Bilinear and quadratic forms

Radu MICULESCU

Transilvania University of Braşov

octomber 2019

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 1 / 42

 The concept of bilinear form

De…nition. A function g : V V ! K , where V is a K -vector space, is

called bilinear form if it satis…es the following two conditions:
i)
g (αx + βy , z ) = αg (x, z ) + βg (y , z ),
for every x, y , z 2 V and every α, β 2 K ;
ii)
g (x, αy + βz ) = αg (x, y ) + βg (x, z ),
for every x, y , z 2 V and every α, β 2 K .

Remark. g is a bilinear form if it is linear in both its arguments.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 2 / 42

 Example

The canonical scalar product <, >: Rn Rn ! R given by

< x, y >= x1 y1 + ... + xn yn ,

for every x = (x1 , ..., xn ), y = (y1 , ..., yn ) 2 Rn is a bilinear form.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 3 / 42

 Symmetric bilinear forms

De…nition. A bilinear form g : V V ! K , where V is a K -vector

space, is called symmetric if

g (x, y ) = g (y , x ),

for every x, y 2 V .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 4 / 42

 The analytical expression of a bilinear form

Let V be a …nite dimensional K -vector space,

B = fe1 , ..., en g

a basis of V ,
n
x= ∑ xk ek 2 V ,
k =1
n
y= ∑ yl el 2 V
l =1

and g : V V ! K a bilinear form.

Then
n n n n
g (x, y ) = g ( ∑ xk ek , ∑ yl el ) = ∑ ∑ g (ek , el )xk yl ,
k =1 l =1 k =1 l =1

which is called the analytical expression of the bilinear form g .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 5 / 42
 The matrix of o bilinear form with respect to a basis

Let V be a …nite dimensional K -vector space, B = fe1 , ..., en g a basis of

V and g : V V ! K a bilinear form.
The matrix
A = (g (ei , ej ))
is called the matrix of the bilinear form g with respect to the basis B.
We have
y1
g (x, y ) = (x1 , ..., xn )A( ... ),
yn
for every
n n
x= ∑ xk ek 2 V and y = ∑ yl el 2 V .
k =1 l =1

Remarks. The matrix associated to a symmetric bilinear form is a

symmetric one.
R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 6 / 42
 Example

Let us consider the symmetric bilinear form g : R3 R3 ! R whose

analytical expression, with respect to the canonical basis, is given by

g (x, y ) = 2x1 y1 + 3x1 y2 + 3x2 y1 x1 y3 x3 y1 + x2 y2 x2 y3 x3 y2 + 2x3 y3 .

The matrix A of g with respect to the standard basis is

2 3 1
A=( 3 1 1 ).
1 1 2

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 7 / 42

 The rank of a bilinear form

Theorem. Let V be a …nite dimensional K -vector space, g : V V ! K

0
a bilinear form, B and B bases of V , Ω the matrix of change from B to
0 0
B , A the matrix of g with respect to B and A the matrix of g with
0
respect to B .
Then
0
A = t ΩAΩ.

It follows that
0
rank (A) = rank (A )
and this value de…nes the rank of the bilinear form g .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 8 / 42

 Example

Let us consider again the symmetric bilinear form g : R3 R3 ! R whose

analytical expression, with respect to the canonical basis, is given by

g (x, y ) = 2x1 y1 + 3x1 y2 + 3x2 y1 x1 y3 x3 y1 + x2 y2 x2 y3 x3 y2 + 2x3 y3 .

As we have seen, the matrix of g with respect to the canonical basis B is

2 3 1
( 3 1 1 ).
1 1 2

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 9 / 42

We are going to write the matrix of g with respect to the basis
0
B = f f1 , f2 , f3 g ,

where
f1 = (1, 1, 1), f2 = (1, 1, 0) and f3 = (1, 0, 0),
and the quadratic form associated to g .
0
The matrix of change from the canonical basis to B is

1 1 1
Ω = ( 1 1 0 ).
1 0 0
0
Hence the matrix of g with respect to B is

7 7 4
t
ΩAΩ = ( 7 9 5 ).
4 5 2

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 10 / 42

 Degenerate/nondegenerate bilinear forms

We called a bilinear form nondegenerate (degenerate) if its matrix with

respect to a basis (and consequently with respect to every basis) is
nondegenerate (degenerate).

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 11 / 42

 The kernel of a bilinear form

Let g : V V ! K be a symmetric bilinear form, where V is a …nite

dimensional K -vector space.
The set
ker(g ) = fx 2 V j g (x, y ) = 0 for every y 2 V g
is called the kernel of g .

Remarks.
1. ker(g ) is a subspace of V .
2.
rank (g ) + dim ker(g ) = dim V .
3. g is nondegenerate if and only if ker(g ) = f0V g.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 12 / 42

 The concept of quadratic form

A function h : V ! K , where V is a K -vector space, is called quadratic

form if there exists a symmetric bilinear form g : V V ! K such that

h(x ) = g (x, x ),

for every x 2 V .

