Lesson plan

Block matrix

In mathematics, a block matrix or a partitioned matrix is a matrix that is interpreted as having been broken into sections called blocks or submatrices. Intuitively, a matrix interpreted as a block matrix can be visualized as the original matrix with a collection of horizontal and vertical lines, which break it up, or partition it, into a collection of smaller matrices. For example, the 3×4 matrix presented below is divided by horizontal and vertical lines into four blocks: the top-left 2×3 block, the top-right 2×1 block, the bottom-left 1×3 block, and the bottom-right 1×1 block. \left[ \begin{array}{ccc|c} a_{11} & a_{12} & a_{13} & b_{1} \\ a_{21} & a_{22} & a_{23} & b_{2} \\ \hline c_{1} & c_{2} & c_{3} & d \end{array} \right] Any matrix may be interpreted as a block matrix in one or more ways, with each interpretation defined by how its rows and columns are partitioned. This notion can be made more precise for an n by m matrix M by partitioning n into a collection \text{rowgroups} , and then partitioning m into a collection \text{colgroups} . The original matrix is then considered as the "total" of these groups, in the sense that the (i, j) entry of the original matrix corresponds in a 1-to-1 way with some (s, t) offset entry of some (x,y) , where x \in \text{rowgroups} and y \in \text{colgroups} .…

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Article summary

In mathematics, a block matrix or a partitioned matrix is a matrix that is interpreted as having been broken into sections called blocks or submatrices. Intuitively, a matrix interpreted as a block matrix can be visualized as the original matrix with a collection of horizontal and vertical lines, which break it up, or partition it, into a collection of smaller matrices. For example, the 3×4 matrix presented below is divided by horizontal and vertical lines into four blocks: the top-left 2×3 block, the top-right 2×1 block, the bottom-left 1×3 block, and the bottom-right 1×1 block. \left[ \begin{array}{ccc|c} a_{11} & a_{12} & a_{13} & b_{1} \\ a_{21} & a_{22} & a_{23} & b_{2} \\ \hline c_{1} & c_{2} & c_{3} & d \end{array} \right] Any matrix may be interpreted as a block matrix in one or more ways, with each interpretation defined by how its rows and columns are partitioned. This notion can be made more precise for an n by m matrix M by partitioning n into a collection \text{rowgroups} , and then partitioning m into a collection \text{colgroups} . The original matrix is then considered as the "total" of these groups, in the sense that the (i, j) entry of the original matrix corresponds in a 1-to-1 way with some (s, t) offset entry of some (x,y) , where x \in \text{rowgroups} and y \in \text{colgroups} .…

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  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

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