LECTURE - 12

ANJAN GUPTA

Lemma 1. Let A be a row reduced echelon matrix of size n × n. If A is nonsingular, then A = In .

Proof. Since A is nonsingular, the last row of A must be a nonzero row vector (row vector with at
least one nonzero entry). By the property of row reduced echelon matrices, it follows that all rows
of A are nonzero. Let the leading 1 of the i-th row sits in the ki -th column for i = 1, 2, . . . , n. Then
we have
1 ≤ k1 < k2 < . . . < kn ≤ n.
This forces ki = i for i = 1, 2, . . . , n. Therefore, all diagonal entries are leading one’s of different
nonzero rows. This implies that all entries lying outside the diagonal are zero. Hence A = In . 
Proposition 2. Let A be a square matrix of size n. Then A is invertible if and only A can be written
as a product of elementary matrices of type Ei (c) and Ei j (c), c being a scalar.
Proof. Elementary matrices are invertible. We also know that product of two invertible matrices is
invertible. Therefore, if A is a product of elementary matrices, then A is an invertible matrix.
Conversely, we assume that A is an invertible matrix. We apply a finite number of elementary
row operations of type Ri = R0i + cR j followed by a finite number of elementary row operation
of type R0i = cRi to obtain a row reduced echelon matrix R. Consequently, we obtain elementary
matrices E1 , E2 , . . . , Em of type Ei j (c) and elementary matrices E10 , . . . , En0 of type Ei (c) such that
En0 . . . E10 Em . . . E1 A = R.
Since A, Ei , E 0j are nonsingular matrices, the matrix R is also nonsingular. This implies that
R = In , so En0 . . . E10 Em . . . E1 A = In . It follows that A = E1−1 . . . Em−1 E10−1 . . . En0−1 . Now we know that
inverse of an elementary matrix is an elementary matrix of the same kind. Therefore A is a product
of elementary matrices. 
Lemma 3. Let A be a square matrix. Then A = EDR where E is a product of elementary matrices
of type Ei j (c), D is an invertible diagonal matrix and R is a row reduced echelon matrix.
Proof. The converse part of the previous proposition shows that there are elementary matrices
E1 , E2 , . . . , Em of type Ei j (c) and elementary matrices E10 , . . . , En0 of type Ei (c) such that
En0 . . . E10 Em . . . E1 A = R
is a row reduced echelon matrix. It follows that A = E1−1 . . . Em−1 E10−1 . . . En0−1 R. Now each of E 0−1
j is
an elementary matrix of type Ei (c) which is an invertible diagonal matrix. Therefore their product
E10−1 . . . En0−1 is equal to an invertible diagonal matrix D.
Each Ei−1 is an elementary matrix of type Ei j (c). Let E = E1−1 . . . Em−1 , then E is a product of
elementary matrices of type Ei j (c). Now we observe that A = EDR. Hence the result follows. 
Date: 28/01/2020.

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LECTURE - 12 ANJAN GUPTA

Theorem 4. Let A, B be matrices of the same size. Then det(AB) = det A det B.
Proof. First we assume that A is a diagonal matrix of size n. If diagonal entries of A are d1 , . . . , dn ,
then AB is obtained from B by multiplying rows 1, 2, . . . , n by scalars d1 , d2 , . . . , dn respectively.
This implies det(AB) = d1 . . . dn det B. But det A = d1 . . . dn . Therefore det(AB) = det A det B.
If A is a product of elementary matrices of type Ei j (c), then det A = 1. The product AB can be
obtained from B by applying a finite sequence of elementary operations of type R0i = Ri + cR j on B,
so det(AB) = det B. Therefore det(AB) = det A det B.
Now we prove the result in the general case. By Lemma 3, we obtain A = EDR where E is a
product of elementary matrices of type Ei j (c), D is an invertible diagonal matrix and R is a row
reduced echelon matrix. We consider two cases
Case - 1 : A is a singular matrix.
Since A = EDR and E, D are nonsingular matrices, R is a singular row reduced echelon matrix.
This implies that the last row of R is a zero row. Consequently, the last row of RB is also zero. It
follows that det(RB) = 0. Now
det(AB) = det(EDRB) = det(DRB) = det D det(RB) = 0.
In this case det A = 0. Therefore, det(AB) = det A det B.
Case - 2 : A is a nonsingular matrix. In this case R is a nonsingular row reduced echelon matrix.
By Lemma 1, R = In . Consequently A = ED. Therefore det(A) = det(D). Now
det(AB) = det(EDB) = det(DB) = det D det B = det A det B.
Hence the proof is complete. 

Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal Bypass Road,
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Pin - 462066.
Email address: anjan@iiserb.ac.in