Identity matrix


The identity matrix In\mathrm{I}_{n} of size nn is an n×nn\times n square matrix with ones on the diagonal and zeros elsewhere:

In=(100010001)\mathrm{I}_{n}=\begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 & \ldots & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & \ldots & 0 \\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ 0 & 0 & \ldots & 1 \end{pmatrix}

It can be defined by its entries using the Kronecker delta as

(In)ij=δij(\mathrm{I}_{n})_{ij}=\delta_{ij}

Properties

  • Given an n×mn\times m matrix A\mathrm{A}, matrix multiplication of A\mathrm{A} with the identity matrix does not result in any change: InA=AIm=A\mathrm{I}_{n}\mathrm{A}=\mathrm{A}\mathrm{I}_{m}=\mathrm{A}.
  • The rank of the identity matrix is its size: rank In=n\text{rank }\mathrm{I}_{n}=n.
  • The trace is also equal to its size: Tr In=n\text{Tr }\mathrm{I}_{n}=n.
  • The determinant is one regardless of size: detIn=1\det \mathrm{I}_{n}=1.