GraphMath

Matrix multiplication

Four viewpoints on AB: columns, entries, rows and outer products

What does the product AB mean geometrically?

The product AB means apply B first and then apply A to the result. Equivalently, each column of AB is obtained by applying A to the corresponding column of B, so matrix multiplication represents composition of linear transformations.

Key ideas

Matrix multiplication can be understood as composition, but the same product can also be read column-wise, entry-wise, row-wise and as a sum of outer products.

  • The fundamental definition is column-wise: AB is formed by applying A to each column of B
  • The entry cij is the dot product of row i of A with column j of B
  • Each row of AB can be read as a linear combination of rows of B with coefficients from A
  • The product AB can be decomposed into a sum of rank-1 outer products
  • Block multiplication, diagonal products and structural proofs all rest on the same compatibility rule

The chapter starts from geometric composition, derives the computational rule and then shows how the same product can be reorganized into blocks, diagonal actions and special matrix classes.

How is each entry of AB computed?

Each entry cij of C = AB is the dot product of row i of A with column j of B. This entry-wise rule is not a separate definition: it follows directly from the column-wise meaning of matrix multiplication.

Related chapters

Chapter contents

Why is the sum-of-outer-products viewpoint useful?

It shows that a matrix product can be built by adding simple rank-1 layers. This leads to low-rank approximation and later ideas such as SVD.

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