5.2 Determinant Functions

这一节开始讲行列式。行列式是在一个commutative ring上满足$n$-linear，alternating和$D(I)=1$的函数，而书里的处理是分别把$n$-linear，alternating都显式定义出来，并在定义伴随矩阵后，在Theorem 1中显式给出了一个计算$n$阶行列式的公式，本节并没有涉及行列式是否唯一的证明，但给了2阶、3阶行列式的具体公式。

Exercises

1.Each of the following expressions defines a function $D$ on the set of $3\times 3$ matrices over the field of real numbers. In which of these cases is $D$ a $3$-linear function?
( a ) $D(A)=A_{11}+A_{22}+A_{33}$;
( b ) $D(A)=(A_{11}{)}^2+3A_{11}{A}_{22}$;
( c ) $D(A)=A_{11}{A}_{22}{A}_{33}$;
( d ) $D(A)=A_{13}{A}_{22}{A}_{32}+5A_{12}{A}_{22}{A}_{32}$;
( e ) $D(A)=0$;
( f ) $D(A)=1$.
Solution: Cases ( a ),( c ), ( d ) and ( e ) are. For case ( b ), $D$ is not linear with the first row and the third row, and for case ( f ), $D$ is not linear with all rows.

2.Verify directly that the three functions $E_1,E_2,E_3$ defined by (5-6),(5-7) and (5-8) are identical.
Solution: A direct calculation shows the result.

3.Let $K$ be a commutative ring with identity. If $A$ is a $2\times 2$ matrix over $K$, the classical adjoint of $A$ is the $2\times 2$ matrix $\text{adj }A$ defined by
$$\text{adj }A=\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{22}& -A_{12}\\ -A_{21}& A_{11}\end{array}\right]$$
If $\det$ denotes the unique determinant function on $2\times 2$ matrices over $K$, show that
( a ) $(\text{adj }A)A=A(\text{adj }A)=(\det A)I$;
( b ) $\det (\text{adj }A)=\det (A)$;
( c ) $\text{adj }(A^t)=(\text{adj }A{)}^t$. ($A^t$ denotes the transpose of $A$.)
Solution:
( a ) We have
$$\begin{gathered} (\text{adj }A)A=\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{22}& -A_{12}\\ -A_{21}& A_{11}\end{array}\right]\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{11}& A_{12}\\ A_{21}& A_{22}\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{11}{A}_{22}-A_{12}{A}_{21}& 0\\ 0& A_{11}{A}_{22}-A_{12}{A}_{21}\end{array}\right] \\ A(\text{adj }A)=\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{11}& A_{12}\\ A_{21}& A_{22}\end{array}\right]\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{22}& -A_{12}\\ -A_{21}& A_{11}\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{11}{A}_{22}-A_{12}{A}_{21}& 0\\ 0& A_{11}{A}_{22}-A_{12}{A}_{21}\end{array}\right] \end{gathered}$$
and the conclusion follows.
( b ) It is easy to see that
$$\det (\text{adj }A)=A_{22}{A}_{11}-(-A_{12})(-A_{21})=A_{11}{A}_{22}-A_{12}{A}_{21}=\det (A)$$
( c ) A direct verification shows the result.

4.Let $A$ be a $2\times 2$ matrix over a field $F$. Show that $A$ is invertible if and only if $\det A\ne 0$. When $A$ is invertible, give a formula for $A^{-1}$.
Solution: If $\det A\ne 0$, Exercise 3(a) shows that $A$ is invertible, since $F$ is a field. On the other hand, if $A$ is invertible, and assume $\det A=A_{11}{A}_{22}-A_{12}{A}_{21}=0$, then at least one of $A_{11},A_{22},A_{12},A_{21}$ is not 0, thus one of $X=\left[\begin{array}{c}{A}_{22}\\ -A_{21}\end{array}\right]$ or $X^{\prime }=\left[\begin{array}{c}{A}_{12}\\ -A_{11}\end{array}\right]$ is not zero, but one can see that when $\det A=0$, $AX=0$ and $A{X}^{\prime }=0$, thus $A$ is not invertible, a contradiction.
When $A$ is invertible, one formula of $A^{-1}$ can be given from Exercise 3(a) to be $A^{-1}=(\det A{)}^{-1}(\text{adj }A)$.

5.Let $A$ be a $2\times 2$ matrix over a field $F$, and suppose that $A^2=0$. Show for each scalar $c$ that $\det (cI-A)=c^2$.
Solution: If $A=0$ the concusion is obviously right. Now suppose $A\ne 0$, we have
$$A^2=\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{11}& A_{12}\\ A_{21}& A_{22}\end{array}\right]\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{11}& A_{12}\\ A_{21}& A_{22}\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_{11}^2+A_{12}{A}_{21}& A_{12}(A_{11}+A_{22})\\ A_{21}(A_{11}+A_{22})& A_{12}{A}_{21}+A_{22}^2\end{array}\right]$$
solve the equation
$$\{\begin{array}{l}{A}_{11}^2+A_{1<}\end{array}$$