1 7 8
A= 1 3 3 8
−2 −5 1 −8
in the form A = EF GR, where E, F , and G are elementary matrices and R is in
row-echelon form.
11. Consider the following given matrix A. Find elementary matrices E1 , E2 , . . ., Ek−1 ,
Ek such that Ek Ek−1 · · · E2 E1 A = Ar where Ar is the reduced row-echelon form of
A.
   
1 0 2 2 0 2 4
(a) 0 1 0 (b) 1 1 2 −1
0 0 3 0 0 2 4
 
  1 1 −1 −1
0 0 1 1 2 0 0 2
(c) 1 2 0 0 (d) 
0 0 0

3
3 0 0 1
2 2 −2 −2
12. Indicate whether the statement is always true or sometimes false.
(a) Every square matrix can be expressed as a product of elementary matrices.

(b) The product of two elementary matrices is an elementary matrix.
(c) If A is invertible and a multiple of the first row of A is added to the second
row, then the resulting matrix is invertible.
(d) If A is invertible and AB = 0, then it must be true that B = 0.
(e) If A is a singular n × n matrix, then Ax = 0 has infinitely many solutions.
(f) If A is a singular n × n matrix, then the reduced row-echelon from of A has

at least one row of zeros.
(g) If A−1 is expressible as a product of elementary matrices, then the homoge-
neous linear system Ax = 0 has only the trivial solution.
1. (a), (c), (d), (f) 2. (a) r2 + 3r1 (b) 5 r3 (c) r2 ↔ r4 (d) r1 + 14 r3

     
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
−2 0
3. (a) (b) 0 0 1 (c) 0 1 0 (d) 0 1 0
0 1
0 1 0 0 2 1 2 0 1
   
1 0 0 1 0 0
4. (a) E = 0 1 0
  (b) F = 0 1 −1
1 0 1 0 0 1
     
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
5. E1 = −3 1 0 , E2 = 0 1
   0 , E3 = 0 1 0
0 0 1 −2 0 1 0 1 1
" #  
5
− 39 13 2 1 2 −3
−7 4
6. (a) (b) (c) Not invertible (d) −1 1 −1
2 −1 4 1
39 13 0 −2 3
     
1 −1 0 3 0 −5 −7 5 3
1
(e) 0 1 −1
  (f) 0 3 0
  (g) 3 −2 −2

0 0 1 −1 0 2 3 −2 −1
√ √   
  2 −3 2 1 0 0 0
1 3 1 0 − 1 1
 426√ 26
√  0 0
(h) 0 1 −1
  (i)  2 2
0  (j)  3
 0 −
3
1 1

26 26 0
−2 2 0 0 0 1
5 5
0 0 − 17 71
 4 3 1 1

−5 5 5 5
 3 0 −1 0 
(k) Not invertible (l)  2
 1 0 0

2
0 
4 2
5 5
− 15 − 15

8 −1 0 −8 5
7. (a) a 6= 3 (b) a 6= 1 8. (a) (b)
4 2 −14 9

1 0 1 0
9. (a) E1 = , E2 = (b) A−1 = E2 E1 (c) A = E1−1 E2−1
5 1 0 12
    
0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 3 8
10. 1 0 0  0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 8
0 0 1 −2 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
   
1 0 0 1 0 −2
11. (a) E1 = 0 1 0 , E2 = 0 1 0 
0 0 13 0 0 1
1     
2
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
(b) E1 =  0 1 0, E2 = −1 1 0, E3 = 0 1 0 ,
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 21
   
1 0 −1 1 0 0
E4 = 0 1 0 , E5 = 0 1 −1
0 0 1 0 0 1
     
0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
(c) E1 = 1 0 0, E2 =  0 1 0, E3 = 0 0 1,
0 0 1 −3 0 1 0 1 0
   
1 0 0 1 −2 0
1
E4 = 0 − 6 0 , E5 = 0 1 0
  
0 0 1 0 0 1
     
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 00
−2 1 0 0  0 1 0 0 0 − 21 0
0
 0 0 1 0, E2 =  0 0 1 0, E3 = 0
(d) E1 =      
0 1
0
0 0 0 1 −2 0 0 1 0 0 10
     
