Generalization of Dodgson's "Virtual Center" Method; an Efficient Method for Determinant Calculation

Subject Areas : Applied Mathematics

Elyas Shivanian ^{1 *} , Alireza Soleimani ²

1 - Department of Mathematics, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, 34149-16818, Iran
2 - Faculty of Mathematics, Tarbiat Modares University

Received: 2017-01-19 Accepted : 2018-03-19 Published : 2018-12-01

Keywords: Dodgson method, Virtual matrix method, Determinant, Matrix center,

Abstract :

Charles Dodgson (1866) introduced a method to calculate matrices determinant, in asimple way. The method was highly attractive, however, if the sub-matrix or the mainmatrix determination is divided by zero, it would not provide the correct answer. Thispaper explains the Dodgson method's structure and provides a solution for the problemof "dividing by zero" called "virtual center".