matrix multiplication

[Guest]

Is there a limit in Excel in the dimensions of the matrices we can multiply?
I am trying to multiply a 113*2 matrix by a 2*113 matrix and get an error.

Thanks,
Carine

 

[Daniel CHEN]

The following is from Excel help file:

MMULT(array1,array2)

MMULT returns the #VALUE! error when:
a.. Any cells are empty or contain text.
b.. The number of columns in array1 is different from the number of rows
in array2.
c.. The size of the resulting array is equal to or greater than a total of
5,461 cells.
Note The formula in the example must be entered as an array formula. After
copying the example to a blank worksheet, select the range A8:B9 starting
with the formula cell. Press F2, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER. If the
formula is not entered as an array formula, the single result is 2.

===========
Yongjun CHEN

 

[Domenic]

While I can't give you a definitive answer, it appears that there is a
limit. I too get an error value.

 

[Alan Beban]

Carine, what version of Excel are you using?

Daniel, what version of Excel Help are you using?

Alan Beban

 

[Harlan Grove]

Carine wrote...

Is there a limit in Excel in the dimensions of the matrices we can multiply?
I am trying to multiply a 113*2 matrix by a 2*113 matrix and get an error.

So something like MMULT(A1:B113,TRANSPOSE(A1:B113))? The resulting
array would have dimensions 113*113, so 12,769 entries. That's well
beyond the largest result Excel can return. On the other hand, if you
mean something like MMULT(TRANSPOSE(A1:B113),A1:B113), the resulting
array would only be 2*2, and the only ways Excel would return #VALUE!
would be that some entries in either argument to MMULT weren't numbers
*OR* some of the intermediate calculations caused underflow or overflow
(very rare).

If you mean the former, your only real choices are downloading and
installing Laurent Longre's MOREFUNC.XLL add-in from

http://xcell05.free.fr/english/

and using its MMULT.EXT function, or use a different program to do your
matrix multiplication, e.g., R, APL, Mathematica, Maple, MatLab,
Octave, SciLab, or other math or stats programs.