1 −1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 −1 0
 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0, E5 = 0 0 1 0, E6 = 0 0
E4 =      ,
3
1 0
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
 
1 0 0 0
 0 1 2 0
E7 = 
 0 0 1 0

0 0 0 1
12. (a) False (b) True (c) True (d) True (e) True (f) True (g) True
1.6 Further Results on Systems of Equations and

Invertibility
A Basic Theorem
Theorem 1.15.
Every system of linear equations has no solutions, or has exactly one solutions,
or has infinitely many solutions.
Solving Linear Systems by Matrix Inversion

So far, we have studied two methods for solving linear system: Gaussian elimination and
Gauss-Jordan elimination. The following theorem provides a new method for solving
certain linear systems.
Theorem 1.16.
If A is an invertible n × n matrix, then for each n × 1 matrix b, the system of

equations Ax = b has exactly one solution, namely, x = A−1 b.
Example 1.31.
Solve the system
x1 − 2x2 + x3 = 7
2x1 − 5x2 + 2x3 = 6
3x1 + 2x2 − x3 = 1
Solution
Remark Note that the method of Example 1.31 applies only when the system has as
many equations as unknowns, and the coefficient matrix is invertible. This method is less
efficient, computationally, than Gaussian elimination, but it is important in the analysis
of equations involving matrices.
Linear Systems with a Common Coefficient Matrix

Frequently, one is concerned with solving a sequence of systems
Ax = b1 , Ax = b2 , Ax = b3 , . . . , Ax = bk
each of which has the same square coefficient matrix A. If A is invertible, then the
solutions
x1 = A−1 b1 , x2 = A−1 b2 , x3 = A−1 b3 , . . . , xk = A−1 bk
can be obtained with one matrix inversion and k matrix multiplications. Once again,
however, a more efficient method is to form the matrix
[ A | b1 | b2 | · · · | bk ] (1.11)
in which the coefficient matrix A is “augmented” by all k of the matrices and then reduce
(1.11) to reduced row-echelon form by Gauss-Jordan elimination. In this way we can
solve all k systems at once. This method has the added advantage that it applies even
when A is not invertible.
Example 1.32.
Solve the systems
(a) 2x1 − 4x2 = −10

x1 − 3x2 + x4 = −4
x1 − x3 + 2x4 = 4
3x1 − 4x2 + 3x3 − x4 = −11
(b) 2x1 − 4x2 = −8

x1 − 3x2 + x4 = −2
x1 − x3 + 2x4 = 9
3x1 − 4x2 + 3x3 − x4 = −15
Solution
Properties of Invertible Matrices

Up to now, to show that an n × n matrix A is invertible, it has been necessary to find
an n × n matrix B such that
AB = I and BA = I
The next theorem shows that if we produce an n×n matrix B satisfying either condition,
then the other condition holds automatically.
Theorem 1.17.
Let A be a square matrix.
(a) If B is a square matrix satisfying BA = I, then B = A−1 .
(b) If B is a square matrix satisfying AB = I, then B = A−1 .
Theorem 1.18 (Equivalent Statements).
If A is an n × n matrix, then the following are equivalent.
(a) A is invertible.
(b) Ax = 0 has only the trivial solution.
(c) The reduced row-echelon form of A is In .
(d) A is expressible as a product of elementary matrices.
(e) Ax = b is consistent for every n × 1 matrix b.
(f) Ax = b has exactly one solution for every n × 1 matrix b.
Theorem 1.19.
Let A and B be square matrices of the same size. If AB is invertible, then A

and B must also be invertible.
The following fundamental problem will occur frequently in various contexts.
A Fundamental Problem: Let A be a fixed m × n matrix. Find all

m × 1 matrices b such that the system of equations Ax = b is consistent.
If A is an invertible matrix, Theorem 1.16 completely solves this problem by asserting

