ENSIA Academic year 2023-2024

Linear Algebra Second Academic Semester

Worksheet 3 : Matrices and Determinants

Exercise 1 Perform, if possible, the following

 operations
 :  
    1 0   1 5 −3  


1 −1 5 −2  2 −1 5
−2 3 + 1 3 ; + ; 3 −5+ ; (−2) 0, 5 3 0  ; 3 ;
−3 2 7 6 2 3 −1
 6 1 6 2 2
  1 −2 0    
5

2 1 1 −1
× 3 −2 ; 2 −1 1 × 3 −2 2 ; × ;
−1 3 2 1 1
  5 −5 1   
  −1 −1 0 a b c 1 a c
−1 −1 0
× 1 4 −1 ;  c b a × 1 b b  .
3 1 4
2 1 2 1 1 1 1 c a

Exercise 2 Let A be a square matrix and let n ∈ N∗ . Do we have :

A invertible ⇔ An invertible ?
 
1 2 0
Exercise 3 Let A =  0 1 3 .
0 0 1
1. Compute (A − I)n for all n ⩾ 1.
2. Deduce An for all n ⩾ 1.
3. Show that A is invertible and give A−1 .
 
0 1 1
Exercise 4 Let A =  1 0 1 .
1 1 0
1. Find two real numbers α and β such that A2 = αI3 + βA.
2. Deduce that A is invertible and give its inverse.
3. Retrieve the inverse of A using RREF.
 
0 0 0
Exercise 5 Let A = −2 1 −1.
2 0 2
1. Compute A3 − 3A2 + 2A.
2. What is the remainder of the Euclidean division of X n by X 3 − 3X 2 + 2X ?
3. Compute An for n ∈ N. Is A invertible ?

Exercise 6 A matrix A is said to be nilpotent if there exists a positive integer p such that
Ap = 0. Let A, B ∈ Mn (R) be two nilpotent matrices verifying AB = BA.
1. Show that AB and A + B are nilpotent.
2. Show that In − A is invertible and give its inverse.

1
Exercise 7 Let A, B ∈ Mn (R).
1. Suppose Tr(AAT ) = 0. What can we say about A ?
2. Show that if ∀X ∈ Mn (R), Tr(AX) = Tr(BX), then A = B.

Exercise 8 Let f be an endomorphism of R3 . Let

 
15 −11 5
A =  20 −15 8 
8 −7 6

be the matrix representing f with respect to the standard basis (e1 , e2 , e3 ) of R3 .

1. Show that the vectors

e′1 = 2e1 + 3e2 + e3 , e′2 = 3e1 + 4e2 + e3 , e′3 = e1 + 2e2 + 2e3

form a basis of R3 .
2. Determine the matrix representing f with respect to this basis.

Exercise 9 Let a and b be two real numbers and A be the matrix

 
a 2 −1 b
A=  3 0 1 −4 
5 4 −1 2

Show that r(A) ⩾ 2. For what values of a and b, r(A) = 2 ?

Exercise 10 Let V be a vector space of dimension n and f an endomorphism of V such that

f 2 = f . Set r = dim Imf . Show that there exists a basis B = (e1 , . . . , en ) of V such that :
f (ei ) = ei if i ⩽ r and f (ei ) = 0 if i > r. Determine the matrix of f with respect to basis B.

Exercise 11 Let (v1 , v2 , v3 ) be a basis of R3 . Let ϕ be the linear map defined by ϕ(v1 ) = v3 ,
ϕ(v2 ) = −v1 + v2 + v3 and ϕ(v3 ) = v3 .
1. Give the matrix A representing ϕ in the basis (v1 , v2 , v3 ). Determine Ker(ϕ).
2. Set w1 = v1 − v3 , w2 = v1 − v2 , w3 = −v1 + v2 + v3 . Write v1 , v2 , v3 in terms of w1 , w2 , w3 .
Is (w1 , w2 , w3 ) a basis of R3 ?
3. Write ϕ(w1 ), ϕ(w2 ), ϕ(w3 ) in terms of w1 , w2 , w3 . Give the matrix B representing ϕ in
the basis (w1 , w2 , w3 ). What can we deduce about ϕ ?
 
1 1 −1
4. Set P =  0 −1 1 . Verify that P is invertible and compute P −1 . What is the
−1 0 1
relation between A, B, P and P −1 ?

Exercise 12 Let f be the endomorphism of R2 represented in the standard basis by the matrix
2
 
2 3
A= .
− 52 − 23
   
−2 −2
Set v1 = and v2 = .
3 5
1. Show that B ′ = (v1 , v2 ) is a basis of R2 and determine M(f, B ′ ).

2
 2. Compute An for n ∈ N.

Exercise 13 Let V be a vector space of dimension n. Let f be an endomorphism of V , M its

matrix with respect to a basis B of V and M ′ its matrix with respect to a basis B ′ of V . Show
that
Tr (M ) = Tr (M ′ ).

Exercise 14 [Final Exam 2022] Let A and B be two square matrices of size n that satisfy :
for any square matrix M of size n, we have AM B = 0. Prove that A = 0 or B = 0.

Exercise 15 Compute the determinants of the following matrices :

   
      0 1 2 3 0 1 1 0
  1 0 6 1 0 2 1 0 −1 
7 11 1 2 3 0 1
  0 0 1
;  3 4 15 ;
  3 4 5 ;
  2 3 5 ; ; .
−8 4 2 3 0 1 1 1 0 1
5 6 21 5 6 7 4 1 3
3 0 1 2 1 1 1 0

Exercise 16 Compute, if possible, the inverse matrix of each of the following matrices :
 
  0 1 1 1
    1 2 1
1 2 a b  1 0 1 1
; ; 1 2 −1 ;  .
−1 3 c d 1 1 0 1
−2 −2 −1
1 1 1 0

Exercise 17 Let t1 , t2 , · · · , tn ∈ C. Show that

1 t1 t21 . . . t1n−1
1 t2 t22 . . . t2n−1 Y
= (tj − ti ).
... ... ... ... ...
1⩽i<j⩽n
1 tn t2n . . . tnn−1

Exercise 18 Let a1 , a2 , · · · , an be n real numbers. Compute the following determinant of size

n.
a1 a2 a3 · · · an
a1 a1 a2 · · · an−1
Dn = .
··· ··· ··· ··· ···
a1 a1 a1 · · · a1

Exercise 19 Let n be a positive integer. We suppose that there exist two automorphisms f
and g of Rn such that
f ◦ g + g ◦ f = 0.
Prove that n is even.