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Sum of Orthogonal Matrices

Conference Paper · February 2011

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Sujan Pant Dennis I. Merino

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 Sums of Orthogonal Matrices
Sujan Pant and Dennis I. Merinoy
July 1, 2011

Abstract
We show that every element of Mn (Z2p+1 ) can be written as a
sum of orthogonal matrices in Mn (Z2p+1 ). We show that not every
element of M2 (Z4 ) can be written as a sum of orthogonal matrices.
We also show that a matrix A in M3 (Z2 ) can be written as a sum of
orthogonal matrices if and only if each column sum and each row sum
of A are equal.

1 Introduction
Matrix decomposition is a common …eld of study in matrix analysis. Most
matrix decompositions deal with representing a given matrix as a product of
other special matrices. For example, the QR decomposition of a matrix A is
A = QU , where Q is orthogonal and U is upper triangular. Another, is the
singular value decomposition, which is writing a real matrix A as A = Q W ,
where Q and W are orthogonal and is diagonal with nonnegative diagonal
entries.
Let Zk be the ring of integers (mod k) under addition and multiplication
and let Mn (Zk ) be the set of n-by-n matrices with entries from Zk . A
matrix A 2 Mn (Zk ) is called orthogonal if AT A = AAT = I [1], where I
is the identity matrix in Mn (Zk ). We are interested in writing matrices in
Mn (Zk ) as a sum of orthogonal matrices.
Department of Mathematics, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA
70402; sujan.pant@selu.edu
y
Faculty Advisor, Department of Mathematics, Southeastern Louisiana University,
Hammond, LA 70402-0687; dmerino@selu.edu

1
 Let U; V 2 Mn (Zk ) be orthogonal matrices. One checks that U V is
also orthogonal. Suppose that A 2 Mn (Zk ) can be written as a sum of
orthogonal matrices, say A = Q1 + + Qk . Then for any orthogonal
matrices U; V 2 Mn (Zk ), we have U AV = U Q1 V + + U Qk V is a sum
of orthogonal matrices. Moreover, because if m is an integer, then mV is
a sum of m copies of V , we also have that an integer multiple of A, say
mA = mQ1 + + mQk is also a sum of orthogonal matrices. Conversely, if
U and V are orthogonal and if U AV can be written as a sum of orthogonal
matrices, say, U AV = Q1 + + Qk , then A = U T Q1 V T + + U T Qk V T is
a sum of orthogonal matrices.
Let A; P 2 Mn (Zk ) be given. Suppose that P is a permutation matrix.
Then P is orthogonal since P P T = I. Notice that P A permutes the rows of
A, while AP permutes the columns of A.

2 Sums of Orthogonal Matrices in M2(Zk )

We begin with M2 (Z2 ). By inspection (there are only 16 matrices in M2 (Z2 )),
1 0 0 1
the only orthogonal matrices in M2 (Z2 ) are and . One can
0 1 1 0
quickly see that using only these two matrices we cannot write all the matrices
in M2 (Z2 ) as a sum of orthogonal matrices. Apart from these two matrices,
0 0 1 1
we can only get and .
0 0 1 1
1 0
Notice that 2 M2 (Z2 ) cannot be written as a sum of orthogonal
0 0
matrices. Actually, more is true.

1 0
Lemma 1 Let n 2 be a given integer. Suppose we can write 2
0 0
M2 (Zn ) as a sum of orthogonal matrices. Then every matrix in M2 (Zn ) can
be written as a sum of orthogonal matrices in M2 (Zn ).

1 0
Proof. Suppose that we can write as a sum of orthogonal matrices.
0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
Then , , and can be written as a sum of orthogonal
0 1 0 0 1 0

2
 0 1
matrices because is an orthogonal matrix in M2 (Zn ) and
1 0

1 0 0 1 0 1
= ,
0 0 1 0 0 0

0 1 1 0 0 0
= ,
1 0 0 0 1 0
and
0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
= .
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
We can get the rest of the matrices by adding integer multiples of these four
matrices.

