1

Lecture Notes for Mathematical Methods for Economics I......................................................................................1

Chapter 7: Equivalence................................................................................................................................................1
7.1 Rank of a Matrix...................................................................................................................................................1
7.2 Elementary Transformations and their Inverses...................................................................................................2
7.2.1 Elementary Transformations (ET).................................................................................................................2
7.2.2 Inverse Elementary Transformation (IT).......................................................................................................3
7.3 Equivalent Matrices..............................................................................................................................................4
7.4 Elementary Transformation Matrices...................................................................................................................6
7.5 The Normal Form of a Matrix..............................................................................................................................7
7.6 Echelon Matrices and the Rank of a Matrix.........................................................................................................7

Lecture Notes for Mathematical Methods for Economics I

Prepared by M. Franklin and R. Hosein1
Chapter 7: Equivalence
7.1 Rank of a Matrix
Consider the general nn matrix outlined below:

a 11 a 1n

A=

a n1 a nn
The rank of a matrix is the number of linearly independent rows or columns of a matrix.
Accordingly, a matrix is said to have a rank r if at least one of its rr (i.e. r - square) minors is
non zero and all other (r + 1, . n) minors are zero.2
e.g.

1
2

We would like to acknowledge the research assistance of M. Maharaj.

The number of r r minors in an n n matrix is n.

1 2 3

A= 1 2 5

2 4 8
|A| = 1

-2

+3

= (16 20) 2(8 10) + 3(4 4)

= 4 2(-2) + 0
=0
|A| = 0. This means the rank cannot be 3 since the determinant of the 33 matrix is zero.
Minors of A are

251 3 2 1
,,
482 4 51 2

25
The rank of this matrix is 2 since the minor

48

0 (Note that some of the other minors are

also non-zero.)
Given this definition of the rank of a matrix, we may state that an n-square matrix A is nonsingular if it is has full rank, i.e. r = n, otherwise it is said to be singular.
It should be noted that for two matrices A and B, the rank of their product AB is not larger than
the smaller of the rank of A and of B.
i.e. r(AB) [r(A), r(B)]
The rank of an n n identity matrix is obviously n.
7.2 Elementary Transformations and their Inverses
7.2.1 Elementary Transformations (ET)
The following list of elementary transformations on the n-square matrix A has no effect on its
order nor its rank.
(a)

Interchanging any two rows (or columns) of A does not change its rank nor its order. We shall
denote the interchanging of two rows by Rij (interchange the ith row with the jth row) and two
columns by Cij (interchange the ith column with the jth column).

Example 7.1

~
4
1

is an example of interchanging two rows and

2
3

~
4
4

is an

example of interchanging two columns.

(b)

If the ith row or jth column is scaled up by some constant , its order and rank remain
unchanged. This elementary transformation is denoted by Ri and Ci for rows and column
respectively.

Example 7.2
a

~
c
a

Similarly,
c

(c)

is an example of the effect on row 1 by scaling it by the factor .

a
~
d
c
b

is an example of scaling up column 1 by

If row j is added to row i, the rank and order of the matrix remains the same. The same
applies if column j is added to column i. These transformations are denoted by R ij () and
Cij () as applicable to rows and columns respectively.

These elementary transformations, a, b and c, when applied to rows are called elementary row
transformations and when applied to columns are called elementary column transformations.
Example 7.3

1 2 3

A= 1 2 5

2 4 8
If we perform the elementary transformation R31(4), then this says to add 4 times row 1 onto
row 3.

Solution

1 2 3

A= 1 2 5 ~

2 4 8

1
2 4

2
5
8 4 12 8

1 2 3

, A* = 1 2 5

6 12 20

7.2.2 Inverse Elementary Transformation (IT)

If ET is an elementary transformation on A which yield A*, then the application of inverse
transformation, i.e. ET-1 or IT, on A* will give A.
For the elementary transformations a, b and c above, the associated inverse elementary
transformations are:
(a) Rij-1 = Rij

Cij-1 = Cij

(b) Ri-1 () = Ri (1/)

Ci-1 () = Ci (1/)

(c) Rij-1 () = Rij (-)

