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Row reduction

Gaussian elimination, rank and solving Ax = b.

Three row operations — swap, scale, add a multiple of one row to another — bring any matrix to reduced row-echelon form. The number of pivots is the rank; the reduced form of an augmented matrix reads out the solution of a linear system.

@ action: rref [[1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9]]

Linear-Algebra · Row-Reduction

Rref [[1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9]]

\left[\begin{matrix}1 & 2 & 3\\4 & 5 & 6\\7 & 8 & 9\end{matrix}\right]

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  1. \left[\begin{matrix}1 & 2 & 3\\4 & 5 & 6\\7 & 8 & 9\end{matrix}\right]

    Gauss–Jordan elimination.

  2. \left[\begin{matrix}1 & 2 & 3\\0 & -3 & -6\\7 & 8 & 9\end{matrix}\right]

    R2 ← R2 − (4)·R1 to clear column 1.

  3. \left[\begin{matrix}1 & 2 & 3\\0 & -3 & -6\\0 & -6 & -12\end{matrix}\right]

    R3 ← R3 − (7)·R1 to clear column 1.

  4. \left[\begin{matrix}1 & 2 & 3\\0 & 1 & 2\\0 & -6 & -12\end{matrix}\right]

    R2 ← R2 / -3 to make the pivot 1.

  5. \left[\begin{matrix}1 & 0 & -1\\0 & 1 & 2\\0 & -6 & -12\end{matrix}\right]

    R1 ← R1 − (2)·R2 to clear column 2.

  6. \left[\begin{matrix}1 & 0 & -1\\0 & 1 & 2\\0 & 0 & 0\end{matrix}\right]

    R3 ← R3 − (-6)·R2 to clear column 2.

  7. \left[\begin{matrix}1 & 0 & -1\\0 & 1 & 2\\0 & 0 & 0\end{matrix}\right]

    Reduced row-echelon form.

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\left[\begin{matrix}1 & 0 & -1\\0 & 1 & 2\\0 & 0 & 0\end{matrix}\right]

Symbols used here

A = \begin{pmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{pmatrix}
matrix
A rectangular array of numbers; a linear map.
\leq,\ \geq
less/greater than or equal
Inequalities that allow equality; < and > exclude it.
\mathbf{v},\ \vec{v}
vector
A quantity with magnitude and direction; a column of numbers.
\det A,\ |A|
determinant
Scaling factor of area/volume under A; zero means singular.
A^{-1},\ A^{T}
inverse, transpose
The matrix that undoes A; A with rows and columns swapped.
\lambda
lambda (eigenvalue)
The factor by which an eigenvector is stretched: Av = λv.
\mathbf{u} \cdot \mathbf{v},\ \|\mathbf{v}\|
dot product, norm
Σ u_i v_i; the length of v, √(v·v).

How to: Row reduction

  1. Gauss–Jordan elimination.
  2. R2 ← R2 − (4)·R1 to clear column 1.
  3. R3 ← R3 − (7)·R1 to clear column 1.
  4. R2 ← R2 / -3 to make the pivot 1.
  5. R1 ← R1 − (2)·R2 to clear column 2.
  6. R3 ← R3 − (-6)·R2 to clear column 2.
  7. Reduced row-echelon form.

Questions people ask

What does a determinant mean geometrically?

It is the factor by which the matrix scales area (2×2) or volume (3×3), with a negative sign if orientation flips. Zero means the matrix flattens space and cannot be undone.

What is an eigenvector?

A direction the matrix does not turn — it only stretches it by the eigenvalue. Along eigenvectors a complicated matrix acts like multiplication by a number.

Why is matrix multiplication not commutative?

Because a matrix is a transformation and AB means "do B, then A". Rotating then reflecting is not the same as reflecting then rotating.

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@ action Linear Algebra

DeterminantsMatrix inverseEigenvalues and eigenvectorsMatrix multiplicationVector spaces, span and linear independenceOrthogonality, projections and least squaresDiagonalisation and matrix powersLinear transformations and change of basis