LEWIS CAROLS CONDENSATION

Dr. Okoh Ufuoma, COLLEGE OF BASIC AND ADVANCED STUDIES, UGHELLI,

DELTA, NIGERIA

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DEDICATION: It is my greatest luck that you help me to embellish

this work of mine with your most honourable name, oh great Agun
Ikhile. I present it to you as a token of my devotion, for it was your
kindness and generosity which delivered me from other cares and
helped me to devote myself totally to my love, mathematics.

INTRODUCTION

Suppose we propose to solve linear systems of equations by matrix method or

by the classical solution formula, the famous Cramers rule which is in common
use, particularly among authors and students of science and engineering [12]. It
is needful to evaluate determinants of matrices formed from the systems such,
for example, as

1 3 2
2 1 4 .
3 5 1
The standard method that is most customarily employed for such a purpose is
that which we owe to Laplace, that is the method of multiplying each element
of the first row or column by the determinant of its complementary minor,
a sub-determinant, and affecting the products with the signs + and alternately, the sub-determinants required in the process being, in their turn, broken
up in the same fashion until 2nd order determinants which are easy to evaluate are finally attained. This process, in the above instance, would run as follows:


 1 3 2 














 2 1 4  = 1 1 4  3 2 4  2 2 1 


 5 1 
 3 1 
 3 5 
 3 5 1 
= 21 + 42 14 = 7.
But such a method, when the matrix is of higher order, is so tedious that
it is practically unavailing. If we consider the extreme laboriousness with which
the values of determinants of the matrices of higher orders would be obtained
using Laplace method, we would never attempt expanding such determinants. It
would require, for example, an hours work to expand a fifth order determinant
completely using Laplace method, or even, if one is extremely careful, to break
up a sixth order determinant to third order determinants.
There is another method, an ingenious and enchanting one, which not only
saves a great amount of labour, time, and working space, but also ensures the
interest of the one employing it. This method, the result of profound and laborious
research and which is called Lewiss condensation, was first introduced by one of
Britains wonderful genius, Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (18321898), in an
1866 paper intriguingly entitled On the Condensation of Determinants, being
a new and brief Method for computing their arithmetical values, and which he
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delivered to a meeting of the Royal Society of London by Bartholomew Price,

his chum and tutor, a professor of natural philosophy at Oxford. The following
year the method appeared in three appendices to An Elementary Theory of
Determinants, one of Dodgsons mathematical texts [1], [13].
In his 1866 paper, Dodgson employed the condensation method to solve
two paramount problems in linear algebra, namely evaluating large determinants,
and finding the solutions of large linear systems of equations; for before his time
these two knotty problems together constitute an enigma to mathematicians.
Although this paper treats Dodgsons condensation, its cardinal aim is to
demonstrate the use of Dodgsons condensation in solving large linear systems
of equations.
The rest of this paper is structured into two sections. Because some
understanding of the theory of Lewiss condensation of determinants is required
to compute the inverses of matrices to which this paper is mainly devoted, we
will discuss Lewiss condensation first, and Section 2 is set up for this purpose.
Section 3 deals with the use of Dodgsons condensation in solving large linear
systems of equations. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the elementary
theorems of matrices and determinants.

LEWISS CONDENSATION

Lewiss condensation or Dodgsons condensation of determinants, to which

this section is wholly devoted, is one of the most enchanting mathematical
discoveries of the 19th century. But, before discussing Dodgsons condensation
of determinants, we shall give a brief sketch of Dodgsons life.
One remarkable feature of the reign of the illustrious Queen Victoria of
England (1819 1901), who is associated with Britains great age of industrial
expansion, economic progress and, especially, empire, was the appearance of a
genius, Britains famous Lewis Carroll. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the son of a
clergyman, the third of 11 children, all of whom stuttered, is truly Lewis Carroll
writing under a pseudonym (pen name) [14]. He was born in England in 1832
and when he was a child, he was fascinated with mathematics and solving puzzles.
As a young man he was not comfortable in the company of adults but greatly
enamoured with young girls and is said to have spoken without stuttering only
to them, many of whom he entertained, corresponded with, and photographed.
Although he was close to young girls, he was extremely puritanical and religious.
Dodgson graduated from Oxford in 1854, was appointed lecturer in mathematics at Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1855, obtained his master of arts
degree in 1857, and was ordained in the Church of England in 1861. In later
years, he spent most of his time in writing, solving puzzles, and teaching at
Christ Church. His writings include poetry, puns, novels, articles, and books on
geometry, determinants, and the mathematics of tournaments and elections [14].
His intimacy with Dean Henry Liddells three young daughters, Lorina,
Edith, and Alice Liddell, contributed to his writing of his excellent nursery
tale Alices Adventures in Wonderland (1865) [3] which made him famous and

