
3.9 Inverse Matrix
Definition A square matrix A is said to be singular, if its determinant A
jj
5 0 and
nonsingular, if A
jj
6¼ 0.
Definition The adjoint of a square matrix A, denoted as Adj.A, is defined as the
transpose of the matrix obtained by replacing each element of A by its cofactor.
So, Adj.(A) 5 (A
ji
).
Example Let A 5
21
16
. Then the cofactors of its elements are:
A
11
5 6; A
12
521; A
21
521; and A
22
5 2: So, the matrix of cofactors is
6 21
212
.
Definition If A and B are square matrices such that AB 5 BA 5 I, where I is the
unit matrix of the same order, then B is called the inverse (or reciprocal) of A and
is denoted by A
21
. Similarly, A is said to