# linsolve

Solve linear equations in matrix form

## Description

example

X = linsolve(A,B) solves the matrix equation AX = B, where B is a column vector.

example

[X,R] = linsolve(A,B) also returns the reciprocal of the condition number of A if A is a square matrix. Otherwise, linsolve returns the rank of A.

## Examples

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Solve this system of linear equations in matrix form by using linsolve.

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc}2& 1& 1\\ -1& 1& -1\\ 1& 2& 3\end{array}\right]\left[\begin{array}{c}x\\ y\\ z\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{c}2\\ 3\\ -10\end{array}\right]$

A = [ 2 1  1;
-1 1 -1;
1 2  3];
B = [2; 3; -10];
X = linsolve(A,B)
X =
3
1
-5

From X, x = 3, y = 1 and z = –5.

Compute the reciprocal of the condition number of the square coefficient matrix by using two output arguments.

syms a x y z
A = [a 0 0; 0 a 0; 0 0 1];
B = [x; y; z];
[X, R] = linsolve(A, B)
X =
x/a
y/a
z

R =
1/(max(abs(a), 1)*max(1/abs(a), 1))

If the coefficient matrix is rectangular, linsolve returns the rank of the coefficient matrix as the second output argument. Show this behavior.

syms a b x y
A = [a 0 1; 1 b 0];
B = [x; y];
[X, R] = linsolve(A, B)
Warning: Solution is not unique because the system is rank-deficient.
In sym.linsolve at 67
X =
x/a
-(x - a*y)/(a*b)
0
R =
2

## Input Arguments

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Coefficient matrix, specified as a symbolic matrix.

Right side of equations, specified as a symbolic vector or matrix.

## Output Arguments

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Solution, returned as a symbolic vector or matrix.

Reciprocal condition number or rank, returned as a symbolic number of expression. If A is a square matrix, linsolve returns the condition number of A. Otherwise, linsolve returns the rank of A.

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### Matrix Representation of System of Linear Equations

A system of linear equations is as follows.

$\begin{array}{l}{a}_{11}{x}_{1}+{a}_{12}{x}_{2}+\dots +{a}_{1n}{x}_{n}={b}_{1}\\ {a}_{21}{x}_{1}+{a}_{22}{x}_{2}+\dots +{a}_{2n}{x}_{n}={b}_{2}\\ \cdots \\ {a}_{m1}{x}_{1}+{a}_{m2}{x}_{2}+\dots +{a}_{mn}{x}_{n}={b}_{m}\end{array}$

This system can be represented as the matrix equation $A\cdot \stackrel{\to }{x}=\stackrel{\to }{b}$, where A is the coefficient matrix.

$A=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}{a}_{11}& \dots & {a}_{1n}\\ ⋮& \ddots & ⋮\\ {a}_{m1}& \cdots & {a}_{mn}\end{array}\right)$

$\stackrel{\to }{b}$ is the vector containing the right sides of equations.

$\stackrel{\to }{b}=\left(\begin{array}{c}{b}_{1}\\ ⋮\\ {b}_{m}\end{array}\right)$

## Tips

• If the solution is not unique, linsolve issues a warning, chooses one solution, and returns it.

• If the system does not have a solution, linsolve issues a warning and returns X with all elements set to Inf.

• Calling linsolve for numeric matrices that are not symbolic objects invokes the MATLAB® linsolve function. This function accepts real arguments only. If your system of equations uses complex numbers, use sym to convert at least one matrix to a symbolic matrix, and then call linsolve.