Matrices and Matrix Operations

Definition: A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers. The numbers in the array are called the
entries in the matrix.

If a matrix with rows (horizontal lines) and columns (vertical lines), then the size of is
or is an matrix.
We will use to denote the entry in the row and column, so, can be written as

or simply

If then is said to be a square matrix of order in this case the entries

are said to be on the main diagonal of
A matrix with only one column is called a column matrix (or a column vector).
A matrix with only one row is called a row matrix (or a row vector).
A matrix, all of whose entries are zero is called a zero matrix, denoted by .

Example:

is a column matrix .

Definition: Two matrices and are equal (written ) if

for and

Definition: If and are two matrices, then their sum is the

matrix and their difference is the matrix

Definition: If is an matrix and is a scalar, then the product is the matrix

obtained by multiplying each entry of by .
Example: If and then

Definition: If is an matrix and is an matrix, then the product

is the matrix given by where
(The number columns of is equal to the number of rows of )

Example: If and then

are undefined.

Definition: If is a square matrix, then for any positive integer

( times)
Remark: for any positive integers