Basic Properties of the Rank of Matrices over a Field

Abstract

In this paper I present selected properties of triangular matrices and basic properties of the rank of matrices over a field. I define a submatrix as a matrix formed by selecting certain rows and columns from a bigger matrix. That is in my considerations, as an array, it is cut down to those entries constrained by row and column. Then I introduce the concept of the rank of a m x n matrix A by the condition: A has the rank r if and only if, there is a r x r submatrix of A with a non-zero determinant, and for every k x k submatrix of A with a non-zero determinant we have k ≤ r. At the end, I prove that the rank defined by the size of the biggest submatrix with a non-zero determinant of a matrix A, is the same as the maximal number of linearly independent rows of A.