Determinant of a Minor

Syntax
# include <cppad/speed/det_of_minor.hpp>  d = det_of_minor(a, m, n, r, c)

Inclusion
The template function det_of_minor is defined in the CppAD namespace by including the file cppad/speed/det_of_minor.hpp (relative to the CppAD distribution directory).

Purpose
This template function returns the determinant of a minor of the matrix $A$ using expansion by minors. The elements of the $n \times n$ minor $M$ of the matrix $A$ are defined, for $i = 0 , \ldots , n-1$ and $j = 0 , \ldots , n-1$, by $$M_{i,j} = A_{R(i), C(j)}$$ where the functions $R(i)$ is defined by the argument r and $C(j)$ is defined by the argument c .  This template function is for example and testing purposes only. Expansion by minors is chosen as an example because it uses a lot of floating point operations yet does not require much source code (on the order of m factorial floating point operations and about 70 lines of source code including comments). This is not an efficient method for computing a determinant; for example, using an LU factorization would be better.

Determinant of A
If the following conditions hold, the minor is the entire matrix $A$ and hence det_of_minor will return the determinant of $A$:
1. $n = m$.
2. for $i = 0 , \ldots , m-1$, $r[i] = i+1$, and $r[m] = 0$.
3. for $j = 0 , \ldots , m-1$, $c[j] = j+1$, and $c[m] = 0$.

a
The argument a has prototype       const std::vector<Scalar>& a  and is a vector with size $m * m$ (see description of Scalar below). The elements of the $m \times m$ matrix $A$ are defined, for $i = 0 , \ldots , m-1$ and $j = 0 , \ldots , m-1$, by $$A_{i,j} = a[ i * m + j]$$

m
The argument m has prototype       size_t m  and is the number of rows (and columns) in the square matrix $A$.

n
The argument n has prototype       size_t n  and is the number of rows (and columns) in the square minor $M$.

r
The argument r has prototype       std::vector<size_t>& r  and is a vector with $m + 1$ elements. This vector defines the function $R(i)$ which specifies the rows of the minor $M$. To be specific, the function $R(i)$ for $i = 0, \ldots , n-1$ is defined by $$\begin{array}{rcl} R(0) & = & r[m] \\ R(i+1) & = & r[ R(i) ] \end{array}$$ All the elements of r must have value less than or equal m . The elements of vector r are modified during the computation, and restored to their original value before the return from det_of_minor.

c
The argument c has prototype       std::vector<size_t>& c  and is a vector with $m + 1$ elements This vector defines the function $C(i)$ which specifies the rows of the minor $M$. To be specific, the function $C(i)$ for $j = 0, \ldots , n-1$ is defined by $$\begin{array}{rcl} C(0) & = & c[m] \\ C(j+1) & = & c[ C(j) ] \end{array}$$ All the elements of c must have value less than or equal m . The elements of vector c are modified during the computation, and restored to their original value before the return from det_of_minor.

d
The result d has prototype       Scalar d  and is equal to the determinant of the minor $M$.

Scalar
If x and y are objects of type Scalar and i is an object of type int, the Scalar must support the following operations:
 Syntax Description Result Type Scalar x default constructor for Scalar object. x = i set value of x to current value of i x = y set value of x to current value of y x + y value of x plus y Scalar x - y value of x minus y Scalar x * y value of x times value of y Scalar

Example
The file det_of_minor.cpp contains an example and test of det_of_minor.hpp. It returns true if it succeeds and false otherwise.

Source Code
The file det_of_minor.hpp contains the source for this template function.