MATH 2J: Below is the list of definitions you need to know for the course.

Since we dont have

much time in sessions, I think this is a great way that you can study on your own. Ill update the
list as we go. ( I dont put section numbers because I dont have the same book as you do, so I
just put section title instead)
If you see I miss anything, please feel free to let me know.

DISCLAIMER: this is NOT everything you need to know so dont use this as your only study
guide. It is a study aid.



SYSTEM OF LINEAR EQUATIONS

Definition A linear equation of n-variable
n
x x x , , ,
2 1
has the form
c x a x a x a
n n
= + + +
2 2 1 1

where
n
a a a , , ,
2 1
and c are constants and the
i
a are called the coefficients and not all equal to
zero.

Definition A system of linear equations or linear system is a collection of one or more linear
equations of the same variables
n
x x x , , ,
2 1
. A solution of a linear system is a list ( )
n
s s s , , ,
2 1

that is a solution of each of the equation in the system. The set of all possible solution is called
the solution set of the linear system.

Definition If two linear systems with the same variables have the same solution set then they are
said to be equivalent.

Definition A system with no solutions is called inconsistent.
A system with one or more solutions is called consistent.

ROW ECHELON FORMS

Definition These operations are known as elementary row operations.
(i) Interchange two equations
(ii) Multiply an equation by a nonzero constant
(iii) Add a multiple of one equation to another equation

The process of transforming a system into a triangular form is known as Gaussian elimination.

Consider the linear system of m equations and n unknowns (variables)


11 1 12 2 1 1
21 1 22 2 2 2
1 1 2 2

n n
n n
m m mn n m
a x a x a x b
a x a x a x b
a x a x a x b
+ + + =
+ + + =
+ + + =

- ( )
11 12 1 1
21 22 2 2
1 2

|
n
n
m m mn n
a a a b
a a a b
A b
a a a b
(
(
(
=
(
(
(

is called the augmented matrix of linear system

- A is called the coefficient matrix of linear system

Definition A matrix is in row echelon form if it has the following 3 properties:

(i) All nonzero rows are above any rows of all zeros.
(ii) Each leading entry of a row is in a column to the right of the leading entry of the row
above it.
(iii) All entries in a column below a leading entry are zero.
Note: A matrix satisfies all of the above conditions and the following additional conditions
then it is in reduced row echelon form:

(iv) The leading entry in each nonzero row is 1.
(v) Each leading 1 is the only nonzero entry in its column

A vector a is said to be a linear combination of the vectors
1 2
, , ,
n
a a a if it can be written as
1 1 2 2 n n
c c c = + + + a a a a
where
1 2
, , ,
n
c c c are scalars

Theorem : Existence of Solutions OR consistency theorem for linear system: the equation
A = x b has a solution if and only if b is a linear combination of the columns of A.

Definition An identity matrix is a square n n matrix of the form

1 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 1
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

any matrix multiplies by an identity matrix will remain unchanged i.e. AI IA A = = .

MATRIX ALGEBRA

Definition: two m n matrices A=
ij
a (

and B=
ij
b (

are said to be equal if
, 1 , 1
ij ij
a b i m j n = s s s s i.e. if corresponding entries are equal.

Definition : A scalar multiplication of a matrix A by a scalar o results in a new matrix
ij
B A a o o ( =

=

Definition: if A=
ij
a (

and B=
ij
b (

are both m n matrices then the sum of A and B is the matrix
C=
ij
c (

where
ij ij ij
c a b = + , 1 , 1 i m j n s s s s .

Definition: if A=
ij
a (

is an m l matrix and B=
ij
b (

is an l n matrix, then the product of A
and B is the m n matrix C=
ij
c (

, defined by
1 1 2 2 ij i j i j il lj
c a b a b a b = + + + , 1 , 1 i m j n s s s s

In matrix form



Definition If A is an n n matrix and there exists a matrix B such that AB BA I = = then A is
said to be invertible or nonsingular and the matrix B is called an inverse of A. The inverse of
matrix A is denoted by
1
A

. If A doesnt have an inverse then it is a singular matrix.

1 1 1
( ) AB A B

= .

Definition The transpose of an m n matrix A is an n m matrix denoted by
T
A whose columns
are formed from the corresponding rows of A.

Definition An n n matrix A is symmetric if
T
A A = .

