Basic Properties of Determinants of Square Matrices over a Field

Abstract

In this paper I present basic properties of the determinant of square matrices over a field and selected properties of the sign of a permutation. First, I define the sign of a permutation by the requirement where p is any fixed permutation of a set with n elements. I prove that the sign of a product of two permutations is the same as the product of their signs and show the relation between signs and parity of permutations. Then I consider the determinant of a linear combination of lines, the determinant of a matrix with permutated lines and the determinant of a matrix with a repeated line. Finally, at the end I prove that the determinant of a product of two square matrices is equal to the product of their determinants.