Generalizing Dodgson's method: a "double-crossing" approach to computing determinants

Abstract

Dodgson's method of computing determinants was recently revisited in a paper that appeared in the College Math Journal. The method is attractive, but fails if an interior entry of an intermediate matrix has the value zero. This paper reviews the structure of Dodgson's method and introduces a generalization, called a "double-crossing" method, that provides a workaround to the failure for many interesting cases.