that for every m × 1 matrix b, the linear system Ax = b has the unique solution
x = A−1 b. If A is not square, or if A is square but not invertible, then Theorem 1.16
does not apply. In this case the matrix b must usually satisfy certain conditions in order
for Ax = b to be consistent.
Example 1.33.
What conditions must b1 , b2 , and b3 satisfy in order for the system of equations
x1 + x2 + 2x3 = b1
x1 + x3 = b2
2x1 + x2 + 3x3 = b3
to be consistent?
Solution
Example 1.34.
What conditions must b1 , b2 , and b3 satisfy in order for the system of equations
x1 − 2x2 + x3 = b1
2x1 − 5x2 + 2x3 = b2
3x1 + 2x2 − x3 = b3
to be consistent?
Solution
Exercise 1.6
1. Solve the following system by inverting the coefficient matrix and using Theo-
rem 1.16.
(a) x1 + x2 = 2 (b) 2x1 − x2 = 8
5x1 + 6x2 = 9 6x1 − 5x2 = 32
(c) 5x1 + 3x2 + 2x3 = 4 (d) y+ z= 6

3x1 + 3x2 + 2x3 = 2 3x − y + z = −7
x2 + x3 = 5 x + y − 3z = −13
(e) − x − 2y − 3z =0 (f) x1 + 2x2 − 3x3 = 8

w + x + 4y + 4z =7 2x1 + 5x2 − 6x3 = 17
w + 3x + 7y + 9z =4 −x1 − 2x2 + x3 − x4 = −8
−w − 2x − 4y − 6z =6 4x1 + 10x2 − 9x3 + x4 = 33
2. Solve the following general system by inverting the coefficient matrix and using
Theorem 1.16.
x1 + 2x2 + x3 = b1
x1 − x2 + x3 = b2
x1 + x2 = b3
Use the resulting formulas to find the solution if

(a) b1 = −1, b2 = 3, b3 = 4 (b) b1 = 5, b2 = 0, b3 = 0
(c) b1 = −1, b2 = −1, b3 = 3

3. Use the method of Example 1.32 to solve the systems in all part simultaneously.
(a) x1 − 5x2 = b1 (b) x1 − 2x2 = b1

3x1 + 2x2 = b2 3x1 + x2 = b2
i. b1 = 1, b2 = 4 i. b1 = −3, b2 = 12
ii. b1 = −2, b2 = 5 ii. b1 = −2, b2 = 1
iii. b1 = −3, b2 = 9
(c) 4x1 − 7x2 = b1 (d) 2x1 − x2 + x3 = b1

x1 + 2x2 = b2 −2x1 + x2 − 3x3 = b2
4x1 − 3x2 + x3 = b3
i. b1 = 0, b2 = 1
ii. b1 = −4, b2 = 6 i. b1 = 1, b2 = −5, b3 = 5
iii. b1 = −1, b2 = 3 ii. b1 = 1, b2 = −3, b3 = 1
iv. b1 = −5, b2 = 1 iii. b1 = 8, b2 = −14, b3 = 14
4. Solve the systems in both parts at the same time.
(a) x1 − 2x2 + 2x3 = −2 (b) x1 − 2x2 + 2x3 = 1

2x1 − 5x2 + x3 = 1 2x1 − 5x2 + x3 = −1
3x1 − 7x2 + 2x3 = −1 3x1 − 7x2 + 2x3 = 0
5. Find conditions that the b’s must satisfy for the system to be consistent.
(a) 6x1 − 4x2 = b1 (b) x1 − 2x2 + 5x3 = b1

3x1 − 2x2 = b2 4x1 − 5x2 + 8x3 = b2
−3x1 + 3x2 − 3x3 = b3
(c) x1 − x2 + 3x3 + 2x4 = b1

−2x1 + x2 + 5x3 + x4 = b2
−3x1 + 2x2 + 2x3 − x4 = b3
4x1 − 3x2 + 3x3 + 3x4 = b4
6. Solve the following matrix equation for X.
   