Remarks.
1. The symmetric bilinear form g which uniquely de…nes the quadratic
form h is called the polar form of h.
2. If the quadratic form h is known, then the associated polar form g is
given by the following expression:
1
g (x, y ) = [h (x + y ) h (x ) h(y )],
2
for every x, y 2 V .
R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 13 / 42
 Example

The canonical scalar product <, >: Rn Rn ! R given by

< x, y >= x1 y1 + ... + xn yn ,

for every x = (x1 , ..., xn ), y = (y1 , ..., yn ) 2 Rn de…nes the quadratic form
h : Rn ! R given by

h(x ) =< x, x >= kx k2 ,

i.e.
n
h(x1 , ..., xn ) = ∑ xk2 ,
k =1

for every x = (x1 , ..., xn ) 2 Rn .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 14 / 42

 The analytical expression of a quadratic form

De…nition. Let V be a …nite dimensional K -vector space,

B = fe1 , ..., en g
a basis of V ,
n
x= ∑ xk ek 2 V ,
k =1
h : V ! K a quadratic form, g : V V ! K its associated polar form
and
A = (aij )
the matrix of g with respect to B.
Then
n n
h(x ) = g (x, x ) = ∑ ∑ akl xk xl ,
k =1 l =1
which is called the analytical expression of the quadratic form h.
The matrix and the rank of g de…ne the matrix and the rank of the
quadratic form h.
R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 15 / 42
 The concept of orthogonal vectors with respect to a symmetric
bilinear (or with a quadratic) form

Let V be a K -vector space and g : V V ! K a symmetric bilinear form.

The vectors x, y 2 V are called orthogonal with respect to g if

g (x, y ) = 0.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 16 / 42

 The matrix of a symmetric biliniar form with respect to an
orthogonal basis

If K -vector space, g : V V ! K a symmetric bilinear form and U V,

then U is called orthogonal with respect to g if

g (x, y ) = 0,

for every x, y 2 U, x 6= y .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 17 / 42

 Remark

If V is a …nite dimensional K -vector space, g : V V ! K a symmetric

bilinear form,
B = fe1 , ..., en g
an orthogonal basis of V with respect to g , then the matrix of g with
respect to B is a diagonal matrix.
Moreover, the analytical expression of g is
n
g (x, y ) = ∑ g (ek , ek )xk yk
k =1

and the analytic expression of the quadratic form h is

n
h(x ) = g (x, x ) = ∑ g (ek , ek )xk2 .
k =1

The above expressions are called the canonical forms.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 18 / 42
 Reduction of a quadratic form to the canonical form - Gauss’s
theorem

By using a change of basis, any expression of a quadratic form over a …nite

dimensional vector space can be reduced to a canonical form.

Let
n n
∑ ∑ akl xk xl
k =1 l =1

be the analytic expression of a non-zero quadratic form.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 19 / 42

We claim that we can perform a change of basis such that at least one of
the scalars a11 , a22 , ..., ann is not zero.
Indeed, there exists i, j 2 f1, ..., ng, i 6= j, such that aij 6= 0 and we
consider the coordinate transformation given by
0 0
xi = xi xj
0 0
f xj = xi + xj
0
xl = xl , for l 6= i, j

which gives us the following analytical expression of h:

n
∑ aij xi xj
0 0 0

i ,j =1

0
with aii 6= 0.
Hence, without loss of generality, we can assume that
0
a11 6= 0.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 20 / 42

We have the following analytical expression of h:
n n
a11 (x1 )2 + 2 ∑ a1k x1 xk + ∑ aij xi xj .
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

k =2 i ,j =2

We get the following analytical expression of h:

n
1 0 0 00 0 0
0 (a11 x1 + a12 x2 + ... + a1n xn ) + ∑ aij xi xj ,
0 0 0 0 2

a11 i ,j =2

i.e., considering the coordinate transformation given by

00 0 0 0 0 0 0
x1 = a11 x1 + a12 x2 + ... + a1n xn
00 0 ,
xj = xj for j 2 f2, .., ng
we obtain the following analytical expression of h:
n
1 00 2 00 00 00
0 (x1 ) + ∑ aij xi xj .
a11 i ,j =2
n 00 00 00
Repeating the above described procedure with ∑ aij xi xj we get the
i ,j =2
conclusion.
R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 21 / 42
 Carl Friedrich Gauss
1777-1855

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 22 / 42

 Example

By using Gauss method …nd the diagonal form of the quadratic form
h : R3 ! R whose analytic expression with respect to the canonical basis
is given by
h(x ) = x1 x2 + x1 x3 + x2 x3 .

Since in the expression of h there is no square, we make the change of

coordinates 0 0
x1 = x1 + x2
0 0
x2 = x1 x2 .
0
x3 = x3

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 23 / 42

We obtain the following form of h:
0 0 0 0
(x1 )2 (x2 )2 + 2x1 x3 .