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brought him a lot of money. Queen Victoria told Dodgson of her relish in reading
Alices Adventures in Wonderland and how much she wanted to read his next
book; he is said to have sent her Symbolic Logic, one of his most celebrated
mathematical works. Late in life, Dodgson denied that he and Carroll were the
selfsame person, even though he distributed hundreds of signed copies of the
Alices Adventures in Wonderland to children and childrens hospitals [14].
In early January 1898, Dodgson was struck with a cold which at first
seemed very minor but developed into a chest problem [11], which terminated
the illustrious career of this wonderful genius, at the age of sixty-five.
Dodgson made many significant mathematical discoveries. Of these, it is
his elegant condensation method that is arguably the most notable, a technique
for which he deserves to be esteemed in the world of mathematics, especially in
linear algebra, and for which Britain may be justly proud that such a technique
has not only been discovered by one of her own naturally talented mathematicians,
but furnished with so worthy a crown.
Now, Dodgsons condensation consists of the following steps or rules:
1. Employ the elementary row and column operations to rearrange, if necessary, the given nth order matrix such that there are no zeros in its interior.
The interior of a matrix is the minor formed after the first and last rows
and columns of the matrix have been deleted.
2. Evaluate every 2nd order determinant formed by four adjacent elements.
The values of the determinants form the (n 1)st order matrix.
3. Condense the (n 1)st order matrix in the same manner, dividing each
entry by the corresponding element in the interior of the nth order matrix.
4. Repeat the condensation process until a single number is obtained. This
number is the value of the determinant of the nth order matrix.
To make the method clear, we

1
2
3

consider the matrix in Section :

3 2
1 4 .
5 1

We compute its determinant by condensing it, applying rule 2, to

 


 

1 3 3 2



2 1
1 4




2 1 1 4 

 

3 5 5 1
which when evaluated gives


5
7

14
21

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This in turn, by rule 3, is condensed to give the value, 7. Dividing this value
by the interior, 1, of the 3rd order matrix, we get 7 which is the value of the
determinant of our original 3rd order matrix.
Again, we want to compute the determinant of the 4th order matrix

2 0 4 6
4 5 1
0

0 2 6 1
3 8 9
1
using Dodgsons condensation technique. By
 


 

2 0 0 4
4 5 5 1 





5 1 
4 5



2 6 
0 2

 

 0 2 2 6

 

3 8 8 9

rule 2 this is condensed into



4 6


 1 0


1 0 


6 1



6 1


9 1 

which, when evaluated, gives

10
8
6

20
28
30

6
1 .
15

This in turn, by rule 3, is condensed into






20 6


10 20
28 1
 8 28


8 28   28 1

 

6 30 30 15 
which, being evaluated, furnishes


120
408

148
390


.

We divide each element of the above 2 2 matrix by the corresponding element

of the interior matrix of the 4th order matrix,


5 1
,
2 6
and have

120

408
2

148
1

390
6

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which gives


24
204

148
65

which, when evaluated, gives the value of 31752. Dividing this value by the
interior, 28, of the 3rd order matrix, we get 1134 which is the value of our original
4th order matrix.
The simplest way of presenting the workings appears to be to arrange the
series of matrices one under another, as it is displayed below; it will then be
found very easy to pick out the divisors (in the interior matrices) required in
rules 3 and 4:

2 0 4 6
4 5 1
0

0 2 6 1
3 8 9
1

10 20 6
8
28 1
6 30 15


24
148
204 65
1134.
Dodgsons condensation method, being interesting and excellently suited
to handcomputations, is in the first place remarkable for its exceedingly great
briefness, lucidity and accuracy. It is also noteworthy as it involves the evaluation
of only 2nd order determinants, the elements of which are adjacent to one another.
However, it is evident that, when zeros (which Dodgson called ciphers in
his paper [6] ) appear in the interior of the original matrix or any one of the
derived matrices, the process cannot be continued since infinite values would
be introduced by employing them as divisors[6]. A solution to this problem,
as Dodgson suggests, is to recommence the operation by first rearranging the
original matrix by transferring the top row to the bottom or the bottom row to
the top so that the zero, when it occurs, is now found in an exterior row[6]. The
merit of this solution is that there is only one new row to be computed; the
other rows are simply copied from the work already done[6].
Suppose now we want to find the value of the determinant of the matrix

2 1
2
1 3
1
2
1 1
2

1 1 2 1 1 .

2
1 1 2 1
1 2 1 1
2

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We compute as follows:

1 3
1
2

1 1

2 1
1
2

5 5 3 1
3 3 3
3

3
3
3 1
5 3 1 5

15
6 12

0
0 6 .
6 6 8

2
1

2
1

1
2
2
1
1 2
1 1
2 1

We cannot continue the operation because of the zero which occurs in the interior
of the derived 3rd order matrix. Division by the zero will result in an infinite
value. So we rearrange the original 5th order matrix by moving the top row
to the bottom and moving all the other rows up once, and recommence the
operation:

1
2
1 1
2
1 1 2 1 1

2
1 1 2 1

1 2 1 1
2
2 1
2
1 3

3 3 3
3
3
3
3 1

5 3 1 5
3 5
1
1

0
0
6

6 6
8
17
8 4


0 12
18 40
36.
The condensation is a shining evidence of Dodgsons ingenuity and mathematical prowess. We may justly be curious to know the trying and wearisome
path which this great discoverer has trodden, the various steps which he has
taken to arrive at his praiseworthy condensation and the extent to which we
are indebted to this veritable benefactor of humanity. Such knowledge, moreover, is not matter of frivolous curiosity. It can afford us guidance in similar
investigations and sheds an increased light on the subjects in which we are
engaged.

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SOLUTIONS OF LARGE LINEAR SYSTEMS

I shall conclude this work with an application of Dodgsons condensation.

Dodgsons condensation which we have been discussing was originally designed
to solve large linear systems of equations. In his paper of 1866, Dodgson
demonstrated how his condensation can be employed to hand-solve large linear
systems of equations, giving two examples to clarify his ingenious approach
which, though effective and furnishes accurate solution set, is a little bit lengthy
and not so easy to employ. In the paper [12] submitted to the conference
The World Congress of Engineering and Computer Science 2013, held in San
Francisco, USA, and which was included in the Proceedings of the lettered body,
International Association of Engineers IAENG, the Author perfected Dodgsons
approach to solving linear systems by introducing a new approach, an alternative
and better form of Dodgsons approach, which is based on Cramers rule but
employs Dodgsons condensation in its computations. We shall here review this
new technique.
Given the general system of n simultaneous linear equations with n unknowns:
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + a13 x3 + + a1n xn + b1 = 0
a21 x1 + a22 x2 + a23 x3 + + a2n xn + b2 = 0
a31 x1 + a32 x2 + a33 x3 + + a3n xn + b3 = 0
..
.

(1)

an1 x1 + an2 x2 + an3 x3 + + ann xn + bn = 0

where x1 , x2 , x3 ,. . . , xn are the unknowns, aij are the coefficients of the system,
and b1 , b2 , b3 , . . . , bn are the constant terms. The system (1) can be written
compactly in matrix form as Dx + b = 0 where

a11 a12 a13 . . . a1n

a21 a22 a23 . . . a2n

D= .
(2)
..
..
..
..
..
.
.
.
.
an1

an2

an3

...

ann

is an n n coefficient matrix of the coefficients aij , and

x1
b1
x2
b2

x = . and b = .
..
..
xn
bn

(3)

are n 1 column matrices of the unknowns xi and the constants bi respectively.

