Introduction to Matrices

What is a Matrix?

A matrix is a rectangular arrays of numbers, symbols, or expressions,

arranged in rows and columns.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Key Points
 A matrix  (whose plural is matrices) is a rectangular array of
numbers, symbols, or expressions, arranged in rows and columns.
 A matrix with mm rows and nn columns is called
an m×nm×n matrix or mm-by-nn matrix, where mm and nn are
called the matrix dimensions.
 Matrices can be used to compactly write and work with multiple
linear equations, that is, a system of linear equations. Matrices and
matrix multiplication reveal their essential features when related
to linear transformations, also known as linear maps.

Key Terms
 element: An individual item in a matrix
 row vector: A matrix with a single row
 column vector: A matrix with a single column
 square matrix: A matrix which has the same number of rows and
columns
 matrix: A rectangular array of numbers, symbols, or expressions,
arranged in rows and columns
Types of Matrices
There are many types of matrices available, a few of them are
mentioned below.
Row Matrix
A matrix having only one row is called a row matrix. 
Column Matrix
A matrix having only one column is known as a column matrix. 
Zero or null Matrix
A matrix having all elements as 0 is known as a zero or null matrix.

Square Matrix
A matrix having the same no of columns and rows is known as a
square matrix. 
Diagonal Matrix
A matrix in which all elements are zero except the diagonal elements
is known as a diagonal matrix. 
Scalar Matrix
A special kind of diagonal matrix in which all diagonal elements are the
same is known as a scalar matrix. 

Identity Matrix
Identity matrix is a scalar matrix in which all diagonal elements are 1. 
.       

Equality

Two matrices are equal if and only if

 The order of the matrices are the same

 The corresponding elements of the matrices are the same
Addition

 Order of the matrices must be the same

 Add corresponding elements together
 Matrix addition is commutative
 Matrix addition is associative

Subtraction

 The order of the matrices must be the same

 Subtract corresponding elements
 Matrix subtraction is not commutative (neither is subtraction of
real numbers)
 Matrix subtraction is not associative (neither is subtraction of real
numbers)

Scalar Multiplication

A scalar is a number, not a matrix.

 The matrix can be any order

 Multiply all elements in the matrix by the scalar
 Scalar multiplication is commutative
 Scalar multiplication is associative

Zero Matrix

 Matrix of any order

 Consists of all zeros
 Denoted by capital O
 Additive Identity for matrices
 Any matrix plus the zero matrix is the original matrix

Matrix Multiplication
Am×n × Bn×p = Cm×p

 The number of columns in the first matrix must be equal to the

number of rows in the second matrix. That is, the inner
dimensions must be the same.
 The order of the product is the number of rows in the first matrix
by the number of columns in the second matrix. That is, the
dimensions of the product are the outer dimensions.
 Since the number of columns in the first matrix is equal to the
number of rows in the second matrix, you can pair up entries.
 Each element in row i from the first matrix is paired up with an
element in column j from the second matrix.
 The element in row i, column j, of the product is formed by
multiplying these paired elements and summing them.
 Each element in the product is the sum of the products of the
elements from row i of the first matrix and column j of the second
matrix.
 There will be n products which are summed for each element in
the product.

See a complete example of matrix multiplication.

Matrix multiplication is not commutative

 Multiplication of real numbers is.

 The inner dimensions may not agree if the order of the matrices is
changed.

Do not simply multiply corresponding elements together

 Since the order (dimensions) of the matrices don't have to be the

same, there may not be corresponding elements to multiply
together.
  Multiply the rows of the first by the columns of the second and
add.

There is no matrix division

 There is no defined process for dividing a matrix by another

matrix.
 A matrix may be divided by a scalar.

Identity Matrix

 Square matrix
 Ones on the main diagonal
 Zeros everywhere else
 Denoted by I. If a subscript is included, it is the order of the
identity matrix.
 I is the multiplicative identity for matrices
 Any matrix times the identity matrix is the original matrix.
 Multiplication by the identity matrix is commutative, although the
order of the identity may change

Identity matrix of size 2

  1 0  
I2 =
  0 1 

Identity matrix of size 3

I3 =   1 0 0  

  0 1 0 
   0 0 1 

Properties of Matrices

Property Example

Commutativity of Addition A+B=B+A

Associativity of Addition A+(B+C)=(A+B)+C

Associativity of Scalar Multiplication (cd) A = c (dA)

Scalar Identity 1A = A(1) = A

Distributive c (A + B) = cA + cB

Distributive (c + d) A = cA + dA

Additive Identity A+O=O+A=A

Associativity of Multiplication A (BC) = (AB) C

Left Distributive A (B + C) = AB + AC

Right Distributive ( A + B ) C = AC + BC

Scalar Associativity / Commutativity c (AB) = (cA) B = A (cB) = (AB) c

Multiplicative Identity IA = AI = A

Properties of Real Numbers that aren't Properties of

Matrices
Commutativity of Multiplication

 You can not change the order of a multiplication problem and expect to
get the same product. AB≠BA
 You must be careful when factoring common factors to make sure they
are on the same side. AX+BX = (A+B)X and XA + XB = X(A+B) but AX
+ XB doesn't factor.

Zero Product Property

 Just because a product of two matrices is the zero matrix does not
mean that one of them was the zero matrix.

Multiplicative Property of Equality

 If A=B, then AC = BC. This property is still true, but the converse is not
necessarily true. Just because AC = BC does not mean that A = B.
 Because matrix multiplication is not commutative, you must be careful to
either pre-multiply or post-multiply on both sides of the equation. That is,
if A=B, then AC = BC or CA = CB, but AC≠CB.

There is no matrix division

 You must multiply by the inverse of the matrix

Transpose of a Matrix - Square Matrix 
The matrix that is resulting from a given matrix B after changing or reversing
its rows to columns and columns to rows is called the transpose of a matrix B.
Let us look at the transpose of 2 × 2 and 3 × 3 square matrices.
Transpose of a 2 × 2 Matrix
Let us consider a 2 × 2 matrix C, after interchanging the rows and columns,
the resultant transpose of the matrix CT looks like:

Properties of Transpose of a Matrix

Transpose of a matrix is used in some of the linear transformations as they
reveal some of the important properties of the transformation. Let's learn
about some of the important properties of the transpose of a matrix:

 A square matrix B of order n × n is considered to be an orthogonal matrix, only when BT × B
= B × BT = I, here I is an identity matrix.
 A square matrix B of order n × n is considered to be a skew-symmetric matrix, only when its
transpose BT = -B i.e., it is equal to its negative.
 The transpose of the difference (B - C)T is the difference of transposes of the matrices B and
C. BT - CT =  (B - C)T 
 The transpose of an invertible matrix B is also invertible, and its inverse is actually the
transpose of the inverse of the original matrix B. This can be represented as: (BT)-1 = (B-1)T.
 Transpose when applied to a matrix, has the higher precedence than
multiplication and addition operations i.e., CBT = C(BT) and C + DT = C + (DT)