5.3 Permutations and the Uniqueness of Determinants

这一节讲了permutation，即$1,\dots ,n$的重排与行列式的关系，进而证明了行列式的唯一性。这种处理优于将permutation引入到行列式的定义中，因为permutation的很多性质用行列式的alternate和单位矩阵值为1的已证结论进行证明更为方便。Theorem 2通过给出一个显式的与permutation有关的公式来证明行列式的唯一性，Theorem 3说明行列式具有乘法不变性，由此可以引出很多相关的性质。

Exercises

1.If $K$ is a commutative ring with identity and $A$ is the matrix over $K$ given by
$$A=\left[\begin{array}{ccc}0& a& b\\ -a& 0& c\\ -b& -c& 0\end{array}\right]$$
show that $\det A=0$.
Solution: For the first row, if choose $\sigma 1=2$, then $\sigma 3$ can only be 1 and $\sigma 2=3$, if choose $\sigma 1=3$, then $\sigma 2$ can only be 1 and $\sigma 3=2$, since sgn { 231 } = 1 \text{sgn}\{231\}=1 sgn{ 231}=1 and sgn { 312 } = 1 \text{sgn}\{312\}=1 sgn{ 312}=1, we have $\det A=ac(-b)+b(-a)(-c)=abc-abc=0$.

2.Prove that the determinant of the Vandermonde matrix
$$\left[\begin{array}{ccc}1& a& a^2\\ 1& b& b^2\\ 1& c& c^2\end{array}\right]$$
is $(b-a)(c-a)(c-b)$.
Solution: Use the definition we have
det ⁡ [ 1 a a 2 1 b b 2 1 c c 2 ] = sgn { 123 } 1 b c 2 + sgn { 132 } 1 b 2 c + sgn { 213 } a 1 c 2 + sgn { 231 } a b 2 1 + sgn { 312 } a 2 1 c + sgn { 321 } a 2 b 1 = b c 2 − b 2 c − a c 2 + a b 2 + a 2 c − a 2 b = b c ( c − b ) + a 2 ( c − b ) − a ( b + c ) ( c − b ) = [ b c + a 2 − a b − a c ] ( c − b ) = ( b − a ) ( c − a ) ( c − b ) \begin{aligned}&\quad \det \begin{bmatrix}1&a&a^2\\1&b&b^2\\1&c&c^2\end{bmatrix}\\&=\text{sgn}\{123\}1bc^2+\text{sgn}\{132\}1b^2c+\text{sgn}\{213\}a1c^2+\text{sgn}\{231\}ab^21\\&\quad+\text{sgn}\{312\}a^21c+\text{sgn}\{321\}a^2b1\\&=bc^2-b^2c-ac^2+ab^2+a^2c-a^2b=bc(c-b)+a^2(c-b)-a(b+c)(c-b)\\&=[bc+a^2-ab-ac](c-b)=(b-a)(c-a)(c-b)\end{aligned} ​det⎣⎡​111​abc​a2b2c2​⎦⎤​=sgn{ 123}1bc2+sgn{ 132}1b2c+sgn{ 213}a1c2+sgn{ 231}ab21+sgn{ 312}a21c+sgn{ 321}a2b1=bc2−b2c−ac2+ab2+a2c−a2b=bc(c−b)+a2(c−b)−a(b+c)(c−b)=[bc+a2−ab−ac](c−b)=(b−a)(c−a)(c−b)​

3.List explicitly the six permutations of degree 3, state which are odd and which are even, and use this to give the complete formula (5-15) for the determinant of a $3\times 3$ matrix.
Solution: the six permutations of degree 3 are $123,132,213,231,312,321$, and we have sgn { 123 } = sgn { 231 } = sgn { 312 } = 1 , sgn { 132 } = sgn { 213 } = sgn { 321 } = − 1 \text{sgn}\{123\}=\text{sgn}\{231\}=\text{sgn}\{312\}=1,\text{sgn}\{132\}=\text{sgn}\{213\}=\text{sgn}\{321\}=-1 sgn{ 123}=sgn{ 231}=sgn{ 312}=1,sgn{ 132}=sgn{ 213}=sgn{ 321}=−1, thus if $A$ is a $3\times 3$ matrix, we have
$$\begin{array}{rl}\det A& =A(1,\sigma 1)A(2,\sigma 2)A(3,\sigma 3)-A(1,\sigma 1)A(2,\sigma 3)A(3,\sigma 2)\\ & -A(1,\sigma 2)A(2,\sigma 1)A(3,\sigma 3)+A(1,\sigma 2)A(2,\sigma 3)A(3,\sigma 1)\\ & +A(1,\sigma 3)A(2,\sigma 1)A(3,\sigma 2)-A(1,\sigma 3)A(2,\sigma 2)A(3,\sigma 1)\end{array}$$

4.Let $\sigma$ and $\tau$ be the permutations of degree $4$ defined by $\sigma 1=2,\sigma 2=3,\sigma 3=4,\sigma 4=1,\tau 1=3,\tau 2=1,\tau 3=2,\tau 4=4.$
( a ) Is $\sigma$ odd or even? Is $\tau$ odd or even?
( b ) Find $\sigma \tau$ and $\tau \sigma$.
Solution:
( a ) From $1234$ to $2341$ there needs 3 changes, thus $\sigma$ is odd, from $1234$ to $3124$ there needs 2 changes, thus $\tau$ is even.
( b ) We have $\sigma \tau 1=4,\sigma \tau 2=2,\sigma \tau 3=3,\sigma \tau 4=1$ and $\tau \sigma 1=1,\tau \sigma 2=2,\tau \sigma 3=4,\tau \sigma 4=3$.

5.If $A$ is an invertible $n\times n$ matrix over a field, show that $\det A\ne 0$.
Solution: We have $A{A}^{-1}=I$, and thus use Theorem 3 we have
$$1=\det I=\det (A{A}^{-1})=(\det A)(\det A^{-1})⟹\det A=\frac{1}{[\det A^{-1}]}\ne 0$$

6.Let $A$ be a