[Math] Invertibility and rank

linear algebramatrices

How do you formally prove that a matrix A is invertible if and only if it has full rank, without using determinants?

Best Answer

If a matrix $A$ has full rank the row reduced echelon form of $A$ will be the identity matrix.

We can find the inverse of $A$, multiplying I by the elementary row operations.

Note that if $E_1 E_2...E_k A= I$, then $A^{-1}= E_1 E_2...E_k I.$