backsolve package:base R Documentation _S_o_l_v_e _a_n _U_p_p_e_r _o_r _L_o_w_e_r _T_r_i_a_n_g_u_l_a_r _S_y_s_t_e_m _D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n: Solves a system of linear equations where the coefficient matrix is upper or lower triangular. _U_s_a_g_e: backsolve(r, x, k=ncol(r), upper.tri=TRUE, transpose=FALSE) forwardsolve(l, x, k=ncol(l), upper.tri=FALSE, transpose=FALSE) _A_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s: r,l: an upper (or lower) triangular matrix giving the coefficients for the system to be solved. Values below (above) the diagonal are ignored. x: a matrix whose columns give the right-hand sides for the equations. k: The number of columns of 'r' and rows of 'x' to use. upper.tri: logical; if 'TRUE' (default), the _upper_ _tri_angular part of 'r' is used. Otherwise, the lower one. transpose: logical; if 'TRUE', solve r' * y = x for y, i.e., 't(r) %*% y == x'. _V_a_l_u_e: The solution of the triangular system. The result will be a vector if 'x' is a vector and a matrix if 'x' is a matrix. _R_e_f_e_r_e_n_c_e_s: Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988) _The New S Language_. Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole. Dongarra, J. J., Bunch,J. R., Moler, C. B. and Stewart, G. W. (1978) _LINPACK Users Guide._ Philadelphia: SIAM Publications. _S_e_e _A_l_s_o: 'chol', 'qr', 'solve'. _E_x_a_m_p_l_e_s: ## upper triangular matrix 'r': r <- rbind(c(1,2,3), c(0,1,1), c(0,0,2)) ( y <- backsolve(r, x <- c(8,4,2)) ) # -1 3 1 r %*% y # == x = (8,4,2) backsolve(r, x, transpose = TRUE) # 8 -12 -5