LU factorization

In numerical analysis and linear algebra, LU decomposition (where 'LU' stands for 'lower upper', and also called LU factorization) factors a matrix as the product of a lower triangular matrix and an upper triangular matrix. The product sometimes includes a permutation matrix as well. The LU decomposition can be viewed as the matrix form of Gaussian elimination. Computers usually solve square systems of linear equations using the LU decomposition, and it is also a key step when inverting a matrix, or computing the determinant of a matrix. The LU decomposition was introduced by mathematician Banachiewicz in 1938.

Let A be a square matrix. An LU factorization refers to the factorization of A, with proper row and/or column orderings or permutations, into two factors, a lower triangular matrix L and an upper triangular matrix U,

In the lower triangular matrix all elements above the diagonal are zero, in the upper triangular matrix, all the elements below the diagonal are zero. For example, for a 3-by-3 matrix A, its LU decomposition looks like this:

Without a proper ordering or permutations in the matrix, the factorization may fail to materialize. For example, it is easy to verify (by expanding the matrix multiplication) that ${\displaystyle a_{11}=l_{11}u_{11}}$. If ${\displaystyle a_{11}=0}$, then at least one of ${\displaystyle l_{11}}$ and ${\displaystyle u_{11}}$ has to be zero, which implies either L or U is singular. This is impossible if A is nonsingular. This is a procedural problem. It can be removed by simply reordering the rows of A so that the first element of the permuted matrix is nonzero. The same problem in subsequent factorization steps can be removed the same way; see the basic procedure below.

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