Elementary Linear Algebra 7th Edition

Published by Cengage Learning
ISBN 10: 1-13311-087-8
ISBN 13: 978-1-13311-087-3

Appendix - Mathematical Induction and Other Forms of Proofs - Exercises - Page A6: 10

Answer

See the proof below.

Work Step by Step

Consider the following statement: For every positive integer $n$, given matrices $A_1,A_2,\ldots,A_n$ with sizes such that the product $A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_n$ is defined, we have that $$\left(A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_n\right)^T=A_n^T\cdots A_3^TA_2^TA_1^T.$$ We will use mathematical induction to prove that the statement is true. $\textbf{1.}$ We have that the statement is true for $n=1$ since $A_1^T=A_1^T$. $\textbf{2.}$ Suppose the statement holds for $n=k$, that is, suppose that $$\left(A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_k\right)^T=A_k^T\cdots A_3^TA_2^TA_1^T$$ where the matrices $A_1,A_2,\ldots,A_n$ are such that the product $A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_n$ is defined. Now, let $A_1,A_2,A_3,\ldots,A_k,A_{k+1}$ be matrices with sizes such that the product $A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_kA_{k+1}$ is defined. Then, we have that $$\left(A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_kA_{k+1}\right)^T=\left(\left(A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_k\right)A_{k+1}\right)^T.$$ Now, we know from a previous theorem that if $A$ and $B$ are matrices such that the product $AB$ is defined, then $\left(AB\right)^T=B^TA^T$ and therefore, if we let $A=A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_k$ and $B=A_{k+1}$ we have that $$\left(\left(A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_k\right)A_{k+1}\right)^T=A_{k+1}^T\left(A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_k\right)^T.$$ By our hypothesis we have that $$\left(A_1A_2\cdots A_k\right)^T=A_k^T\cdots A_3^TA_2^TA_1^T$$ which implies that $$A_{k+1}^T\left(A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_k\right)^T=A_{k+1}^T\left(A_k^T\cdots A_3^TA_2^TA_1^T\right)=A_{k+1}^TA_k^T\cdots A_3^TA_2^TA_1^T$$ and therefore, $$\left(A_1A_2A_3\cdots A_kA_{k+1}\right)^T=A_{k+1}^TA_k^T\cdots A_3^TA_2^TA_1^T.$$ Thus, the statement is true for $n=k+1$ whenever it is true for $n=k$. Hence, the mathematical induction principle guarantees that the formula is true for every positive integer $n$.
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