5 INVERSE MATRICES

𝐵
Division in the ordinary sense is undefined in matrix algebra. The expression 𝐴
has no meaning when A is a matrix. We deal with matrix inverse matrices and use them
as multipliers, e.g., A-1B where the product of a matrix and its inverse is an identity
matrix.

The concept of a matrix inverse has been established in the context of solving
simultaneous linear equations. Consider the linear system A𝑥 = 𝑏 that has a unique
solution. A solution for the above system may be obtained if there exists a matrix B
such that BA = I. Then the solution is 𝑥 = B𝑏. We call B the inverse of A.

Section 1 gives the formal definition of the inverse of a square matrix. The
succeeding section defines the adjoint of a matrix which is an important concept in
the computation of the inverse. Section 3 presents some conditions for the existence
of the inverse. Properties of the inverse and some special cases are given in Section 4
and Section 5 respectively.

5.1 Definition of the Inverse

If for a given 𝑛x𝑛 matrix A, there is an 𝑛x𝑛 matrix, denoted by A-1, such that AA-1
= A-1A = In, then A-1 is an inverse of A with respect to matrix multiplication. An
𝑛x𝑛 matrix A is said to be invertible if A-1 exists and is noninvertible if A does not
have an inverse.

Examples:

1 2 −2 1
1. A = [ ], A-1 = [ 3 − 1]
3 4 2 2

4 2 1
−
2 1 0 11 11 11
3 4 2
2. B = [0 2 1], B-1 = 11 11
− 11
3 0 2 6 3 4
[− 11 11 11 ]

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5.2 Adjoint of the Matrix

Let A = {𝑎𝑖𝑗 }. The matrix B = {𝐴′𝑖𝑗 } = {𝐴𝑗𝑖 }, where Aij is the cofactor of 𝑎𝑖𝑗 , is called
the adjoint matrix of A, denoted by adj A.

How to get the adjoint:

1. Solve for the matrix of cofactors of the elements of A, which is cof A = {Aij} =
{(-1)i+j|Mij|} for all 𝑖 and 𝑗.
2. The adjoint of A is simply the transpose of the matrix of cofactors, that is,
adj A = (cof A)’

Examples:
1 2
1. A = [ ], adj A =
3 4

2 1 0
2. B = [0 2 1], adj B =
3 0 2

1 2 4
3. F = [0 2 1], adj F =
1 3 0

Note: |A| = ∑𝑛𝑗=1 𝑎𝑖𝑗 𝐴𝑖𝑗 = ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑎𝑖𝑗 𝐴𝑖𝑗

∑𝑛𝑗=1 𝑎𝑖𝑗 𝐴𝑘𝑗 = 𝑎𝑖1 𝐴𝑘1 +𝑎𝑖2 𝐴𝑘2 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑘𝑛 = 0 𝑖 ≠ 𝑘 and

∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑎𝑖𝑗 𝐴𝑖𝑘 = 𝑎1𝑗 𝐴1𝑘 + 𝑎2𝑗 𝐴2𝑘 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛𝑗 𝐴𝑛𝑘 = 0 𝑗 ≠ 𝑘

⇒ this represents an expansion about the 𝑘th row (𝑘th column) replaced by its
𝑖th row (𝑖th column) and so is a “determinant of a matrix” having 2 rows (cols) the
same ⇒ det is 0.

An 𝑛x𝑛 matrix A is invertible if and only if |A| ≠ 0. Moreover, if 𝑛 ≥ 2 and if A-1

1
exists, then A-1 = |𝐴| adj A.

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 1
Exercise: Show that A 𝑎𝑑𝑗 𝐴 = In by definition of inverse.
|𝐴|

Examples:
1 2
1. A = [ ], A-1 =
3 4

2 1 0
2. B = [0 2 1], B-1 =
3 0 2

1 2 4
3. F = [0 2 1], F-1 =
1 3 0

5.3 Conditions on the Existence of the Inverse

i. A-1 can exist only when A is square.

ii. A-1 exists only when |A| ≠ 0.

An 𝑛x𝑛 matrix A is singular if |A| = 0 and nonsingular if |A| ≠ 0. Singularity is a

property of square matrices only; and only nonsingular matrices have inverses.

5.4 Properties of the Inverse

If A is a square, nonsingular matrix, then its inverse, A-1, has the following
properties:

1. A-1A = A A-1 = I
Proof:

2. A-1 is unique.
Proof:

1
3. If 𝑘 is a nonzero scalar, then (kA)-1 = 𝑘A-1.
Proof:

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 1
4. |A-1| = .
|𝐴|
Proof:

5. A-1 is nonsingular.
Proof:

6. (A-1)-1 = A.
Proof:

7. (A’)-1 = (A-1)’.
Proof:

8. If A = A’, then (A-1)’ = A-1.

Proof:

9. If A-1 and B-1 exist, then (AB)-1 = B-1A-1

Proof:

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 In general, if A1, A2, …, Ar-1, Ar are 𝑛x𝑛 nonsingular matrices, then

(A1A2…Ar-1Ar)-1 = Ar-1Ar-1-1…A2-1A1-1

10. If A and B are 𝑛x𝑛 matrices and if AB = O, then A = O or B = O or both

are noninvertible.
Proof:

11. If A, B, and F are 𝑛x𝑛 matrices and if A is invertible, then AB = AF

implies that B = F.
Proof:

5.5 Some Special Cases

1. Inverse of Order 2
𝑎 𝑥 1 𝑏 −𝑥
Let A = [𝑦 𝑏 ]. Then A -1 = [ ] for 𝑎𝑏-𝑥𝑦 ≠ 0.
𝑎𝑏−𝑥𝑦 −𝑦 𝑎

⇒ if the determinant of A2x2 is nonzero, interchange the diagonal elements,

change the sign of the off-diagonal elements and divide by 𝑎𝑏-𝑥𝑦.

2. Diagonal Matrices
1
If D is a diagonal matrix, then (D{𝑑𝑖𝑖 })-1 = D{𝑑 }, 𝑑𝑖𝑖 ≠ 0 ∀ 𝑖.
𝑖𝑖

Special case: Identity matrices

Example:
1
−1 0 0
2 0 0 2
1
[0 3 0] = 0 3
0
0 0 5 1
[0 0 5]

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 3. In and Jn matrices

In-1 = In

|Jn| = 0, and so has no inverse, but for 𝑎 ≠ 0 and 𝑎 + 𝑛𝑏 ≠ 0,

−1 1 𝑏
(𝑎I𝑛 + 𝑏𝐽𝑛 ) = 𝑎 (I𝑛 − 𝑎+𝑛𝑏 𝐽𝑛 ).

4. Orthogonal matrices
If P is orthogonal, |P| ≠ 0, i.e., P-1 exists and P has the following properties:
i. P is a square matrix;
ii. |P| = ±1;
iii. its rows are orthonormal, PP’ = I;
iv. its columns are orthonormal, P’P = I.

iii and iv are necessary for the other 2 to hold. Thus, another definition
for an orthogonal matrix P is ∋ P’ = P-1.

5. Idempotent matrices

The only idempotent matrices that are nonsingular are identity

matrices. But idempotent matrices can involve nonsingular matrices.

Example: P(QP)-1Q is idempotent when (QP)-1 exists.

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