Inverse of a Rectangular Matrix

Explore the inverse of rectangular matrices and the idea of left and right inverses.

We’ve already discussed the inverse of a square matrix in detail and provided multiple examples. In this lesson, we’ll extend the discussion to rectangular matrices, which are matrices that have a different number of columns and rows.

Rank and invertibility

The rank of a matrix generally answers the question of invertibility. An m×nm \times n matrix AA is invertible if it has either a full column rank or a full row rank.

r(A)=min(m,n)r(A) = min(m,n)

Also, for any matrix, AA,

r(A)=r(ATA)=r(AAT)r(A)=r(A^TA)=r(AA^T)

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