MA 202 - Advanced Linear Algebra

Problem Set 2 (Matrices and System of Equations)

IIT Dharwad, Spring 2024
(1) Let D = diag (d1 , d2 , . . . , dn ). Let A = ( aij ) be an n × n matrix with entries in F. Find
DA and AD. When is D invertible?
(2) Let A be an m × n matrix and B an n × p matrix. Let Ai denote the ith row of A
and A j denote the jth column of A. Show that AB = ( AB1 , AB2 , . . . , AB p ) and AB =
( A1 B, A2 B, . . . , Am B)t .
(3) A square matrix A is called nilpotent if Ak = 0 for some positive integer k. Show that
if A is nilpotent, then I + A is invertible.  
2 3
(4) Find infinitely many matrices B such that BA = I2 where A = 1 2 . Show that
 

2 5
there is no matrix C such that AC = I3 . Here In denotes the identity matrix of order
n × n.
(5) Let A and B be square matrices. Let trace ( A) denote the trace of A which is the sum
of its diagonal entries. Show that for two n × n matrices A and B, trace ( A + B) =
trace ( A) + trace ( B) and trace ( AB) = trace ( BA). Show that if B is invertible, then
trace ( A) = trace ( BAB−1 ).
(6) Show that the inverse of a symmetric matrix is also symmetric.
(7) Find all 2 × 2 matrices A such that A2 = − I.
(8) Find all 2 × 2 matrices A such that A2 = 0.
(9) Show that if A3 − A + I = 0, then A is invertible.
(10) Test for for solvability of the following systems of equations, and if solvable, find all
the solutions:
(a)
x1 + x2 + x3 =8
x1 + x2 + x4 =1
x1 + x3 + x4 = 14
x2 + x3 + x4 = 14

(b)
x1 +2x2 +4x3 =1
2x1 + x2 +5x3 =0
3x1 − x2 +5x3 =0
(11) For what values of a does the following system of equations have a solution?

3x1 − x2 ax3 =1
3x1 − x2 + x3 =5

(12) Show that a system of homogeneous linear equations in n unknowns has a nontrivial
solution if and only if the coefficient matrix has rank less than n.
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(13) Find a basis of the solution space of the system:

3x1 − x2 x4 = 0
x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 = 0
(14) Find a point in R3 where the line joining the points (1, −1, 0) and (−2, 1, 1) pierces the
plane 3x1 − x2 + x3 − 1 = 0.
(15) Using row and columns operations find the rank of the matrix
 
1 2 −3
 −1 −2 3 
 
8 −12
 
 4
1 −1 5
(16) Find the rank of an upper triangular matrix in terms of the diagonal entries.
(17) Let A be an m × n matrix and B be an n × r matrix.
(a) Show that the columns of AB are linear combinations of the columns of A. Hence
prove that rank( AB) ≤ rank( A).
(b) Using ( a) and the fact that rank of a matrix and its transpose are equal, prove that
rank( AB) ≤ rank( B).
(18) Let A be an m × n matrix with coefficients in R and let A1 , . . . , An be column vectors
of A. Assume that A1 , . . . , An are linearly independent over R. Show that they are
linearly independent over C.
(19) Consider a homogeneous system of equations AX = 0 where A is an m × n matrix
with coefficients in R. If this system has a non-trivial solution in C, show that it has a
non-trivial solution in R.