National University of Singapore
Department of Mathematics
Semester 1, 2022/23 MA2001 Linear Algebra I Tutorial 10
Questions 1-5 of this tutorial worksheet will be discussed in the tutorial classes in Week
12 (31/10 - 4/11).
You are advised to revise Chapter 6 before attempting the questions.
Questions
−2 0 −2 1
−1 −1 −2 1
1. Let A = .
1 0 1 −1
0 0 0 −1
(a) compute the characteristic polynomial of A and find all the eigenvalues of A.
(b) For each eigenvalue λ obtained in (a), find a basis for the eigenspace Eλ .
(c) Write down an invertible matrix P and a diagonal matrix D such that
P −1 AP = D.
2. Find a 3 × 3 matrix which has eigenvectors (1, 0, −1)T , (3, 1, 0)T and (1, 1, 1)T
associated with eigenvalues −1, 1, and 2 respectively.
(Hint: If P −1 AP = D where D is a diagonal matrix, then A = P DP −1 . What
are P and D in this question?)
3. Two square matrices A and B are said to be similar if there exists an invertible
matrix P such that P −1 AP = B.
(a) Suppose A and B are similar matrices.
(i) Show that An is similar to B n for all positive integer n.
(ii) If A is invertible, show that B is invertible and A−1 is similar to B −1 .
(iii) If A is diagonalizable, show that B is diagonalizable.
(b) Show that the following two matrices are similar:
0 1 2 0 1 0
A = 0 1 3 and B = 1 0 0 .
0 0 −1 0 0 0
1
4. For each of the following matrices A, determine whether A is orthogonally di-
agonalizable. If so, find an orthogonal matrix P such that P T AP is a diagonal
matrix.
−1 −1
2 1 0 1
(a) A = −1
2 −1; and (b) A = 0 1 0.
−1 −1 2 −1 0 1
5. A study in US determined that the occupation of a person depended upon the
occupation of his father. The following are the results: If a person’s father is a
professional, there are probabilities of 0.8, 0.1, 0.1, respectively, that the person
will be a professional, farmer, laborer, respectively. If a person’s father is a farmer,
there are probabilities of 0.4, 0.4, 0.2, respectively, that the person will be a pro-
fessional, farmer, laborer, respectively. If a person’s father is a laborer, there are
probabilities of 0.1, 0.1, 0.8, respectively, that the person will be a professional,
farmer, laborer, respectively.
(a) Determine the probabilities that a grandson of a professional will be a pro-
fessional, farmer, laborer, respectively.
(b) Determine the probabilities that in the long run, the descendant of a proges-
sional will be a professional, farmer, laborer, respectively.
(You may need to use MATLAB to help you to do some of the calculations.)
More challenging exercises: (These questions will not be discussed in tutorial classes.)
6. A square matrix (aij )n×n is called a stochastic matrix if all the entries are non-
negative and the sum of entries of each column is 1, i.e. a1i + a2i + · · · + ani = 1
for i = 1, 2, . . . , n.
(a) Prove that 1 is always an eigenvalue of a stochastic matrix.
(b) Prove that if λ is an eigenvalue of a stochastic matrix, |λ| ≤ 1.
7. (a) Let A be a symmetric matrix and let u, v be two eigenvectors of A associated
with the eigenvalues λ and µ respectively. Show that if λ 6= µ, then u · v = 0.
(b) Let B be a symmetric matrix of order n with a characteristic polynomial
(λ − λ1 )(λ − λ2 ) · · · (λ − λn )
where λ1 ≤ λ2 ≤ · · · ≤ λn .
xT Bx
Prove that for any nonzero vector x ∈ Rn , λ1 ≤ ≤ λn .
xT x