1 −1 1 2 −1 5 7 8
2 3 0  X = 4 0 −3 0 1
0 2 −1 3 5 −7 2 1
7. In each part, determine whether the homogeneous system has a nontrivial solution
(without using pencil and paper); then state whether the given matrix is invertible.
 
(a) 3x1 − 2x2 + x3 + x4 =0 3 −2 1 1
4x2 + 5x3 − 2x4 =0 0 4 5 −2
 
x3 − 3x4 =0 0 0 1 −3
2x4 =0 0 0 0 2
 
(b) 4x1 + 3x2 − x3 + 2x4 =0 4 3 −1 2
3x3 − x4 =0 0
 0 3 −1
x3 + 5x4 =0 0 0 1 5
9x4 =0 0 0 0 9
1. (a) x1 = 3, x2 = −1 (b) x1 = 2, x2 = −4
(c) x1 = 1, x2 = −11, x3 = 16 (d) x = −3, y = 2, z = 4
(e) w = −6, x = 1, y = 10, z = −7
(f) x1 = 3, x2 = 1, x3 = −1, x4 = 2
16
2. (a) x1 = 3
, x2 = − 34 , x3 = − 11
3
(b) x1 = − 53 , x2 = 35 , x3 = 10
3
(c) x1 = 3, x2 = 0, x3 = −4
22 1 21 11
3. (a) i. x1 = 17
, x2 = 17
ii. x1 = 17
, x2 = 17
(b) i. x1 = −1, x2 = 1 ii. x1 = 2, x2 = −5 iii. x1 = 3, x2 = 0
7 4 34 28 19 13
(c) i. x1 = 15
, x2 = 15 ii. x1 = 15
, x2 = 15
iii. x1 = 15
, x2 = 15
iv. x1 = − 15 , x2 = 53
(d) i. x1 = −3, x2 = −5, x3 = 2 ii. x1 = 0, x2 = 0, x3 = 1
iii. x1 = 2, x2 = −1, x3 = 3
4. (a) x1 = −12 − 3t, x2 = −5 − t, x3 = t

(b) x1 = 7 − 3t, x2 = 3 − t, x3 = t
5. (a) b1 = 2b2 (b) b1 = b2 + b3 (c) b1 = b3 + b4 , b2 = 2b3 + b4

 
11 12 −3 27 26
6. X =  −6 −8 1 −18 −17
−15 −21 9 −38 −35
7. (a) Only the trivial solution x1 = x2 = x3 = x4 = 0; invertible

(b) Infinitely many solutions; no invertible
1.7 LU-Decompositions
With Gaussian elimination and Gauss-Jordan elimination, a linear system is solved by
operating systematically on an augmented matrix. In this section we shall discuss a
different organization of this approach, one based on factoring the coefficient matrix into
a product of lower and upper triangular matrices.
Solving Linear Systems by Factoring

We shall proceed in two stages. First, we shall show how a linear system Ax = b can be
solved very easily once the coefficient matrix A is factored into a product of lower and
upper triangular matrices. Second, we shall show how to construct such factorizations.
If an n × n matrix A can be factored into a product of n × n matrices as
A = LU
where L is lower triangular and U is upper triangular, then the linear system Ax = b
can be solved as follows:
Step 1. Rewrite the system Ax = b as
LUx = b (1.12)
Step 2. Define a new n × 1 matrix y by
Ux = y (1.13)
Step 3. Use (1.13) to rewrite (1.12) as Ly = b and solve this system for y.
Step 4. Substitute y in (1.13) and solve for x.
The following example illustrates this procedure.