Now the new approach is exhibited in the following steps or rules:
1. Form the n 2n matrix:

0 
D b D
0

where D is the array of numbers left when the last column of D is deleted.
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2. Use Dodgsons condensation repeatedly to condense the above matrix until

the following row matrix is obtained:


D D1 D2 D3 . . . Dn .
If n is even, the values of the unknowns or the solutions are positive:
x1 =

D1
,
D

x2 =

D2
,
D

x3 =

D3
,
D

...,

xn =

Dn
.
D

If n is odd, the values of the unknowns or the solutions are alternating as follows:
x1 =

D1
,
D

x2 =

D2
,
D

x3 =

D3
,
D

xn =

...,

Dn
.
D

The proof of the validity of this new approach is found in [12].

We now demonstrate the usefulness of this new approach. Suppose we are
asked to solve the system of three equations using the new approach:
x1 4x2 x3 11 = 0
2x1 5x2 + 2x3 39 = 0
3x1 + 2x2 + x3 1 = 0.
It is necessary to start with rule 1:

1 4 1
2 5 2
3 2
1

1
2
3

4
5 .
2

We then apply rule 2 and have the following:

1 4 1 11 1
2 5 2 39 2
3 2
1
1 3

4
5
2

11
39
1

3
13 61 17
3
11 9 37 119 11


34 34 170 272 .

The values of the unknowns are thus:

34
= 1
34
170
x2 =
= 5
34
272
x3 =
= 8.
34

x1 =

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As another instance of the approach, let us solve the system of four linear
equations:
2x1 + x2 + 2x3 + x4 + 6 = 0
x1 x2 + x3 + 2x4 + 6 = 0
4x1 + 3x2 + 3x3 3x4 1 = 0
2x1 + 2x2 x3 + x4 + 10 = 0.
Applying rule 1 and rule 2, we compute as follows:

2 1
2
1
6 2 1
2
1 1 1
2
6 1 1 1

4 3
3 3 1 4 3
3
2 2 1 1
10 2 2 1

3 3
3
6 6 3 3
7 6 9 16
25
7 6
2 9 0 29 42 2 9


3
9 3 9 33
3
17 27 87 53 86 17


39 78 39 39 117 .
The values of the unknowns are thus:
78
= 2
39
39
x2 =
= 1
39
39
x3 =
=1
39
117
x4 =
= 3.
39
x1 =

References
[1] F.F. Abeles, Determinants and Linear Systems: Charles L. Dodgsons View, British
Journal for the History of Science 19(1986) 331335.
[2] G. Cramer, Intr. lanalyse de lignes courbes algbriques, Geneva, 1750 pp 657-659.
[3] D. Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia, Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp 219.
[4] H.K. Dass, Advanced Engineering Mathematics, S. Chand, New Delhi, 19th Edition,
220 371.
[5] M.B. David, Proofs and Confirmations: The Story of the Alternating Sign Matrix
Conjecture, MAA Spectrum Series, Cambridge University Press (1999).
[6] C.L.Dodgson, Condensation of Determinants, Being a New and Brief Method for
Computing their Arithmetic Values, Proc. Roy. Soc. Ser. A, 15(1866), 150 155.
[7] E. T. Dowling, Introduction to Mathematical Economics, McGraw Hill International
Edition, 199 253(2001).
[8] E. Egbe, G. A. Odili, O.O. Ugbebor, Further Mathematics, Africana-First Publishers
Limited, Onitsha, 113 128(2003).
[9] Kreyszig, Advanced Engineering Mathematics, Wiley, Singapore, 8th Edition, 304 368.
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[10] C.D. Miller, V.E. Heeren, J. Hornsby, Mathematical ideas, Pearson Addison Wesley,
New York, 10th Edition, 456 480 (2004).
[11] J J OConnor and E F Robertson, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, http://www-history.mcs.standrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Dodgson.html, JOC/EFR November
[12] U. Okoh,A New and Simple Method of Solving Large Linear Systems: Based on Cramers
Rule but Employing Dodgsons Condensation, (Periodical style), Proc. WCECS 2013.
[13] A. Rice, E. Torrence, Shutting up like a telescope : Lewis Carrolls CuriousCondensation Method for Evaluating Determinants, College Mathematics Journal
38(March):85 95.
[14] K. H.Rosen, Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, McGraw Hill Inc, New York,
3th Edition, pp 27.
[15] J. Stewart, L. Redlin, S. Watson, Precalculus, Thomson Brooks/cole, 5th Edition, 635
715.

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