Linear Algebra:

Motivation: Suppose that we have 2 differential equations,

each with variables x and y, where both x and y are functions
of t.

We want to find the functions x=x(t) and y=y(t) that will

solve both differential equations at the same time.

How to solve that?

But we can still think of finding the equilibria for the

system

That is, we want to find when

How to solve?

2 ways:
Substitution Method:
Elimination Method:

Same question with

Lastly, consider

- Not obvious here but there will be infinitely many

solutions !
- Our methods for 3 equations is limited.
- The elimination method is long for 3 equations. What if
we had 4 equations of 4 variables?
- Studying linear system is very important in this course
(and in general)
- We need a slightly different method to find the
solution(s), if any, of linear systems
- We will come back to this later
- We next learn many tools that are interesting on their
own and that will be very useful for solving linear
system.
Matrix: A table of number with m rows and n columns of the
form

The dimension of a matrix is given by m x n, where

m = # of rows and n = # of columns.
Important: 2 matrices A and B are equal if and only if the
have the same dimension and their corresponding entries
are equal.

Addition of matrices: Let A and B be two matrices with

the same dimension. The addition of A and B, written
A+B, is defined as the new matrix C obtained by adding
the corresponding entries together.
Multiplication by a scalar: Let k be a number and A a m x n.
The multiplication of A by the scalar k, written kA, is
defined as the matrix A but with all its entries multiplied by
k.

Combination of both:
Matrix Multiplication:

A a m x n matrix We must have n = r otherwise

B a r x s matrix the multiplication of A by B is
not possible!

If n = r, then the multiplication A by B is written as AB

AB = a new matrix C of dimension m x s

1) Taking the i th row of A and the j th column of B

2) We multiply each corresponding entries of the ith row

of A and j th column tore and then we add all the results.

That is,
Important Fact: With matrix multiplication, we do not
always have that AB = BA

Powers of a matrix: Let A be a n x n matrix and k be a

positive integer.
Transpose of a matrix: Let A be a m x n matrix. The
transpose of A, written , is defined as the n x m
Matrix that is such that the 1 st row of A becomes the
1st column of . The 2 nd row of A becomes the
2 nd column of , and so on.
 Linear system: A linear system of m equations and n
variables is a system of equation of the form

A solution to a linear system is a set

That satisfies each of the m linear equations.

Solution of a linear system:

Three Elementary Row Operations on a matrix: The
following three rules could be applied to any matrix.

- Interchanging two rows: