Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering : A Comprehensive Guide

(Darren Dugan) #1

MATRICES AND VECTOR SPACES


The matricesA,BandCare given by

A=

(


2 − 1


31


)


, B=


(


10


0 − 2


)


, C=


(


− 21


− 11


)


.


Find the matrixD=A+2B−C.

D=


(


2 − 1


31


)


+2


(


10


0 − 2


)



(


− 21


− 11


)


=


(


2+2× 1 −(−2) −1+2× 0 − 1


3+2× 0 −(−1) 1+2×(−2)− 1


)


=


(


6 − 2


4 − 4


)


.


From the above considerations we see that the set of all, in general complex,

M×Nmatrices (with fixedMandN) forms a linear vector space of dimension


MN. One basis for the space is the set ofM×NmatricesE(p,q)with the property


thatEij(p,q)=1ifi=pandj=qwhilstEij(p,q)= 0 for all other values ofiand


j, i.e. each matrix has only one non-zero entry, which equals unity. Here the pair


(p, q) is simply a label that picks out a particular one of the matricesE(p,q),the


total number of which isMN.


8.4.2 Multiplication of matrices

Let us consider again the ‘transformation’ of one vector into another,y=Ax,


which, from (8.24), may be described in terms of components with respect to a


particular basis as


yi=

∑N

j=1

Aijxj fori=1, 2 ,...,M. (8.32)

Writing this in matrix form asy=Axwe have








y 1
y 2
..
.
yM







=






A 11 A 12 ... A 1 N
A 21 A 22 ... A 2 N
..
.

..
.

..
.

..
.
AM 1 AM 2 ... AMN













x 1
x 2

..
.

xN








(8.33)

where we have highlighted with boxes the components used to calculate the


elementy 2 : using (8.32) fori=2,


y 2 =A 21 x 1 +A 22 x 2 +···+A 2 NxN.

All the other componentsyiare calculated similarly.


If instead we operate withAon a basis vectorejhaving all components zero
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