Module 1 Determinants:

The term 'determinant' was first introduced by Gauss in Disquisitiones arithmeticae (1801) while
discussing quadratic forms. He used the term because the determinant determines the
properties of the quadratic form. However the concept is not the same as that of our
determinant. In the same work Gauss lays out the coefficients of his quadratic forms in
rectangular arrays. He describes matrix multiplication (which he thinks of as composition so he
has not yet reached the concept of matrix algebra) and the inverse of a matrix in the particular
context of the arrays of coefficients of quadratic forms.
A system of algebraic equations can be expressed in the form of matrices. This means, a
system of linear equations like;
To every square matrix A = [aij] of order n, we can associate a number (real or complex) called
determinant of the square matrix A, where aij = (i, j)th element of A. This may be thought of as a
function which associates each square matrix with a unique number (real or complex). If M is
the set of square matrices, K is the set of numbers (real or complex) and f : M K is defined by
f (A) = k, where A M and k K, then f (A) is called the determinant of A. It is also denoted by
|A| or det A or .
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Determinant of a matrix of order one: Let A = [a ] be the matrix of order 1, then determinant of
A is defined to be equal to a
Determinant of a matrix of order two: Let
be a matrix of order 2 2, then the determinant of A is defined as:
Determinant of a matrix of order 3 3: Determinant of a matrix of order three can be
determined by expressing it in terms of second order determinants. This is known as expansion
of a determinant along a row (or a column). There are six ways of expanding a determinant of
order.
3 corresponding to each of three rows (R1, R2 and R3) and three columns (C1, C2 and C3)
giving the same value as shown below.
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Consider the determinant of square matrix A = [a
y
]
3X3
Expansion along first Row (R1)
Step 1 Multiply first element a11 of R1 by (1)(1 + 1) [(1)
sum of suffices in a
11] and with the
second order determinant obtained by deleting the elements of first row (R1) and first
column (C1) of | A | as a11 lies in R1 and C1, i.e.,
Step 2 Multiply 2nd element a12 of R1 by (1)1 + 2 [(1)
sum of suffices in a
12] and the second
order determinant obtained by deleting elements of first row (R1) and 2nd column (C2)
of | A | as a12 lies in R1 and C2, i.e.,
Step 3 Multiply third element a13 of R1 by (1)1 + 3 [(1)
sum of suffices in a
13] and the second
order determinant obtained by deleting elements of first row (R1) and third column (C3)
of | A | as a13 lies in R1 and C3, i.e.,
Step 4 Now the expansion of determinant of A, that is, | A | written as sum of all three
terms obtained in steps 1, 2 and 3 above is given by
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By applying all four steps together we get;
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Evaluate the determinant:
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Answer: Note that in the third column, two entries are zero. So expanding along third column
(C3), we get
Module 1.1 Properties of the Determinant
1. Any matrix A and its transpose have the same determinant, meaning
This is interesting since it implies that whenever we use rows, a similar behavior will result if we
use columns. In particular we will see how row elementary operations are helpful in finding the
determinant. Therefore, we have similar conclusions for elementary column operations.
2. The determinant of a triangular matrix is the product of the entries on the diagonal, that is
3. If we interchange two rows, the determinant of the new matrix is the opposite of the old one,
that is
4. If we multiply one row with a constant, the determinant of the new matrix is the determinant of
the old one multiplied by the constant, that is
In particular, if all the entries in one row are zero, then the determinant is zero.
5. If we add one row to another one multiplied by a constant, the determinant of the new matrix
is the same as the old one, that is
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Note that whenever you want to replace a row by something (through elementary operations),
do not multiply the row itself by a constant. Otherwise, you will easily make errors (due to
Property 4).
6. We have
In particular, if A is invertible (which happens if and only if Det (A 0), then
If A and B are similar, then Det A = Det B
Let us look at an example, to see how these properties work.
Example. Evaluate
Let us transform this matrix into a triangular one through elementary operations. We will keep
the first row and add to the second one the first multiplied by 1/2. We get
Using the Property 2, we get
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Therefore, we have
which one may check easily.
Module 1.2 Determinants of Matrices of Higher Order
As we said before, the idea is to assume that previous properties satisfied by the determinant of
matrices of order 2, are still valid in general. In other words, we assume:
1.Any matrix A and its transpose have the same determinant, meaning
det A = det A
T
2. The determinant of a triangular matrix is the product of the entries on the diagonal.
3.If we interchange two rows, the determinant of the new matrix is the opposite of the old one.
4.If we multiply one row with a constant, the determinant of the new matrix is the determinant of
the old one multiplied by the constant.
5.If we add one row to another one multiplied by a constant, the determinant of the new matrix
is the same as the old one.
6.We have
Det (AB) = (Det A) (Det B)
In particular, if A is invertible (which happens if and only if , then
In particular, if A is invertible (which happens if and only if (det[ A] 0), then
Det (A
-1
) = 1 / Det (A)
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Module 1.3 Applications of Determinants and Matrices
In this section, we shall discuss application of determinants and matrices for solving the system
of linear equations in two or three variables and for checking the consistency of the system of
linear equations.
Consistent system A system of equations is said to be consistent if its solution (one or more)
exists.
Inconsistent system A system of equations is said to be inconsistent if its solution does not
exist.
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