1.

5 Determinants of Square Matrices I

1.5.1 Computing second-order determinants

Given a square matrix, A, we can associate with A a unique scalar

called the determinant of A.
The notation jAj or det(A) is used to denote the determinant of A.
Let
a11 a12
A= .
a21 a22
Then
jAj = (a11 a22 ) (a12 a21 ).
That is, the determinant of a 2x2 matrix is the product of the
diagonal elements minus the product of the o¤-diagonal
elements.

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices II
1.5.1 Computing second-order determinants

For example, if
11 4
A= ,
3 2
then
jAj = [(11)(2) ( 3)(4)] = 22 + 12 = 34.
Note that:
The determinant of a matrix is a scalar.
The determinant is de…ned only for square matrices.

(Institute) Lecture Notes Monash University 57 / 156

1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices I
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

Determinants of square matrices of order higher than 2 can be

evaluated by using a process known as Laplace-expansion.
Laplace-expansion reduces the problem of evaluating higher order
determinants to one of evaluating a sequence of second-order
determinants, and is most easily understood by considering an
example.
Let 2 3
a11 a12 a13
A = 4 a21 a22 a23 5 . (1.9)
(3x 3 )
a31 a32 a33
Let Mij to be the square matrix obtained by deleting the ith row and
jth column of A.

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices II
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

For example, for the matrix de…ned by (1.9)

a22 a23 a21 a23 a21 a22

M11 = , M12 = , M13 = .
a32 a33 a31 a33 a31 a32

The determinant of the 2x2 matrix Mij is called the minor of the
element aij . For example, jM11 j is the minor of the element a11 .
Given Mij , we de…ne the cofactor associated with aij , which we
denote by Cij ,as
Cij = ( 1)i +j jMij j. (1.10)
For example,

C11 = ( 1)1 +1 jM11 j

= ( 1)2 jM11 j
= jM11 j ,
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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices III
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

C12 = ( 1)1 +2 jM12 j

= ( 1)3 jM12 j
= jM12 j ,

and

C13 = ( 1)1 +3 jM13 j

= ( 1)4 jM13 j
= jM13 j .

Note: In the textbook, Chiang and Wainwright use the notation

jCij j rather than Cij to denote the cofactor associated with aij .
The determinant of A is

jAj = a11 C11 + a12 C12 + a13 C13 . (1.11)

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices IV
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

Notice that we could write (1.11) more compactly as

3
jAj = ∑ a1j C1j . (1.12)
j =1

Evaluating the determinant of A using (1.12) is called

Laplace-expansion by the …rst row, because we use the elements and
the cofactors of the …rst row. However, the determinant of A can be
evaluated by Laplace-expansion of any row or column of A. The value
of the determinant of A is independent which of column or row is
used in the Laplace-expansion.

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices V
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

Let 2 3
5 6 1
A=4 2 3 0 5. (1.13)
7 3 0
Using (1.12) we obtain

jAj = a11 C11 + a12 C12 + a13 C13

= a11 jM11 j a12 jM12 j + a13 jM13 j.

Therefore,

3 0 2 0 2 3
jAj = 5 6 +1
3 0 7 0 7 3
= 5(0 0) 6(0 0) + 1( 6 21)
= 27.
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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices VI
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

While it is possible to evaluate the determinant of a matrix by using

Laplace-expansion of any row or column, some choices are better than
others. For 2 3
5 6 1
A=4 2 3 0 5 (1.13)
7 3 0
it is most e¢ cient to use Laplace-expansion by column three because

a23 = a33 = 0.

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices VII
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

Expanding by column three we obtain

jAj = a13 C13 + a23 C23 + a33 C33

= 1C13 + 0C23 + 0C33
= C13
= jM13 j
2 3
=
7 3
= 27.

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices VIII
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

Laplace-expansion can also be used to evaluate determinants of order

higher than three. For example, expanding by the …rst row, the
determinant of the 4x4 matrix
2 3
a11 a12 a13 a14
6 a21 a22 a23 a24 7
A =6 4 a31 a32 a33 a34 5
7
(4x 4 )
a42 a42 a43 a44

is

jAj = a11 C11 + a12 C12 + a13 C13 + a14 C14

= a11 jM11 j a12 jM12 j + a13 jM13 j a14 jM14 j (1.14)

Since the jMij j in (1.14) are all third-order determinants, they can all
be evaluated by Laplace expansion and the results substituted into
(1.14) in order to obtain jAj.
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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices IX
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

Multiplying the cofactors of one row or column by the elements of

another row or column and summing is referred to as expansion by
alien cofactors. The expression

a21 C11 + a22 C12 + a23 C13

is an example of expansion by alien cofactors since the cofactors of

row 1 are being multiplied by the elements of row 2.
Expansion by alien cofactors always produces a value of zero.
For example, in the case of the matrix
2 3
5 6 1
A=4 2 3 0 5, (1.13)
7 3 0

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices X
1.5.2 Computing higher-order determinants

if we use the elements of the second row and the cofactors of the …rst
row we obtain

a21 C11 + a22 C12 + a23 C13 = 2C11 + 3C12 + 0C13

= 2jM11 j 3jM12 j
3 0 2 0
= 2 3
3 0 7 0
= 0.

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices I
1.5.3 Properties of determinants

For any n n matrices A and B the determinant can be shown to

have the following useful properties:
P1
A0 = j A j .
This property holds even if A is not a symmetric matrix.
P2
jAB j = jAj jB j = jB jjAj = jBAj.

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices II
1.5.3 Properties of determinants

P3
jkAj = k n jAj for any scalar k.
For example, if
11 4
A= ,
3 2
then
jAj = 22 + 12 = 34,

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices III
1.5.3 Properties of determinants

and

33 12
j3Aj =
9 6
= 198 + 108
= 306
= 32 34
= 32 j A j
= 3n j A j .

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices IV
1.5.3 Properties of determinants

P4 If any row or column of A is a null vector, then

jAj = 0.

For example,
3 0
= 0.
3 0
P5 If one row or column of A is a multiple of another row or column of
A, then
jAj = 0.
For example,
2 1
= 0.
4 2

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices V
1.5.3 Properties of determinants

P6 If A is a diagonal matrix, then

jAj = (a11 a22 ....ann ) = Πni=1 aii ,

where Π denotes the product operator. That is, the determinant of

the diagonal matrix A is given by the product of the diagonal
elements. For example, if
2 3
2 0 0
A = 4 0 4 0 5,
0 0 1

then
jAj = 2x4x ( 1) = 8.

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices VI
1.5.3 Properties of determinants

P7 Adding a multiple of one row or column to another row or column has

no e¤ect on the value of the determinant. For example, if

2 1
A= , jAj = 8 1 = 7.
1 4

Now, suppose we form a new matrix, A , by adding twice the …rst

column of A to the second column of A. Then
2 1+4 2 5
A = =
1 4+2 1 6

and
jA j = 12 5 = 7.
We conclude this section with a very important de…nition.

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1.5 Determinants of Square Matrices VII
1.5.3 Properties of determinants

De…nition (1.1)
A square matrix A is singular if

jAj = 0

and nonsingular if
jAj 6= 0.

(Institute) Lecture Notes Monash University 74 / 156