Chapter 1

Matrices, determinant and systems of

linear equations

Definitions
Definition 1. Let K = R or C L = {1, · · · , n} and C = {1, · · · , p} with p, n ∈ N∗
We call a matrix with n rows and p columns with coefficients in K any mapping:

A:L×C → K
(i, j) 7→ A(i, j) = aij

Where:
i: row index
j: column index
aij : (i, j)th element of the matrix A
The set of all matrices with n rows and p columns with coefficients in K is denoted by Mn,p (K)
Example 1. A : {1, 2} × {1, 2, 3} → R
(i, j) 7→ aij avec A(1, 1) = a1,1 = 1; A(1, 2) = a1,2 = −2; A(1, 3) = a1,3 = 6
A(2, 1) = a2,1 = −4; A(2, 2) = a2,2 = 0; A(2, 3) = a2,3 = −3
It is easier to write the aij in the form of a table:
 
1 −2 6
A=
−4 0 −3

In the general case,

A : {1, · · · , n} × {1, · · · , p} → K
(i, j) 7→ aij
 
a1,1 a1,2 ··· a1,p
 a2,1 a2,2 ··· a2,p 
 
A= . .. .. .. 
 .. . . . 
an,1 an,2 ··· an,p

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Matrix operations
Matrix addition
To be able to add two matrices, they must have the same size (same number of both lines and
columns) :
Let A, B ∈ Mn,p (K)
Note by ai,j the elements of A and by bi,j the elements of B
The elements of the matrix A + B are ci,j = ai,j + bi,j

Example 2.
     
1 −2 6 0 3 −2 1 1 4
A= B= A+B =
−4 0 −3 1 1 5 −3 1 2

Properties
1. The matrix whose elements are zero is called the zero matrix, it is denoted 0

A ∈ Mn,p (K), A + 0 = 0 + A = A

2. A + B = B + A
3. (A + B) + C = A + (B + C)

Multiplication of a matrix by a scalar

Let λ ∈ K and A ∈ Mn,p (K)
Note by ai,j the elements of A
The elements of the matrix λA are ci,j = λai,j
Example 3.    
1 3 3 9
A =  1 1 3A =  3 3
−2 1 −6 3

Matrix product
To be able to multiply two matrices, the number of columns of the first matrix must be equal to
the number of rows of the second matrix.
Let A ∈ Mn,p (K) and B ∈ Mp,q (K)
Note by ai,j the elements of A and by bi,j the elements of B
Definition 2. The product of A and B is defined by the matrix AB ∈ Mn,q (K) whose elements
are :
 
 
 .. .. .. ..  · · · b1,j · · ·
 . . . . 
  
 · · · b2,j · · · 
AB = ai,1 ai,2 · · · ai,p 

 .. .. .. 
 .
. .. .. ..   . . . 
 . . . .  · · · bp,j · · ·

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 X
p
∀i ∈ {1, · · · , n}, j ∈ {1, · · · , q} ci,j = ai,1 b1,j + ai,2 b2,j + · · · + ai,p bp,j = ai,k bk,j
k=1

Example 4.    
1 3   3 6 13
0 3 −2
A =  1 1 B= AB = 1 4 3
1 1 5
−2 1 1 −5 9

Properties
1. (AB)C = A(BC)
2. In general, AB 6= BA

Example 5.
 
  1 3  
0 3 −2 7 1
B= A =  1 1 BA = ⇒ AB 6= BA
1 1 5 −8 9
−2 1

Transpose of a matrix
Let A ∈ Mn,p (K) with ai,j the elements of A
Definition 3. The transpose of A is defined by the matrix AT ∈ Mp,n (K) whose elements are:
aj,i
Example 6. 
1 3  
1 1 −2
A =  1 1 AT =
3 1 1
−2 1

Properties
1. (A + B)T = AT + B T

2. (AB)T = B T AT
3. (AT )T = A