Nikolaos Stavritis Assignment 10 Math 211 Fall 2018

Due: Wednesday, November 7th.

Problems: § 4.3. Problems 16, 20, 22; § 4.4. Problems 28, 38;
   
1 1
16. A is a 2 X 2 matrix with eigenvectors v1 = and v2 = corresponding to eigenvalues
−1
  1
1 5
λ1 = 2 and λ2 = 2, respectively, and x = . Find Ak x. What happens as k becomes
1
large(i.e., k → ∞)?

By inspection we see that v1 and v2 are linearly independent so they must form a basis in
R2 . Rewrite x as a combination of v1 and v2 .

c1 v1 + c2 v2 = x
    
1 1 c1 5
=
−1 1 c2 1
c1 = 2, c2 = 3
Ak x = Ak (2v1 + 3v2 )=2λk1 v1 + 3λk2 v2
 1−k 
k 2 + 3 · 2k
A x=
−21−k + 3 · 2k
 
1
As k grows large the vector becomes longer and slowly projects itself on vector v2 =
1

20. Let A be a nipotent matrix (that is, Am = O for some m > 1). Show that λ = 0 is the only
eigenvalue of A.

Am v = λm v =⇒ Ov = λm v = 0
Since v isn’t a zero vector lambda has to be 0.

22. If v is an eigenvector of A with corresponding eigenvalue λ and c is a scalar, show that v is

an eigenvector of A-cI with correspondng eigenvalue λ − c.

(A − cI)v = Av − cIv = Av − cv = λv − cv = (λ − c)v

 Nikolaos Stavritis Assignment 10 Math 211 Fall 2018

 
1 k 0
28. Find all (real) values of k for which A = 0 2 0 is diagonalizable.
0 0 1

A is an upper triangular matrix and all of its eigenvalues lie on its diagonal λ1 = 1, λ2 =
2, λ3 = 1. According to the theorem discussed in class A is diagonalizable if and only if it
has total geometric multiplicity 3. The geometric multiplicity of λ2 is 1 so The geometric
multiplicity of λ1 /λ3 has to be 2.
 
0 k 0
geometric multiplicity of λ1 = 2 = null(A − λI) = null(0 1 0)
0 0 0
Clearly this matrix will always have a null space made up of two vectors so any value of k
will work.
Alternatively, you can show that there will always exist an elementary matrix operation that
will convert A into a diagonal matrix.

38. In general it is difficult to show that two matrices are similar. However,
 if two similar
 matrices

3 1 1 2
are diagonalizable the task becomes easier. Show that A = and B = are
0 −1 2 1
similar by showing that they are similar to the same diagonal matrix. Then find an invertible
matrix P such that P −1 AP = B.

Begin by finding the eigenvalues of A and B.

det(A − Iλ)=(3 − λ)(−1 − λ)
det(B − Iλ)=(λ + 1)(λ − 3)
Show that the matrices are similar to their mutual diagonal matrix by finding invertible
matrices X1 and X2 such that AX1 = X1 D and BX2 = X2 D (Note that there are infinitely
many such matrices and we only need to find one of each to prove our preposition).
           
3 1 a b a b 3 0 1 2 a b a b 3 0
= =
0 −1 c d c d 0 −1 2 1 c d c d 0 −1
       
3a + c 3b + d 3a −b a + 2c b + 2d 3a −b
= =
−c −d 3c −d 2a + c 2b + d 3c −d
a = 1, b = 1, c = 0, d = −4. a = 1, b = −1, c = 1, d = 1.
Plug in these results to find P and P −1 and explicitly show that A is similar to B.
    
3 0 1 2 3 6
P = X1 X 2 = =
0 −1 2 1 −2 −1
 −1 −2 
P −1 = 92 3
1
9 3