Dr. El Mostafa Kalmoun |MTH 2303|Sec 1.
5|Page 1
Section 1.5: Elementary Matrices
• Equivalent Systems
• Elementary Matrices
• Equivalent Conditions for Nonsingularity
• Diagonal and Triangular Matrices
• Triangular Factorization
After completing this section, you should be able to:
• Recognize that the three elementary row operations can be accomplished by
multiplying the matrix with three types of elementary matrices.
• Determine equivalent conditions of nonsingularity.
• Compute the inverse of a matrix using the reduction process to a strict upper
triangular form.
• Recognize a diagonal or a triangular matrix.
• Find the triangular factorization of a matrix.
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Equivalent Systems
Given an 𝑚 × 𝑛 linear system 𝐴𝑥 = 𝑏, we can obtain an equivalent system by
multiplying both sides of the equation by a nonsingular 𝑚 × 𝑚 matrix 𝑀:
𝐴𝑥 = 𝑏 (1)
𝑀𝐴𝑥 = 𝑀𝑏 (2)
Clearly, any solution of (1) will also be a solution of (2). However, if 𝑥̂ is a solution
of (2), then
Hence (1) and (2) are equivalent.
To obtain an equivalent system that is easier to solve, we can apply a sequence of
nonsingular matrices 𝐸1 , . . . , 𝐸𝑘 to both sides of (1) to obtain a simpler system of the
form
𝑈𝑥 = 𝑐
where 𝑈 = 𝐸𝑘 · · · 𝐸1 𝐴 and 𝑐 = 𝐸𝑘 · · · 𝐸1 𝑏.
The three row operations I, II and III from Section 1.1 can be accomplished by
multiplying 𝐴 on the left by a nonsingular matrix.
Elementary Matrices
There are three types of elementary matrices corresponding to the three types of
elementary row operations.
Type I An elementary matrix of type I is a matrix obtained by interchanging two
rows of the identity matrix 𝐼.
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Example. The matrix
is an elementary matrix of type I since it was obtained by interchanging the first two
rows of I. If 𝐴 is a 3 × 3 matrix, then
𝐸1 𝐴 interchanges rows 1 and 2 of 𝐴. 𝐴𝐸1 interchanges columns 1 and 2 of 𝐴.
Type II An elementary matrix of type II is a matrix obtained by multiplying a row
of the identity matrix 𝐼 by a nonzero constant.
Example.
𝐸1 𝐴 multiplies row 3 of 𝐴 by 3. 𝐴𝐸1 multiplies column 3 of 𝐴 by 3.
Type III An elementary matrix of type III is a matrix obtained from the identity
matrix 𝐼 by adding a multiple of one row to another row.
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Example.
𝐸1 𝐴 : 𝑅1 + 3𝑅3 . 𝐴𝐸1 : 𝐶3 + 3𝐶1 .
Remark. In general, suppose that E is an 𝑛 × 𝑛 elementary matrix. We can think
of 𝐸 as being obtained from 𝐼 by either a row operation or a column operation.
If 𝐴 is an 𝑛 × 𝑟 matrix, 𝐸𝐴 results in performing that same row operation on 𝐴.
If 𝐵 is an 𝑚 × 𝑛 matrix, 𝐵𝐸 results in performing that same column operation on 𝐵.
Theorem. If 𝐸 is an elementary matrix, then 𝐸 is nonsingular and 𝐸 −1 is an
elementary matrix of the same type.
Definition. A matrix 𝐵 is row equivalent to a matrix 𝐴 if there exists a finite
sequence 𝐸1 , . . . , 𝐸𝑘 of elementary matrices such that
𝐵 = 𝐸𝑘 𝐸𝑘−1 . . . 𝐸1 𝐴
Remark. If two augmented matrices (𝐴 | 𝑏) and (B | c) are row equivalent, then
𝐴𝑥 = 𝑏 and 𝐵𝑥 = 𝑐 are equivalent systems.
If 𝐴 is row equivalent to 𝐵
(i) then 𝐵 is row equivalent to 𝐴;
(ii) if additionally, 𝐵 is row equivalent to 𝐶, then 𝐴 is row equivalent to 𝐶.
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Equivalent Conditions for Nonsingularity
Theorem. Let 𝐴 be an 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrix. The following are equivalent:
(a) 𝐴 is nonsingular.
(b) 𝐴𝑥 = 0 has only the trivial solution 0.
(c) 𝐴 is row equivalent to 𝐼.
Proof.
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Corollary. The 𝑛 × 𝑛 linear system A𝑥 = 𝑏 has a unique solution if and only if 𝐴 is
nonsingular.
Proof.
Remark. If 𝐴 is nonsingular then
𝐸𝑘 𝐸𝑘−1 . . . 𝐸1 𝐴 = 𝐼
𝐸𝑘 𝐸𝑘−1 . . . 𝐸1 𝐼 = 𝐴−1
Thus the same series of elementary row operations that transforms a nonsingular
matrix 𝐴 into 𝐼 will transform 𝐼 into 𝐴−1 .
A method for computing 𝑨−𝟏 : Perform Gauss-Jordan on (𝐴|𝐼) to get (𝐼|𝐴−1 ).
Example. (a) Compute 𝐴−1
(b) Solve the system
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Solution. (a)
Diagonal and Triangular Matrices
Definition. An 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrix 𝐴 is said to be upper triangular if 𝑎𝑖𝑗 = 0 for 𝑖 > 𝑗 and
lower triangular if 𝑎𝑖𝑗 = 0 for 𝑖 < 𝑗. Also, 𝐴 is said to be triangular if it is either upper
triangular or lower triangular.
𝐴 is diagonal if 𝑎𝑖𝑗 = 0 whenever𝑖 ≠ 𝑗. A diagonal matrix is both upper triangular
and lower triangular.
Example. These 3 × 3 matrices are both triangular:
All the following three matrices re diagonal:
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Triangular Factorization
If an 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrix 𝐴 can be reduced to strict upper triangular form using only row
operation III, then it is possible to represent the reduction process in terms of a
matrix factorization.
Example. Let
Use only row operation III to reduce 𝐴 into a strict upper triangular form.
