Determinants: summary of main results

We begin with the determinant of a 2 2 matrix

det

a c

b d b d

= ad bc

a Notation : det (A) or c

Next we list the main properties of determinants. Properties also true for nn case. In fact they motivate

the denition of det (A) for n > 2. Det. of an n n matrix = product of pivots when permutation is not used. Adjust signs when permuting.

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 Properties written for columns (easier to write) but are

also true for rows Notation: We let A = [u, v] columns u, and v are in R2.

1 If v = u then det (A) = 0.

Determinant of linearly dependent vectors is zero If any one column is zero then determinant is zero

2 Interchanging columns or rows: det [v, u] = det [u, v] 3 Linearity: det [u, v + w] = det [u, v] + det [u, w]

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 det (A) = linear function of each column (individually) det (A) = linear function of each row (individually)  What is the determinant det [u, v + u]?

4 Determinant of transpose det (A) = det (AT ) 5 Determinant of Identity det (I) = 1 6 Determinant of a diagonal: det (D) = d1d2 dn

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7 Determinant of a triangular matrix (upper or lower) det (T ) = a11a22 ann 8 Determinant of product of matrices [IMPORTANT] det (AB) = det (A)det (B) 9 Consequence: Determinant of inverse 1 det (A1) = det (A)
 What is the determinant of A?  What can you say about the determinant of an orthog-

onal matrix (AT A = I)?

 Is it true that det (A + B) = det (A) + det (B)?

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Determinants general denition Consider now in the situation of a11 a12 a21 a22 A= . . . . an1 an2 n n matrices: a1n a2n . ... . ann

General idea: det of A is the sum of all possible products of one entry per row of A. Each product has a sign. Consider the situation n = 3.
We will need to use all permutations of [1, 2, 3] = [2, 1, 3] is one such permutation. It signature is

1 because we need one interchange to go from [1, 2, 3] to [2, 1, 3] (swapped 1 and 2)

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 = [3, 1, 2] is another such permutation. It signature

is +1 because we need two interchanges to go from [1, 2, 3] to [3, 1, 2]

Here are all permutations with their signatures

[ [ [ [ [ [ 1 1 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 1 1 2 3 2 1 3 2 1 ] ] ] ] ] ]

Sign. +1 1 +1 1 +1 1

We will denote by sig() the signature of

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Denition of Det. det (A) =

sig()a1(1)a2(2) an(n)

Where the sum runs over all (n!) possible permutations of [1, 2, , , n]. Case n = 3 [ [ [ [ [ [
7

1 1 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 1 1 2 3 2 1 3 2 1 ] ] ] ] ] ]

Sign. +1 1 +1 1 +1 1

Det = +a11a22a33 a11a23a32 +a12a23a31 a12a21a33 +a13a21a32 a13a22a31

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Cofactors
Let Mij be the (n 1) (n 1) matrix obtained from

A by deleting its i-th row and its j-th column.

Dene C the matrix with entries:

cij = (1)i+j det Mij

Then the following is an expansion of determinant with

respect to its i-th row: det (A) =

In addition

n j=1

aij cij CT

A1 =

det (A)

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Areas and volumes

Area of a parallelogram in R2 spanned

by points (0, 0), (a, b), (c, d), (a + c, b + d) is: (x1, y1), (x2, y2), (x3, y3) is: 1 1 det 1 2 1

det

a c

b d

Area of triangle in R2 spanned by the points

x1 x2 x3

y1 y2 y3

Volume of a parallelogram in R3 spanned by points (x1, y1, z1), (x2, y2, z2), (x3, y3, z3) is x1 y 1 z 1 det x2 y2 z2 x3 y 3 z 3
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