Questions tagged [determinants]
Questions about the determinant of square matrices or linear endomorphisms. Also for closely related topics such as minors or regularized determinants.
88 questions
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votes
3
answers
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Number of unique determinants for an NxN (0,1)-matrix
I'm interested in bounds for the number of unique determinants of NxN (0,1)-matrices. Obviously some of these matrices will be singular and therefore will trivially have zero determinant. While it ...
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24
votes
7
answers
16k
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Expected determinant of a random NxN matrix
What is the expected value of the determinant over the uniform distribution of all possible 1-0 NxN matrices? What does this expected value tend to as the matrix size N approaches infinity?
- 251
4
votes
5
answers
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About adding a negative definite rank-1 matrix to a symmetric matrix
If $B$ is a symmetric matrix then how do its eigenvalues compare to the eigenvalues of $B - vv^T$? ( where $v$ is a vector of the same dimension as $B$)
I guess that the eigenvalues of $B - vv^T$ ...
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53
votes
7
answers
51k
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Determinant of sum of positive definite matrices
Say $A$ and $B$ are symmetric, positive definite matrices. I've proved that
$$\det(A+B) \ge \det(A) + \det(B)$$
in the case that $A$ and $B$ are two dimensional. Is this true in general for $n$-...
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28
votes
4
answers
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Jacobi's equality between complementary minors of inverse matrices
What's a quick way to prove the following fact about minors of an invertible matrix $A$ and its inverse?
Let $A[I,J]$ denote the submatrix of an $n \times n$ matrix $A$ obtained by keeping only the ...
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11
votes
1
answer
579
views
Catalan determinants in search of a proof: Part II
This problem involves the Catalan numbers $C_n=\frac1{n+1}\binom{2n}n$.
I can prove the below equality by computing each of the two sides, directly. That means, there is an algebraic proof.
...
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11
votes
1
answer
633
views
Determinant of a certain Vandermonde matrix
Is there a closed form expression for the determinant of the $n\times n$ Vandermonde-type matrix
$$A = \left(\begin{array}{}
1&g_1 & x_1&g_1 x_1 & x_1^2&g_1 x_1^2 & \cdots &...
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8
votes
2
answers
2k
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Determinant of real Wishart matrix
Suppose $A$ is a real $N \times P$ matrix, $P \geq N$, with entries drawn independently according to $A_{ij} \sim \mathcal{N}(0,1)$. Then $W = A \, A^\top$ is a member of the real Wishart ensemble. ...
- 83
4
votes
1
answer
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Generating functions for Hankel determinants of Catalan numbers
The Hankel determinants of the Catalan numbers are well known and can be written as
$d(k,n)= \det \left( C_{k + i + j} \right)_{i,j = 0}^{n - 1}=\prod_{i=1}^{k-1}\frac{\binom{2n+2j}{j}}{\binom{2j}{j}}$...
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Determinants in Graph Theory
In graph theory, we work with adjacency matrices which define the connections between the vertices. These matrices have various linear-algebraic properties. For example, their trace can be calculated (...
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5
answers
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Expected value of determinant of simple infinite random matrix
Suppose we have a matrix $A \in \mathbb{R}^{n\times n}$ where
$$A_{ij} = \begin{cases} 1 & \text{with probability} \quad p\\ 0 &\text{with probability} \quad1-p\end{cases}$$
I would like to ...
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votes
1
answer
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Hankel determinants of binomial coefficients
For $\{h_{n}\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ a real sequence, denote by $H_{n}$ the $n\times n$ Hankel matrix of the form
$$
H_{n}:=\begin{pmatrix}
h_{0} & h_{1} & \dots & h_{n-1}\\
h_{1} & ...
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12
votes
1
answer
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Is the image of the map $A \to \bigwedge^k A$ closed over $\mathbb{R}$?
Let $V$ a real vector space of dimension $d$. Let $1<k < d-1$. Consider the map induced by the exterior algebra functor:
$$ \psi:\text{End}(V) \to \text{End}(\bigwedge^kV) \, \, \, \, , \, \, ...
