matrix unit
{{Short description|Concept in mathematics}}
{{Distinguish|unit matrix|unitary matrix|invertible matrix}}
In linear algebra, a matrix unit is a matrix with only one nonzero entry with value 1.{{cite book |last=Artin|first=Michael |title=Algebra |publisher= Prentice Hall|page=9}}{{cite book |chapter=Chapter 17: Matrix Rings |title=Lectures on Modules and Rings |first=Tsit-Yuen |last=Lam |authorlink=Tsit-Yuen Lam |series=Graduate Texts in Mathematics |volume=189 |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |year=1999 |pages=461–479}} The matrix unit with a 1 in the ith row and jth column is denoted as . For example, the 3 by 3 matrix unit with i = 1 and j = 2 is
A vector unit is a standard unit vector.
A single-entry matrix generalizes the matrix unit for matrices with only one nonzero entry of any value, not necessarily of value 1.
Properties
The set of m by n matrix units is a basis of the space of m by n matrices.
The product of two matrix units of the same square shape satisfies the relation
where is the Kronecker delta.
The group of scalar n-by-n matrices over a ring R is the centralizer of the subset of n-by-n matrix units in the set of n-by-n matrices over R.
The matrix norm (induced by the same two vector norms) of a matrix unit is equal to 1.
When multiplied by another matrix, it isolates a specific row or column in arbitrary position. For example, for any 3-by-3 matrix A:{{Cite arXiv
| author = Marcel Blattner
| title = B-Rank: A top N Recommendation Algorithm
| year = 2009
| class = physics.data-an
| eprint = 0908.2741
}}
:
E_{23}A = \left[ \begin{matrix} 0 & 0& 0 \\ a_{31} & a_{32} & a_{33} \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{matrix}\right].
:
AE_{23} = \left[ \begin{matrix} 0 & 0 & a_{12} \\ 0 & 0 & a_{22} \\ 0 & 0 & a_{32} \end{matrix}\right].