Cij-1 () = Cij (-)

In example 7.1 above, we added 4 times row 1 onto row 3, denoted by the elementary
transformation: R31 (4). The corresponding inverse elementary transformation is R31 (-4), as this
reproduces the matrix A. R31 (-4) is thus the inverse elementary transformation of R31 (4).
Note then that the inverse of an elementary transformation is itself an elementary transformation.
Example 7.4
2

If A = 5
8

3
6
9

7
10

R13(3) means add 3 times row 3 to row 1 to give:

26

A* = 5
8

30

34

7
10

If we perform the elementary inverse transformation R 13(-3), which tells us to add -3 times row 3
onto row 1, we will get:
2

A= 5
8

3
6
9

7
10

For a matrix A of order m n, its rank r satisfies r m or r n. If m < n, then r m. For a nsquare invertible matrix A, its rank is r = n since the matrix is non-singular. If the matrix A is
singular then r < n. The difference between n and r, i.e. n r, is called the nullity of the n-square
matrix A. If the matrix is non-square, i.e. of order m n, where m n, then 2 nullities exist:
1. Row Nullity: m r
2.

Column Nullity: n r

For a matrix with zero rank, all its elements are zero.
7.3 Equivalent Matrices
Two matrices are said to be equivalent if one can be derived from the other via a series of
elementary transformations. Two matrices X and Y satisfying this condition will have the same
rank and order.
The row equivalent of two matrices X and Y exists when Y is derived from X via a series of row
operations. X and Y satisfying the conditions of equivalence are represented XY.
Example 7.5
What is the rank of matrix A below?

1 2 1 4

A= 2 4 3 5

1 2 6 7

Solution

R22R1

R3+R1

1 2 1 4 1 2 1 4 1 2 1

A = 2 4 3 5 ~ 0 0 5 3 ~ 0 0 5

1 2 6 7 1 2 6 7 0 0 5
The rank of this matrix is 2 as

1
5

4
3

R3R2

4 1 2 1 4
3 ~ 0 0 5 3

3 0 0 0 0
is non-zero.

1 2 1 4

If we let B = 0 0 5 3 , then A~B, and we say A is equivalent to B.

0 0 0 0

Example 7.6
Determine the rank and nullity of the matrix below:

1 3 2

A = 3 9 6

2 6 4
Solution
Rank = 1 since the |33| matrix and all |22| = 0
Nullity = 3-1 = 2
7.4 The Normal Form of a Matrix
Consider any matrix A with rank r > 0. This matrix can be reduced to the normal form:

[Ir],

Ir 0
0 0

, [Ir, 0],

Ir
0

using only row and column transformations.

Example 7.7

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120

A= 3 4 1

2 3 2

1 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
2 0 2 1 5 0 2 1 5 0 2 1 5
5 0 7 2 3 0 2 7 3 0 0 8 8

1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 2 1 5 ~ 0 2 0 4 ~ 0 2 0 4 ~ 0 1 0

0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

0 1 0 0 0
2 ~ 0 1 0 0

0 0 0 1 0

= I 3 0
The elementary transformations used are
R21 (-3), R31 (2); C21(-2), C41(1); R32(1); 1/8 R4; R21(-1); C43(-1); 1/2 R2; C42(2).
7.5 Echelon Matrices and the Rank of a Matrix
The characteristics of the echelon matrix are as follows:
(i)

In each row, the first non-zero entries is a one (1). This called the leading 1.

(ii)

From row to row, the position of each successive leading one (1) is to the right of the
previous one. More specifically, for aij = 1, in the echelon form:
ai+1, j+1 = 1
ai+2, j+2 = 1
and so on.

(iii)

It is possible that some of the rows of the matrix will be reduced to zero when deriving
the echelon form. These rows are put at the bottom of the matrix. (In the special form we
are considering, no rows are equal to zero.)

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For any matrix A, the number of non-zero rows in the echelon form is known as the rank of the
matrix. As will be seen in chapter 10, the rank of a matrix A, which represents the coefficient of
variables in a system of linear equations, is extremely important in determining the nature of the
solution set for the system of equations.