Assume that A is invertible. And let x0 be any solution of Ax=0. Then the following equation holds.
Ax0=0
Multiplying both sides of the above equation by A−1 results in:
⟹(A−1A)x0x0=A−10=0
Therefore, Ax=0 has only the trivial solution.
■
(b) ⟹ (c)
Assume that the homogeneous system Ax=0 has only the trivial solution. Then solving this homogeneous system yields:
x1x2⋱xn=0=0=0=0
Representing this with the augmented matrix results in:
10⋮001⋮0⋯⋯⋱⋯00⋮100⋮0
Therefore, the reduced row echelon form of A is In.
■
(c) ⟹ (d)
Assume that the reduced row echelon form of A is In. Then, due to the properties of elementary matrices, there exists an elementary matrix E1,E2,…,Ek such that the following equation holds:
Ek…E2E1A=In
Then, by the properties of the inverse matrix, the following holds:
A=Ek−1…E2−1E1−1In=Ek−1…E2−1E1−1
■
(d) ⟹ (a)
Assume that A can be represented as a product of elementary matrices. Since an elementary matrix is an invertible matrix, and the product of invertible matrices is also an invertible matrix, A is an invertible matrix.