Now, let an integer p be positive. Notice that in M2 (Z2p+1 ), we have

2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
= + , and notice that and
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
2 0 1 0
are orthogonal. Moreover, (p + 1) = . Hence, every
0 0 0 0

matrix in M2 (Z2p+1 ) can be written as a sum of orthogonal matrices in

M2 (Z2p+1 ). Let n and p be positive integers. Can any A 2 Mn (Z2p+1 ) be
written as a sum of orthogonal matrices in Mn (Z2p+1 )?

Theorem 2 Let positive integers n and p be given. Then every matrix in

Mn (Z2p+1 ) can be written as a sum of orthogonal matrices in Mn (Z2p+1 ).

Proof. Let Eij be the matrix with 1 in the (i; j) position and 0 elsewhere.
Then, 2E11 (and hence E11 ) can be written as a sum of orthogonal matrices.
Notice now that Eij = P E11 Q for some permutation matrices P and Q, that
permutation matrices are orthogonal matrices, and that Eij is a sum of
copies of Eij , for any 2 Z2p+1 .

So far we have looked at matrices with elements coming from the ring
Z2p+1 . Now, we look at what happens if the elements come from the ring Z4 .

a b
Lemma 3 Let A = 2 M2 (Z4 ) be orthogonal. Then a + b is odd,
c d
c + d is odd, b + d is odd, and a + c is odd.

3
Proof. Since A is an orthogonal matrix, we have AT A = I. Now, AT A =
a2 + c2 ab + cd
. So, we get a2 + c2 = 1, which implies that a + c is odd
ab + cd b2 + d2
because exactly one of a or c has to be odd and the other even. Similarly we
get b2 + d2 = 1, which implies that b + d is odd.
Looking at the equality AAT = I, we get that a + b is odd and that c + d
is odd.
a b
Let A = 2 M2 (Z4 ) be orthogonal. Then Lemma 3 guarantees
c d
that a + b is odd and that b + d is odd. Hence, a + d + 2b is even, and
therefore, a + d is even. Similarly, b + c is even.

a b
Theorem 4 Let A = 2 M2 (Z4 ) be orthogonal. Then tr(A) = a+d
c d
is even, and b + c is even.

Let A 2 M2 (Z4 ) be given. If AP is a sum of orthogonal matrices, say,

A = Q1 + Q2 + + Qk , then tr(A) = km=1 tr(Qm ) is even. Notice now that
1 0
B = cannot be written as a sum of orthogonal matrices. Hence,
0 0
not every matrix in M2 (Z4 ) can be written as a sum of orthogonal matrices
in M2 (Z4 ).

Corollary 5 There exists a matrix in M2 (Z4 ) that cannot be written

as a sum of orthogonal matrices in M2 (Z4 ).

3 Sums of Orthogonal Matrices in M3 (Z2)

Let n and k be given integers, and suppose that both are bigger than or
equal to 2. Let P 2 Mn (Zk ) be a permutation matrix. Then P P T = I,
so that P is an orthogonal matrix. Let J be the matrix whose entries are
all 1. Suppose that n is even and that k = 2. Then J 2 = 0, the zero
matrix in Mn (Z2 ). Notice that J is symmetric, so that J T = J. Let
Q 2 Mn (Z2 ) be a permutation matrix. Notice that JQT = QJ T = J.
Moreover, (Q + J) (Q + J)T = QQT + QJ T + JQT + J 2 = I + J + J = I, so
that Q + J is orthogonal. When n 4, Q + J is not a permutation matrix.

4
When n = 2, the only orthogonal matrices in M2 (Z2 ) are the permutation
matrices.
We look at the case when n = 3. Note that in this case, J 2 = J, so that
if Q is a permutation matrix, then Q + J need not be orthogonal.
Let a 2 Z2 be given. Then a2 = a. It follows that if a1 ; a2 ; a3 2 Z2 are
given, then a21 + a22 + a23 = a1 + a2 + a3 .
Let A = [aij ] 2 M3 (Z2 ) be orthogonal. Because AAT = I, the sum
of the squares of the rows of A is 1, that is, for each i = 1; 2; 3, we have
a2i1 + a2i2 + a2i3 = 1. Hence, the sum of the rows of A is also 1, that is, for
each i = 1; 2; 3, we have ai1 + ai2 + ai3 = 1. Moreover, because AT A = I,
the sum of the squares of the columns of A is 1, that is, for each j = 1; 2; 3,
we have a21j + a22j + a23j = 1. Hence, the sum of the columns of A is also 1,
that is, for each j = 1; 2; 3, we have a1j + a2j + a3j = 1.