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11
votes
3
answers
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A class of matrix determinants between Wronskians and Vandermondes
Update: see below
Let $M$ be an $n\times n$ matrix that's constructed as follows. Construct the right-most column of $M$ as $[\alpha_1(x_1),\cdots,\alpha_n(x_n)]^T$ for some class of fixed functions $...
- 4,952
11
votes
2
answers
558
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Classification of algebras of finite global dimension via determinants of certain 0-1-matrices
I restrict to the elementary problem that is equivalent to give a classification when Morita-Nakayama algebras have finite global dimension (see the end of this post for some background).
A Morita-...
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10
votes
2
answers
2k
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Is this a metric on the Grassmannian Manifold?
Let $m>n$ and consider the Set
$$S_{m,n}=\{A \in \mathbb{R}^{m \times n}\lvert A^TA=I_n \}.$$
Does the function $d\colon S_{m,n} \times S_{m,n} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ defined by
$$d(A,B)=\sqrt{1-\...
- 2,286
8
votes
1
answer
321
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"Almost Hankelized" numerical Vandermonde
One of the more utilized determinant is that of Vandermonde's
$$\begin{vmatrix}
1&x_1&x_1^2&\dots&x_1^{n-1}\\
1&x_2&x_2^2&\dots&x_2^{n-1}\\
\ldots&\ldots&\...
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7
votes
3
answers
221
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What is special in dimension $2$ (When characterizing isometries using the cofactor matrix)?
Let $A$ be a real $n \times n$ matrix. Denote by $\operatorname{cof} A$ The cofactor matrix of $A$. By definition, $A (\operatorname{cof} A)^T=\det A \cdot I$.
Thus, it is immediate that $A \in \...
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5
votes
2
answers
2k
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Iterated calculation of determinants
Given a $4 \times 4$ matrix $S$ over a commutative ring $R$. I want to consider it as a $2\times 2$ matrix over $M_2(R)$. Lets say $S=\left(\begin{array}{cc} A&B \\\ C&D\end{array}\right)$ ...
- 11.1k
3
votes
0
answers
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Matrices with only two different entries and maximal determinant
Define $\mathcal M_n$ as the set of all $n\times n$ matrices of full rank with each entry either 1 or $x$.
I am interested in how big the determinant of such a matrix can be. For this, we define in a ...
- 13.4k
1
vote
0
answers
214
views
How to calculate Toeplitz-type determinant expansion?
We want to calculate next sum in different point in limit of large $N, N_f$.
Initial expression is expansion around $h=0$ by definition. And the answer is known . This is ($N_f/N= \kappa$)
$$
\lim_{N ...
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
Expected size of determinant of $AA^T$ for non-square random $A$
If $A$ is chosen uniformly at random over all possible $m \times n$ (0,1)-matrices, what is the expected size of the absolute value of the determinant of $AA^T$. We can assume $m < n$ and all ...
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63
votes
7
answers
9k
views
How to prove this determinant is positive?
Given matrices
$$A_i= \biggl(\begin{matrix}
0 & B_i \\
B_i^T & 0
\end{matrix} \biggr)$$
where $B_i$ are real matrices and $i=1,2,\ldots,N$, how to prove the following?
$$\det \big( I + e^...
- 845
56
votes
21
answers
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Wonderful applications of the Vandermonde determinant
This semester I am assisting my mentor teaching a first-year undergraduate course on linear algebra in Peking University, China. And now we have come to the famous Vandermonde determinant, which has ...
40
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6
answers
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Linear transformation that preserves the determinant
It seems "common knowledge" that the following holds:
Let $T$ be a linear transformation on $n\times n$ matrices with complex coefficients that preserves the determinant. Then there exists ...
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31
votes
1
answer
4k
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Determinants of binary matrices
I was surprised to find that most $3\times 3$ matrices with entries in $\{0,1\}$ have determinant $0$ or $\pm 1$. There are only six out of 512 matrices with a different determinant (three with $2$ ...
