Questions tagged [matrices]

For any topic related to matrices. This includes: systems of linear equations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors (diagonalization, triangularization), determinant, trace, characteristic polynomial, adjugate and adjoint, transpose, Jordan normal form, matrix algorithms (e.g. LU, Gauss elimination, SVD, QR), invariant factors, quadratic forms, etc. For questions specifically concerning matrix equations, use the (matrix-equations) tag.

A matrix is a rectangular array of elements, usually numbers or variables, arranged in rows and columns. A matrix with $m$ rows and $n$ columns has $m \times n$ elements and is called an $m$ by $n$ matrix. Matrices are a part of .

Matrices can be added and subtracted. Furthermore, if they have compatible shapes, they can be multiplied. More precisely, given two matrices $A$ and $B$, the matrix $AB$ is defined when the number of columns of $A$ is equal to the number of rows of $B$. In particular, given a natural number $n$, any two matrices $A$ and $B$ with $n$ columns and $n$ rows can be multiplied in both ways (that is, both $AB$ and $BA$ exist).


For questions specifically concerning matrix equations, use the tag.

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Inverting the sum of a Dense and Diagonal matrix

So, lets assume that we have two matrices given to us: $A \in \mathbb{\Re}^{M \times K}$: just some dense, real, arbitrary valued matrix. $L \in \Re^{K \times K}$: A positive diagonal matrix Now, lets say we have the following situation: $\left( A^T…
Eric
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Find all matrices $A$ of order $2 \times 2$ that satisfy the equation $A^2-5A+6I = O$

Find all matrices $A$ of order $2 \times 2$ that satisfy the equation $$ A^2-5A+6I = O $$ My Attempt: We can separate the $A$ term of the given equality: $$ \begin{align} A^2-5A+6I &= O\\ A^2-3A-2A+6I^2 &= O \end{align} $$ This implies that…
juantheron
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What is the isomorphism function in $M_m(M_n(\mathbb R))\cong M_{mn}(\mathbb R)$?

What is the isomorphism function in $M_m(M_n(\mathbb R))\cong M_{mn}(\mathbb R)$. I tried this $[[a_{ij}]_{kl}]\mapsto[a_{ijkl}]$ , but I couldn't prove all steps.
Bbbh
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What does $x^TAx$?

What does the following mean? I know that $x^Tx$ is the magnitude of $x$. What does the following formula represent intuitively? $x$ is a vector and $A$ is some scaling matrix. The given is $x^T A x i$ (Ignore the i) I'm learning about positive…
echo
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Finding a matrix from its product with its transpose

Suppose $A$ is a $3 \times 3$ matrix. If $A A^T = B$ and $A^T A = C$, where $B$ and $C$ are known and $B \neq C$, can I uniquely determine A? $A$ has 9 independent elements. Since $B$ and $C$ are symmetric, they have 6 independent entries each. Thus…
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A and B are two matrices such that $(A+B)^3=A^3+3A^2B+3AB^2+B^3$ then $ AB=BA$

Let $A$ and $B$ be two invertible matrices in $M_2(\mathbb{R})$such that $(A+B)^3=A^3+3A^2B+3AB^2+B^3$ then prove or disprove that $ AB=BA$ My working: $$(A+B)^3=A^3+3A^2B+3AB^2+B^3$$ $$\implies BA^2+B^2A+ABA+BAB =2A^2B+2AB^2$$ Now what should I…
Makar
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Real jordan form to complex jordan form then compute P matrix.

I have the matrix $$A = \begin{bmatrix} 5 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & -6 \\ 3 & -1 & 3 & 1 & 0 & -6 \\ 6 & -6 & 5 & 0 & 1 & -6 \\ 7 & -7 & 4 & -2 & 4 & -7 \\ 6 & -6 & 6 & -6 & 5 & -6 \\ 2 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix}$$ This can be brought in the…
WG-
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Linear Systems - Matrix Powers - Determinants

Is there a simple way of determining the determinant of a matrix of the following form? $$ P=\left[x \mid Ax \mid A^2x \mid \cdots \mid A^{(n-1)}x \right] $$ Here $A$ is an $n\times n$ matrix and $x$ is a $n\times 1$ vector. Can we represent…
ozlsn
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Prove that two matrices commute iff the square of the matrices commute

In my textbook there is a task in which I have to prove the relation \begin{equation} AB=BA\Leftrightarrow A^2B^2=B^2A^2. \end{equation} For ($\Rightarrow$) it is easy \begin{equation} AB=BA\Rightarrow (AB)^2=(BA)^2\Rightarrow ABAB=BABA\Rightarrow…
Johny
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Eigenvalues and elementary row operations

We know that elementary row operations do not change the determinant of a matrix but may change the associated eigenvalues. Consider an example, say two $5 \times 5$ matrix are given: $$A = \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0\\ a & b & 0 & 0 & 0\\ 0 &…
Zero
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Matrices with continuous indices

I've recently come across the concept of thinking about two-variable functions as "continuous" matrices. Such that matrix multiplication is defined as: $$f(x,y)\times g(x,y) =\int_Df(x,u)\cdot g(u,y)\text du$$ Does this concept actually have a name?…
Disousa
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How to identify an orthogonal(orthonormal matrix)?

This question was asked in an examination a while back. I was able to solve this question but the computation required was too much. The solution said that the trick to solving this lies in the fact that the product of $P$ with its Transpose is an…
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A = UL factorization

How do I calculate $A=UL$ factorization where $U$ is upper triangular matrix with 1's along the diagonal and $L$ is lower triangular matrix? How is this similar to the $LU$ factorization?
Bob
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Prove that determinant of an odd dimension anti-symmetric matrix is zero

Suppose $A$ is an $(2n+1) \times (2n+1)$ anti-symmetric matrix $(A=-A^T)$. Show that $\det(A)=0$ using Pfaffian formula. Well, in the wiki page, the formula is only defined for matrix with even dimension. So I'm not sure how to proceed. Any help is…
Idonknow
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generalized ordering of positive semi-definite matrix by eigenvalues

I know positive semi-definite matrices are generalizations of non-negative numbers. So "ordering" of the two systems should be pretty much like each other. How to prove the following theorem? For two symmetric $X$ and $Y$, if $X \geq Y$, then…
mining
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