Example 1.35.
Given the factorization

    1 3 
2 1 3 2 0 0 1 2 2
4 1 7  = 4 −1 0
  0 1 −1
−6 −2 −12 −6 1 −2 0 0 1
use this result and the method described above to solve the system
    
2 1 3 x1 −1
4 1 7   x2 = 5 
 
−6 −2 −12 x3 −2
Solution
LU-Decompositions
We now turn to the problem of constructing such factorizations. To motivate the method,
suppose that an n × n matrix A has been reduced to a row-echelon form U by Gaussian
elimination—that is, by a certain sequence of elementary row operations. By Theo-
rem 1.12 each of these operations can be accomplished by multiplying on the left by an
appropriate elementary matrix. Thus there are elementary matrices E1 , E2 , . . . , Ek such
that
Ek · · · E2 E1 A = U (1.14)
By Theorem 1.13, E1 , E2 , . . . , Ek are invertible, so we can multiply both sides of Equa-
tion (1.14) on the left successively by
Ek−1 , . . . , E2−1 , E1−1
to obtain
A = E1−1 E2−1 · · · Ek−1 U (1.15)
We can show that the matrix L defined by
L = E1−1 E2−1 · · · Ek−1 (1.16)
is lower triangular provided that no row interchanges are used in reducing A to U.

Substituting (1.16) into (1.15) yields
A = LU
which is a factorization of A into a product of a lower triangular matrix and an upper

triangular matrix.
The following theorem summarizes the above result.
Theorem 1.20.
If A is a square matrix that can be reduced to a row-echelon form U by Gaussian

elimination without row interchange, then A can be factored as A = LU, where
L is a lower triangular matrix.
Definition 1.16.
A factorization of a square matrix A as A = LU, where L is lower triangular

and U is upper triangular, is called an LU-decomposition or triangular
decomposition of the matrix A.
Example 1.36.
Find an LU-decomposition of
 
2 1 3
A= 4 1 7 
−6 −2 −12
Solution To obtain an LU-decomposition, A = LU, we shall reduce A to a row-echelon

form U using Gaussian elimination and then calculate L from (1.16). The steps are as
follows:
Elementary Matrix
Reduction to Corresponding to Inverse of the
Row-Echelon Form the Row Operation Elementary Matrix
 
2 1 3
4 1 7 
−6 −2 −12 1   
0 0
2
2 0 0
Step 1 E1 =  0 1 0 E1−1 = 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 1
 1 3

1 2 2
4 1 7 
−6 −2 −12    
1 0 0 1 0 0
Step 2 E2 = −4 1 0 E2−1 = 4 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 1
 1 3

1 2 2
 0 −1 1 
−6 −2 −12    
1 0 0 1 0 0
Step 3 E3 = 0 1 0 E3−1 =  0 1 0
6 0 1 −6 0 1
 
1 21 3
2
0 −1 1 
0 1 −3
   
1 0 0 1 0 0
Step 4 E4 = 0 −1 0 E4−1 = 0 −1 0
0 0 1 0 0 1
 1 3 
1 2 2
0 1 −1
0 1 −3
Elementary Matrix
Reduction to Corresponding to Inverse of the
Row-Echelon Form the Row
 Operation Elementary
 Matrix

1 0 0 1 0 0
Step 5 E5 = 0 1 0 E5−1 = 0 1 0
0 −1 1 0 1 1
 1 3 
1 2 2
0 1 −1
0 0 −2    
1 0 0 1 0 0
Step 6 E6 = 0 1 0  E6−1 = 0 1 0 
0 0 − 12 0 0 −2
 1 3 
1 2 2
0 1 −1
0 0 1
Thus  
1 12 23
U = 0 1 −1
0 0 1
and, from (1.16),
      
2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
L = 0 1 0 4 1 0  0 1 0 0 −1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 
0 0 1 0 0 1 −6 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 −2
 
2 0 0
=  4 −1 0 
−6 1 −2
so     1 3 
2 1 3 2 0 0 1 2 2
4 1 7  =  4 −1 0  0 1 −1
−6 −2 −12 −6 1 −2 0 0 1
is an LU-decomposition of A. ♣
Procedure for Finding LU-Decompositions

As this example shows, most of the work in constructing an LU-decomposition is ex-
pended in the calculation of L. However, all this work can be eliminated by some
careful bookkeeping of the operations used to reduce A to U. Because we are assuming
that no row interchanges are required to reduce A to U, there are only two types of
operations involved:
• multiplying a row by a nonzero constant, and
• adding a multiple of one row to another.

