Chapter 4: Programming in Matlab - College of the Redwoods

Section 4.2 Control Structures in Matlab 317
n=5;
H=zeros(n);
Now, doubly nested for loops achieve the desired result.
for i=1:n
for j=1:n
H(i,j)=1/(i+j-1);
end
end
Set rational display format, display the matrix H, then set the format back to
default.
format rat
H
format
The result is shown in the following Hilbert Matrix of order 5.
H =
1 1/2 1/3 1/4 1/5
1/2 1/3 1/4 1/5 1/6
1/3 1/4 1/5 1/6 1/7
1/4 1/5 1/6 1/7 1/8
1/5 1/6 1/7 1/8 1/9
Note that the entry is row 3 column 2 is 1/4, as predicted by our hand calculations
above. Similar hand calculations can be used to verify other entries in this result.
How does it work? Because n = 5, the primary loop becomes for i=1:5.
Similarly, the inner loop becomes for j=1:5. Now, here is the way the nested
structure proceeds. First, set i = 1, then execute the statement H(i,j)=1/(i+j-
1) for j = 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. With this first pass, we set the entries H(1, 1), H(1, 2),
H(1, 3), H(1, 4), and H(1, 5). The inner loop terminates and control returns to
the primary loop, where the program next sets i = 2 and again executes the
statement H(i,j)=1/(i+j-1) for j = 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. With this second pass, we
set the entries H(2, 1), H(2, 2), H(2, 3), H(2, 4), and H(2, 5). A third and fourth