rank of a matrix
Let be a division ring, and an matrix over . There are four numbers we can associate with :
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1.
the dimension of the subspace spanned by the columns of viewed as elements of the -dimensional right vector space over .
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2.
the dimension of the subspace spanned by the columns of viewed as elements of the -dimensional left vector space over .
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3.
the dimension of the subspace spanned by the rows of viewed as elements of the -dimensional right vector space over .
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4.
the dimension of the subspace spanned by the rows of viewed as elements of the -dimensional left vector space over .
The numbers are respectively called the right column rank, left column rank, right row rank, and left row rank of , and they are respectively denoted by , , , and .
Since the columns of are the rows of its transpose , we have
In addition, it can be shown that for a given matrix ,
For any , it is also easy to see that the left column and row ranks of are the same as those of . Similarly, the right column and row ranks of are the same as those of .
If is a field, , so that all four numbers are the same, and we simply call this number the rank of , denoted by .
Rank can also be defined for matrices (over a fixed ) that satisfy the identity , where is in the center of . Matrices satisfying the identity include symmetric and anti-symmetric matrices.
However, the left column rank is not necessarily the same as the right row rank of a matrix, if the underlying division ring is not commutative, as can be shown in the following example: let and be vectors over the Hamiltonian quaternions . They are columns in the matrix
Since , they are left linearly dependent, and therefore the left column rank of is . Now, suppose , with . Since , then , which boils down to two equations and , and which imply that , showing that are right linearly independent. Thus the right column rank of is .
Title | rank of a matrix |
Canonical name | RankOfAMatrix |
Date of creation | 2013-03-22 19:22:42 |
Last modified on | 2013-03-22 19:22:42 |
Owner | CWoo (3771) |
Last modified by | CWoo (3771) |
Numerical id | 15 |
Author | CWoo (3771) |
Entry type | Definition |
Classification | msc 15A03 |
Classification | msc 15A33 |
Related topic | DeterminingRankOfMatrix |
Defines | left row rank |
Defines | left column rank |
Defines | right row rank |
Defines | right column rank |