Clarification on what is considered reduced row-echelon form

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of reduced row-echelon form (RREF) in the context of 2x2 matrices. Participants are examining specific matrices to determine if they meet the criteria for RREF.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants are exploring the definition of RREF and questioning whether certain matrices, particularly those with all zero entries, can be classified as RREF. There is also a discussion about the necessary properties that define RREF, including the conditions for leading coefficients.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants providing definitions and questioning the implications of those definitions. Some guidance has been offered regarding the properties of RREF, but there remains uncertainty about the classification of matrices with all zero entries.

Contextual Notes

There is a focus on the definitions and properties of RREF, with participants noting the absence of explicit requirements for nonzero rows in the definitions being discussed.

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Homework Statement


In a 2x2 matrix are these considered RREF?
(0 0, 0 0) and (0 1, 0 0)
 
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Well, is the definition of RREF?
 
According to wikipedia, it is:
In linear algebra a matrix is in row echelon form if

* All nonzero rows (rows with at least one nonzero element) are above any rows of all zeroes, and
* The leading coefficient (the first nonzero number from the left, also called the pivot) of a nonzero row is always strictly to the right of the leading coefficient of the row above it.
 
Are you unsure whether these two matrices have those properties then?

And what is the third condition, for reduced row echelon form?
 
Every leading coefficient is 1 and is the only nonzero entry in its column.

From the looks of it, it looks like it follows those properties, but I'm just confused if it is still rref if everything is 0, since it doesn't have a leading 1.
 
The definition doesn't say that there must be nonzero rows (for your first matrix). In your second matrix
[0 1]
[0 0]
The leading entry in the first row is a 1.
 

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