Encyclopedia > Permanent

  Article Content

Permanent

In linear algebra, the permanent of an n-by-n matrix A=(ai,j) is defined as
<math>\operatorname{per}(A)=\sum_{\sigma\in S_n}\prod_{i=1}^n a_{i,\sigma(i)}</math>
The sum here extends over all elements σ of the symmetric group Sn, i.e. over all permutations of the number 1,2,...,n.

For example,

<math>\operatorname{per}\begin{pmatrix}a&b\\
c&d\end{pmatrix}=ad+bc.</math>

The definition of the permanent of A differs from that of the determinant of A in that the signatures of the permutations are not taken into account. If one views the permanent as a map that takes n vectors as arguments, then it is a multilinear map and it is symmetric (meaning that any order of the vectors results in the same permanent). A formula similar to Laplace's for the development of a determinant along a row or column is also valid for the permanent; all signs have to be ignored for the permanent.

Unlike the determinant, the permanent has no easy geometrical interpretation; it is mainly used in combinatorics. The permanent is not multiplicative. It is also not possible to use Gaussian elimination to compute the permanent; no fast algorithms for its computation are known.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Sakhalin

... specific fauna of gigantic ammonites, occur at Dui on the west coast, and Tertiary conglomerates, sandstones, marls and clays, folded by subsequent upheavals, in many ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 33.2 ms