Theorem 6 Let Q 2 M3 (Z2 ) be orthogonal. Then for each row, the sum
of the elements in that row is 1. Moreover, for each column, the sum of the
elements in that column is also 1.

Let A 2 M3 (Z2 ) be a sum of orthogonal matrices, say A = Q1 + + Qk ,

where Q1 ; :::; Qk are orthogonal matrices in M3 (Z2 ). When k is even, then
the column sums (that is, the sum the elements in each column) and the row
sums of A is 0. When k is odd, then the column sums and the row sums of
A is 1.
Let Q 2 M3 (Z2 ) be orthogonal. Because the column sums and the row
sums of A are 1, then each row and column may have only one 1 or three 1. If
Q has exactly one 1 in each row and in each column, then Q is a permutation
matrix. Suppose that Q has a row of 1. Multiply Q by a permutation P
matrix so that the …rst row of P Q is [1 1 1]. Now, the second row of P Q
must contain exactly one 1 or three 1. If the second row of P Q contains
three 1, then because the sum of the columns of A is 1, we have P Q = J,
which is not an orthogonal matrix. Hence, the second row of P Q contains
only one 1. Multiply P Q by a permutation S so that the (2; 1) entry of
P QS is 1. Notice that the other entries in this row are all 0. Thus, we have
2 3
1 1 1
P QS = 4 1 0 0 5 .
1 0 0

5
However, P QS is not orthogonal. Therefore, the only orthogonal matrices
in M3 (Z2 ) are the permutation matrices:
2 3 2 3 2 3
1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Q1 = 4 0 1 0 5 , Q2 = 4 0 1 0 5 , Q3 = 4 0 0 1 5 ;
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
2 3 2 3 2 3
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Q4 = 4 0 0 1 5 , Q5 = 4 1 0 0 5 , Q6 = 4 1 0 0 5 .
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Theorem 7 Let Q 2 M3 (Z2 ) be given. Then Q is orthogonal if and only if
Q is a permutation matrix.
Let A 2 M3 (Z2 ) be given. Suppose that the row sums and the column
sums of A are equal. We show that A can be written as a sum of orthogonal
matrices in M3 (Z2 ). Notice that such a sum can only be 0 or 1. If the row
sums and the column sums is 1, then A + I has row sums and column sums
of 0. Hence, it is without loss of generality to assume that the row sums
and the column sums of A is 0.
Notice that in each row and in each column, there can be no 1 or there
can be two 1. If the rows and columns contain no 1, then A = 0 = Q + Q
for any orthogonal Q 2 M3 (Z2 ).
Suppose that some rows contain two 1. Multiply A by a permutation
matrix P1 so that the …rst row of P1 A contains two 1. Now, multiply P1 A
by a permutation matrix Q so that the …rst row of P1 AQ = [1 1 0]. Because
the column sums is 0, the …rst column of P1 AQ contains another 1. Multiply
P1 AQ by a permutation matrix P2 so that
2 3
1 1 0
P2 P1 AQ = 4 1 a b 5 .
c d e
Because the column sums of A is 0, we have c = 0.
Suppose that a = 1. Then b = 0, d = 0, and e = 0. That is P2 P1 AQ =
Q1 + Q6 .
Suppose that a = 0. Then b = 1 and d = 1. Moreover, e = 1. That is,
P2 P1 AQ = Q3 + Q6 .
Theorem 8 Let A 2 M3 (Z2 ) be given. Then A can be written as a sum
of orthogonal matrices in M3 (Z2 ) if and only if the row sums of A and the
columns sums of A are all equal.

6
 References
[1] J. Defranza and D. Gagliardi. Introduction To Linear Algebra With Ap-
plication First Edition. McGraw Hill, New York, NY (2009).

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