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The adjugate matrix is the transpose of the cofactor matrix: . Cofactor expansion gives the adjugate identityFor an invertible matrix this yields . Integer entries of imply integer cofactors, so makes its inverse integral. Conversely, if and both have integer entries, their determinants are integers and . The only integer units are . Hence an invertible integer matrix has an integer inverse exactly when it is a unimodular matrix, with determinant . Invertibility is implicit whenever is used.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ib Paper 3 10E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The Cayley-Hamilton theorem states that every square matrix satisfies its characteristic polynomial: if , then .
For the proof, the adjugate identity givesWrite and compare coefficients. Multiplying the resulting recurrence by successive powers of and summing telescopically yields .