Algebraic properties of matrices and their transposes:

Let A, B , and C be matrices and o , | be constants the following statements are true

1.
2. ( ) ( )
3. ( ) ( )
A B B A
A B C A B C
AB C A BC
+ = +
+ + = + +
=




1 11 12
2 11 12 1 1 21 22 11 12 1
21 22 2 2 21 22 2
1 2
1 2 1 2
1 2
p
p j n n
j n n
ip i i ij
p p pj pn m m mn
m m
mp
a a a
a b b b b a a c c c
b b b b c c c
a a a c
b b b b c c c
a a a
(
(
( (
(
( (
(
( (
( =
( (
(
( (
(
(

(
(

( )
( )
4. ( )
5. ( )
6. ( ) ( )
7. ( ) ( ) ( )
8. ( )
9. ( )
10.
11.
T T
T T T
T
T
T
T T
A B C AB AC
A B C AC BC
A A
AB A B A B
A A
A B A B
A A
AB B A
o| o |
o o o
o o
+ = +
+ = +
=
= =
=
+ = +
=
=









12.
1 1 1
( ) AB A B

=

ELEMENTARY MATRICES

Definition: An elementary matrix is one that is obtained by performing a single elementary row
operation on an identity matrix.

- If an elementary row operation is performed on an m n matrix A, the resulting matrix is
written as EA, where E is created by performing the same row operation on
m
I .
- Elementary matrix E is invertible. The inverse of E is the elementary matrix of the
same type that transforms E back into I.

Theorem : An n n matrix A is invertible A is row equivalent to
n
I and in this case, any
sequence of elementary row operations that reduces A to
n
I also transform
n
I into
1
A

.
Or:
If there exist
1 2
, , ,
k
E E E such that E
1
E
2
E
k
.A = I, then A
-1
= E
1
E
2
E
k

To find A
-1
- Row reduce the augmented matrix | | | A I .
- If A is row equivalent to I, then | | | A I is row equivalent to
1
| I A

(


- Otherwise, A does not have an inverse.

DETERMINANTS

Definition : a determinant is a number that is assigned to a square array of number in a certain
way.

Notations: there are many ways to denote determinant of a matrix A

1. det( ) A
2. A
3.
11 12 1
21 22 2
1 2
n
n
n n nn
a a a
a a a
a a a

- In general, the determinant of of an n n matrix A may be computed by a cofactor
expansion along any row or down any column.

1. The cofactor expansion across the
th
i row is

1 1 2 2
det( )
i i i i in in
A a A a A a A = + + +

2. The cofactor expansion down the
th
j column is

1 1 2 2
det( )
j j j j nj nj
A a A a A a A = + + +

Definition: Cofactor of A : ( 1) det( )
i j
ij ij
A M
+
=

Minor: M
ij
is a matrix obtained by removing the i
th
row and the j
th
column

PROPERTIES OF DETERMINANTS

- Det(A
T
) = det(A)
- Det(A
-1
) =
1
dct(A)

- Det(A: R
i
R
j
) = -det(A)
- Det(A: R
i
) = det(A)
- Det(A: R
i
+R
j
) = det(A)
- Det(AB) = det(A)det(B)
- Det(A) 0 A is nonsingular
- Det(a square trianglular matrix A) = product of diagonal entries of A
- Det(A)=0 if
o A has a row or column with all zero entries
o A has 2 identical rows/columns
o A is singular


ADJOINT & CRAMERS RULE

Definition: An adjoint of A is a matrix of cofactors denoted by adj Aand defined by

11 21 1
12 22 2
1 2

n
n
n n nn
A A A
A A A
adj A
A A A
(
(
(
=
(
(

where ( ) ( )
1 det
i j
ij ij
A M
+
=


Remarks:
1
1
det( )
A adj A
A

=

Cramers Rule:

Let A be an invertible n n matrix and h
n
, the unique solution x of x b A = has entries
given by
det( ( ))
det( )
b
i
i
A
x
A
=
where ( ) b
i
A is the matrix obtained from A by replacing column i by the vector b.

EIGEN VALUES & EIGEN VECTORS

Definition:
If Ax

is in the direction of x

then Ax

is parallel to x

i.e.

Ax x =

for some number .

- is called the eigenvalue of A
- x

is the eigenvectors of A corresponding to

Remarks: How to find eigen values and eigen vectors
- Write (A I)
- Write det(A I) and factor the polynomial
- Solve det(A I) = 0 to get eigenvalue
- Plug each in (A I)x = 0 and solve the system using row echelon form to get eigen
vector x

Definition: the set of all solutions of ( ) 0 A I x =

is called the eigenspace of A corresponding

to .

Theorem: if n n matrices A and B are similar then they have the same characteristic
polynomial and the same eigenvalues.
- Recall A and B are similar if there exists a matrix P such that
1
P AP B

= or
1
A PBP

= .


Remarks:
- Sum of eigenvalues = sum of the diagonal entries = ( ) tr A

- Product of eigenvalues = det( ) A


DIAGONALIZATION

Definition: Matrix A is diagonalizable if there exist a nonsingular matrix P and a diagonal
matrix D such that P
-1
AP = D

Theorem: the diagonalization theorem

- An n n matrix A is diagonalizable if and only if A has n linearly independent
eigenvectors.

- If
1
A PDP

= where D is diagonal, then its diagonal entries are the eigenvalues of A and
the columns of P are the corresponding eigenvectors.