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31
votes
2
answers
1k
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How to make the Capelli's identity less mysterious?
The formulation of the Capelli's identity is very elementary; it has important applications in invariant theory and representation theory, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capelli%27s_identity
To ...
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29
votes
1
answer
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Is there an explicit formula for the hessian of "Determinant"?
Let $f: G= \mbox{GL}(n,\mathbb{R}) \to \mathbb{R}$ be the determinant function.
Then $\mbox{Hess} (f)$ is a two linear map on $M_{n}(\mathbb{R})\simeq T_{e}(G)$ where $e$ is the neutral element of $G$,...
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votes
2
answers
1k
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Some binomial coefficient determinants
It is well known that for $n>0$
$$d(n)=\det\left(\binom{2i+2j+1}{i+j}\right)_{i,j=0}^{n-1}=1.$$
Computer experiments suggest that more generally
$$d(n,k)=\det\left(\binom{2i+2j+2k+1}{i+j}\right)_{i,...
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votes
4
answers
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What are Picard categories, where can I learn more about them, and why should I care to?
I have the category-theoretic background of the occasional stroll through MacLane's text, so excuse my ignorance in this regard. I was trying to learn all that I could on the subject of tensor ...
- 1,539
19
votes
2
answers
576
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Eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the matrix with entries $\dbinom{n+1}{2j-i}$ for $i, j = 1, 2, \ldots, n$
Let $n$ be a nonnegative integer, and let $B$ be the $n \times n$-matrix (over the rational numbers) whose $\left(i, j\right)$-th entry is $\dbinom{n+1}{2j-i}$ for all $i, j \in \left\{ 1, 2, \ldots, ...
- 33.8k
19
votes
4
answers
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determinant of the table of characters
I am certain that the answer to this question exists somewhere. It might be a classical exercise.
Let $G$ be a finite group. Its table of characters is a square matrix, whose rows are indexed by the ...
- 52.3k
17
votes
1
answer
854
views
Determinantal identities for perfect complexes
Let $S$ be a noetherian scheme. Let $V,W$ be vector bundles on $S$. There is a canonical isomorphism of line bundles
$$
{\rm det}(V\otimes W)\cong{\rm det}(V)^{\otimes{\rm rk}(W)}\otimes{\rm det}(W)^{\...
- 3,076
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How to prove the determinant of a Hilbert-like matrix with parameter is non-zero
Consider some positive non-integer $\beta$ and a non-negative integer $p$. Does anyone have any idea how to show that the determinant of the following matrix is non-zero?
$$
\begin{pmatrix}
\frac{1}{\...
- 163
15
votes
1
answer
578
views
Matrix with small elements and prescribed determinant
Let $p$ be a large prime number. I want a $k\times k$ matrix with determinant $p$ and bounded integer elements (say, from -100 to 100). For which minimal $k$ such a matrix does always exist? We can ...
- 109k
15
votes
3
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5k
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How to show a certain determinant is non-zero
For any $n$ distinct points $x_1,x_2 , \ldots , x_n$ on the real line show that
the matrix $M$ where $M(i,j) = e^{\lambda_j x_i} $ has non-zero determinant
where $\lambda_1 \lt \lambda_2 \lt \ldots \...
- 251
13
votes
1
answer
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A difficult determinant
(EDIT: I have removed the denominators I had in a previous version as they were superfluous)
The $N\times N$ determinant
$$D(a,\vec{b})=\det\left((2N+a+b_j-i-j)!\right)$$
has the nice form
$$D(a,\...
- 2,552
12
votes
2
answers
2k
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Determinant of identity matrix plus Hilbert matrix
I am looking for the determinant
$$ \det(I_n + H_n) $$
where $I_n$ is the $n \times n$ identity matrix and $H_n$ is the $n \times n$ Hilbert matrix, whose entries are given by
$$ [H_n]_{ij} = \frac{...
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11
votes
1
answer
740
views
Determinants of octonionic hermitian matrices
For quaternionic hermitian matrices (i.e. quaternionic square matrices $(a_{ij})$ satisfying
$a_{ji}=\bar a_{ij}$) there is a nice notion of (Moore) determinant which can be defined as follows.