The first operation is used to introduce the leading 1’s and the second to introduce zeros
below the leading 1’s.
In Example 1.36, the multiplier needed to introduce the leading 1’s in successive rows
were as follows:
1
2
for the first row
−1 for the second row
− 12 for the third row
Note that in (1.17), the successive diagonal entries in L were precisely the reciprocals of
these multipliers:  
2 0 0
L =  4 −1 0  (1.17)
−6 1 −2
Next, observe that to introduce zeros below the leading 1 in the first row, we used the
operations
add −4 times the first row to the second
add 6 times the first row to the third
and to introduce the zero below the leading 1 in the second row, we used the operation
add −1 times the the second to the third
Now note in (1.18) that in each position below diagonal of L, the entry is the negative
of the multiplier in the operation that introduced the zero in that position in U:
 
2 0 0
L =  4 −1 0  (1.18)
−6 1 −2
Therefore, we have the following procedure for constructing an LU-decomposition of

a square matrix A provided that A can be reduced to row-echelon form without row
interchanges.
Step 1 Reduce A to a row-echelon form U by Gaussian elimination without row inter-

changes, keeping track of the multiplier used to introduce the leading 1’s.
Step 2 In each position along the main diagonal of L, place the reciprocal of the mul-
tiplier that introduced the leading 1 in that position of U.
Step 3 In each position below the main diagonal of L, place the negative of the multi-
plier used to introduce the zero in that position in U.
Example 1.37.
 
2 4 2
Find an LU-decomposition of A = 1 5 2.
4 −1 9
Solution
Example 1.38.
 
6 −2 0
Find an LU-decomposition of A = 9 −1 1.
3 7 5
Solution
Exercise 1.7
1. Use the method of Example 1.35 and the LU-decomposition

3 −6 3 0 1 −2
=
−2 5 −2 1 0 1
to solve the system
3x1 − 6x2 = 0
−2x1 + 5x2 = 1
2. Use the method of Example 1.35 and the LU-decomposition

    
2 6 2 2 0 0 1 3 1
−3 −8 0 = −3 1 0 0 1 3
4 9 2 4 −3 7 0 0 1
to solve the system
2x1 + 6x2 + 2x3 = 2

−3x1 − 8x2 = 2
4x1 + 9x2 + 2x3 = 3
3. Find an LU-decomposition of the following coefficient matrix; then use the method
of Example 1.35 to solve the system.
    
2 −2 −2 x1 −4
2 8 x1 −2
(a) = (b) 0 −2 2
  x2 = −2
 
−1 −1 x2 −2
−1 5 2 x3 6
         
5 5 10 x1 0 1 2 3 x1 0
(c) −8 −7 −9 x2  = 1 (d) 2 9 6  x2  = 10
0 4 26 x3 4 3 2 10 x3 7
         
1 2 1 x1 4 1 −2 1 x1 2
(e) 2 −1 −1
   x2 = 1
  (f) 2
 1 −1   x2 = 1 
 
1 1 3 x3 0 −3 1 −2 x3 −5
    
−1 0 1 0 x1 5
2 3 −2 6  x2  −1
 0 −1 2 0 x3  =  3 
(g)     
0 0 1 5 x4 7
    
1 −2 0 3 x1 11
−2 3 1 −6 x2  −21
   
−1 4 −4 3  x3  =  −1 
(h) 
5 −8 4 0 x4 23
4. Let  
2 1 −1
A = −2 −1 2 
2 1 0
Find an LU-decomposition of A.
1. x1 = 2, x2 = 1 2. x1 = 2, x2 = −1, x3 = 2
3. (a) x1 = 3, x2 = −1 (b) x1 = −1, x2 = 1, x3 = 0 (c) x1 = −1, x2 = 1, x3 = 0

