THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

MATH2101 Linear Algebra I

Tutorial 6

1. Find a relationship between det (−AT ) and det A that holds for any n × n square matrix A.
2. Let A, B and C be n × n matrices such that AB = C and let R be the reduced row echelon
form of A. Consider the following statement:
If R has a zero column, then det C = 0.
Determine whether the statement and its converse are true or not.
3. Let A be a 4 × 4 matrix such that A2 = A. Is it true that

(a) A is invertible?
(b) A is not invertible?
(c) det(AAT ) = det(−AT )?
(d) det(A − I) ≥ 0?

Give your reason briefly to support your answer.

4. Give an example for each of the following, or explain why no example exists.
(a) A square matrix A with det A ≠ 0 such that the number of zero entries is greater than the
number of non-zero entries.
(b) A 3 × 3 matrix A whose entries are entirely 1, 2, . . . , 9 in some order such that its deter-
minant is odd.
(c) A permutation matrix whose determinant is not ±1.
5. Prove or disprove the following.

(a) The determinant of a square matrix with integer entries must be an integer.
(b) Let T ∶ Rn → Rn be an invertible linear transformation and let A be an n × n matrix
with columns a1 , a2 , . . . , an . Then the matrix [T (a1 ) T (a2 ) ⋯ T (an )] has the same
determinant as A.