...
- 21.8k
11
votes
3
answers
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views
yet another determinant and inverse of a matrix
This problem is some variation of another MO question. Consider the matrix
$$M_n:=\begin{bmatrix}-c& a & a& \dots & a \\ b & c & a& \ddots & a\\ b & b & -c &...
- 43.2k
11
votes
2
answers
1k
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A binomial determinant fomula
Is there an existing or elementary proof of the determinant identity
$
\det_{1\le i,j\le n}\left( \binom{i}{2j}+ \binom{-i}{2j}\right)=1
$?
- 171
11
votes
4
answers
5k
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Maximum determinant of $\{0,1\}$-valued $n\times n$-matrices
What's the maximum determinant of $\{0,1\}$ matrices in $M(n,\mathbb{R})$?
If there's no exact formula what are the nearest upper and lower bounds do you know?
- 111
10
votes
4
answers
554
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Hankel determinants of harmonic numbers
Let $H_n=\sum_{k=1}^n\frac 1 k$ be the $n$-th harmonic number with $H_0=0.$
Question: Is the following true?
$$\det\left(H_{i+j}\right)_{i,j=0}^n=(-1)^n \frac{2H_{n}}{n! \prod_{j=1}^n \binom{2j}{j} \...
- 5,622
10
votes
2
answers
985
views
Determinantal symmetry: proof requested: Part I
Consider the determinantal function
$$F(a,b,c):=\det\left[\binom{i+j+a+b}{i+a}\right]_{i,j=0}^{c-1}.$$
I would like to ask:
QUESTION. Can you provide an argument, combinatorial or otherwise, to ...
- 43.2k
10
votes
2
answers
537
views
Prove that the matrix $[\Gamma(\lambda_{i}+\mu_{j})]$ is nonsingular
Let A is a $n\times n$ matrix given by \begin{align*} a_{ij} = [\Gamma(\lambda_{i}+\mu_{j})] \end{align*} where $0 < \lambda_{1} < \ldots < \lambda_{n}$ and $0 < \mu_{1} < \ldots < \...
- 233
9
votes
2
answers
425
views
Matrix of cosecants appearing in equivariant index computations
In a computation of characters of certain representations of finite cyclic groups which appear as equivariant indices of Dirac operators (using the Atiyah-Bott fixed point formula, cf. [1, Theorem 8....
- 186
8
votes
2
answers
3k
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Determinant of a matrix having diagonal and subdiagonal entries zero
I have found the determinant of the following matrix of order $n\ge3$ using some elemetary operations
$$\begin{bmatrix}0& 1 & 1& \dots & 1 \\ 0 & 0 & 1& \ddots & 1\\ 1 ...
- 640
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Geometric interpretation of the Desnanot–Jacobi Identity
Given a square $n\times n$ matrix $M$, let $M_i^j$ denote the $(n-1)\times(n-1)$ matrix obtained from M by omitting the $i$-th row and $j$-th column of $M$.
The Desnanot–Jacobi Identity states
$$\det(...
- 81
8
votes
2
answers
722
views
Does $(2n)!$ divide $\det[(i^2+j^2)^n]_{0\le i,j\le n-1}$ for each integer $n>2$?
For $n=1,2,3,\ldots$ let $a_n$ denote the determinant $\det[(i^2+j^2)^n]_{0\le i,j\le n-1}$. Then
$$a_1=0,\ a_2=-1,\ a_3=-17280,\ a_4= 1168415539200.$$
QUESTION: Is it true that $(2n)!\mid a_n$ for ...
- 15.6k
7
votes
2
answers
818
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Determinant of matrix with Stirling numbers as elements
After noticing that the determinant of an $n \times n$ matrix $A_n$ with elements $a_{i,j}=i^j$, $1 \le i \le n$, $1 \le j \le n$, is the superfactorial (product of the first $n$ factorials), I wanted ...
- 1,000