(d) x1 = −49, x2 = 2, x3 = 15 (e) x1 = 1, x2 = 2, x3 = −1
(f) x1 = −49, x2 = 0, x3 = 1 (g) x1 = −3, x2 = 1, x3 = 2, x4 = 1
(h) x1 = 3, x2 = −1, x3 = 0, x4 = 2
  
2 0 0 1 12 − 21
4. A = LU = −2 1 0 0 0 1 
2 1 1 0 0 0

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Stnote131 219 ch1

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Chapter 1

Systems of Linear Equations and

1.1 Systems of Linear Equations

Find the solution set of (a) 5x − 2y = 3 and (b) x1 − 3x2 + 4x3 = 2.

a1 x + b1 y = c1 (a1 , b1 not both zero)

(a) No solution (b) One solution (c) Infinitely many solutions

An arbitrary system of m linear equations in n unknowns can be written as

a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn = b1

a11 x1 + a12 x2 + a13 x3 + a14 x4 = b1

1. Which of the following are linear equations in x1 , x2 and x3 ?

(e) 2x1 − sin x2 = 3 (f) x1 + x2 + x3 = 1

(a) 3x1 − 2x2 = −1 (b) 2x1 + 2x3 = 1

(c) x1 = 1 (d) x1 + 2x2 − x4 + x5 = 1

(b) Show that

is also the general solution of the equation in part (a).

Answer to Exercise 1.1

1. (a), (c), (f)

6. (a) x − 2y = 5 (b) Let x = t; then t − 2y = 5. Solving for y yields y = 21 t − 52 .

7. (a) The line have no common point of intersection.

1.2 Elementary Operations

2. Interchange of two equations, say the i th and j th. This is denoted by ri ↔ rj .

3. Add α times the i th equation to the j th equation. This is denoted by rj + α ri .

1. Multiply any row by a nonzero constant: α ri .

2. Interchange of two rows: ri ↔ rj .

3. Add a multiple of one row to another: rj + α ri .

Solve the following system by using elementary row operations.

Multiply the second equation Multiply the second row

Multiply the third equation Multiply the third row

The solution x = 1, y = 2, z = 3 is now evident. ♣

The following matrices are in reduced row-echelon form.

The following matrices are in row-echelon form.

Solve by Gauss-Jordan elimination.

x1 + 3x2 − 2x3 + 2x5 = 0

by Gaussian elimination and back-substitution.

Homogeneous Linear Systems

a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn = 0

• The system has only the trivial solution.

a1 x + b1 y = 0 (a1 , b1 not both zero)

There is one case in which a homogeneous system is assured of having nontrivial

Solve the following homogeneous system of linear equations by using Gauss-

A homogeneous system of linear equations with more unknowns than equations

1. Which of the following 3 × 3 matrices are in reduced row-echelon form?

5. Find the reduced row-echelon form of B when

(a) x1 + x2 + 2x3 = 8 (b) 2x1 + 2x2 + 2x3 = 0

(g) x − y + 2z − w = −1 (h) 3x1 + 2x2 − x3 = −15

(i) x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 = 0 (j) 10y − 4z + w = 1

9. Determine which of the following homogeneous systems have nontrivial solutions.

(a) 2x1 − 3x2 + 4x3 − x4 = 0 (b) x1 + 3x2 − x3 = 0

(c) a11 x1 + a12 x2 + a13 x3 = 0 (d) 3x1 − 2x2 = 0

(a) 2x1 + x2 + 3x3 = 0 (b) 3x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 = 0

(c) −x1 + x2 − x3 + 3x4 = 0 (d) − 21 x1 + 13 x2 + 21 x3 = 0

For what values of α will the system have a unique solution?

12. Consider a linear system whose augmented matrix is of the form

(a) Is it possible for the system to be consistent? Explain.

13. Consider a linear system whose augmented matrix is of the form

14. Solve the system

for x1 , x2 , and x3 in the two cases λ = 1, λ = 2.

Answer to Exercise 1.2

1.3 Matrices and Matrix Operations

Matrix Notation and Terminology

A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers, each of which is called an entry

and a general m × n matrix as

When compactness of notation is desired, the preceding matrix can be written as