Editing Minor (linear algebra) (section)

{{Short description|Determinant of a subsection of a square matrix}}
{{About|a concept in linear algebra|the concept of "minor" in graph theory|Graph minor}}

In [[linear algebra]], a '''minor''' of a [[matrix (mathematics)|matrix]] {{math|'''A'''}} is the [[determinant]] of some smaller [[square matrix]] generated from {{math|'''A'''}} by removing one or more of its rows and columns. Minors obtained by removing just one row and one column from square matrices ('''first minors''') are required for calculating matrix '''cofactors''', which are useful for computing both the determinant and [[Inverse matrix|inverse]] of square matrices.  The requirement that the square matrix be smaller than the original matrix is often omitted in the definition.