We can generalize this to a matrix with any integer-valued determinant. Let the diagonal elements of U be any integer values. Their product will be the determi nant. By ensuring that each column contains values above the diagonal that are multiples of the diagonal in that column, no fractions will be necessary. One way of doing this is to multiply U on the right by a diagonal matrix with integer entries. If we allow only one or two of the leftmost columns to violate this condition, we will get fractions; but the few remaining calculations will be manageable at this late stage