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Question 89 of 110

Q.Define diagonal and scalar matrices.

Tamil Nadu DgeTamil Nadu HSC First Year (DGE) Board 2019Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★
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Concept understanding — Types of Matrices

A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers (or real-valued functions) arranged in rows and columns, enclosed in square brackets. If a matrix AA has mm rows and nn columns, we say AA is of order m×nm \times n, and write A=[aij]m×nA = [a_{ij}]_{m\times n}, 1≤i≤m, 1≤j≤n1 \le i \le m,\ 1 \le j \le n, where aija_{ij} is the entry common to the iith row and jjth column.

The book classifies matrices by shape and pattern of entries:

  • Row matrix: only one row, order 1×n1 \times n.
  • Column matrix: only one column, order m×1m \times 1.
  • Zero (null/void) matrix OO: every entry is 00.
  • Square matrix: number of rows = number of columns, order n×nn \times n. The entries a11,a22,…,anna_{11}, a_{22}, \ldots, a_{nn} form the principal (main/leading) diagonal.
  • Diagonal matrix: a square matrix in which every off-diagonal entry is 00 (i.e. aij=0a_{ij}=0 whenever i≠ji\ne j); the diagonal entries themselves may be anything, including 00.
  • Scalar matrix: a diagonal matrix whose diagonal entries are all equal to the same constant cc.
  • Unit (identity) matrix InI_n: a diagonal matrix whose diagonal entries are all 11. Every unit matrix is a scalar matrix (with c=1c=1), and every square zero matrix is a (trivial) scalar/diagonal matrix.
  • Upper triangular matrix: a square matrix with every entry below the main diagonal equal to 00, i.e. aij=0a_{ij}=0 for all i>ji>j. …

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