By making perfect squares we get

0 0 0 0
(x1 + x3 )2 (x2 )2 (x3 )2 .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 24 / 42

 Jacobi’s theorem

Let V be a …nite dimensional K -vector space having dimension n,

h : V ! K a quadratic form and A = (aij ) the matrix of h with respect
to a basis B of V .
If all the determinats
a11 a12
δ1 = ja11 j , δ2 = , ..., δn = det(A)
a21 a22
0
are non-zero, then there exists a basis B of V with respect to which h
admits the canonical expresion
n
δk
∑ δk
0
h (x ) = (xk )2 ,
k =1 1

0 0
where xk s are the coordinates of x in the basis B and δ0 = 1.
R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 25 / 42
 Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi
1804-1851

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 26 / 42

 Example

By using Jacobi method …nd the diagonal form of the quadratic form
h : R3 ! R whose analytic expression with respect to the canonical basis
is given by

h(x ) = x12 + 8x22 + x32 + 16x1 x2 + 4x1 x3 + 4x2 x3 .

The matrix of g with respect to the canonical basis is

1 8 2
( 8 8 2 ).
2 2 1

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 27 / 42

Hence
δ1 = j1j = 1
1 8
δ2 = = 56
8 8
and
1 8 2
δ3 = 8 8 2 = 28
2 2 1
Therefore we get the following canonical form of h:
0 1 0 2 0
(x1 )2 (x2 ) + 2(x3 )2 .
26

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 28 / 42

 Eigenvalues method

Let V be a …nite dimensional K -vector space having dimension n,

h : V ! K a quadratic form and A = (aij ) the matrix of h with respect
to a basis B of V .
0
Then there exists a basis B of V with respect to which h admits the
canonical expresion
n
∑ λk (xk )2 ,
0
h (x ) =
k =1
0
where λk s are the eigenvalues of A and xk s are the coordinates of x in
0
the basis B .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 29 / 42

 Example

By using the eigenvalues method …nd the diagonal form of the quadratic
form h : R3 ! R whose analytic expression with respect to the canonical
basis is given by

h(x ) = 3x12 + 6x22 + 3x32 4x1 x2 8x1 x3 4x2 x3 .

The matrix of g with respect to the canonical basis is

3 2 4
( 2 6 2 ).
4 2 3

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 30 / 42

So its eigenvalues are the solution of the equation

3 λ 2 4
2 6 λ 2 = 0,
4 2 3 λ

i.e.
λ1 = λ2 = 7 and λ3 = 2.
Therefore we get the following canonical form of h:
0 0 0
7 ( x1 ) 2 + 7 ( x2 ) 2 2 ( x3 ) 2 .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 31 / 42

 The signature of a quadratic form

Let V be a …nite dimensional K -vector space having dimension n,

h : V ! K a quadratic form and
n
h (x ) = ∑ ak xk2 ,
k =1

a canonical form of h.
Then we shall use the following notations:
not
#(fk 2 f1, ..., ng j ak = 0g) = z
not
#(fk 2 f1, ..., ng j ak > 0g) = p
not
#(fk 2 f1, ..., ng j ak < 0g) = q.
p is called the positive index of inertia, q is called the negative index of
inertia and the pair (p, q ) is called the signature of h.
z is called the nullity of h and it is n rank (h).
R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 32 / 42
 Sylvester’s law

In the above frame, the numbers z, p and q are uniquely determined by h,

i.e. they do not depend on the choice of the basis B.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 33 / 42

 James Joseph Sylvester
1814-1897

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 Positive de…nite/negative de…ne quadratic form

A quadratic form h : V ! K , where V is a …nite dimensional K -vector

space of dimension n, is called:
- positive de…nite if
h(x ) > 0,
for all x 2 V r f0V g (i.e. p = n);
- negative de…nite if
h(x ) < 0,
for all x 2 V r f0V g(i.e. q = n);
- positive semide…nite (respectively negative de…nite) if
h (x ) 0 (respectively h(x ) 0),
for all x 2 V ;
- inde…nite if there exists x, y 2 V such that
h(x ) < 0 and h(y ) > 0.
R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 35 / 42
 Sylvester’s criterion

Let V be a …nite dimensional K -vector space having dimension n,

h : V ! K a quadratic form and A = (aij ) the matrix of h with respect
to a basis B of V .
If all the determinats
a11 a12
δ1 = ja11 j , δ2 = , ..., δn = det(A)
a21 a22

are non-zero, then:

α) h is positive de…nite if and only if δ1 , δ2 , ..., δn > 0;

β) h is negative de…nite if and only if δ1 < 0, δ2 > 0, δ3 < 0,...,

( 1)n δn > 0.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 36 / 42

 Example

Let us consider the quadratic form h : R3 ! R whose analytic expression

with respect to the canonical basis is given by

h(x ) = 5x12 + 6x22 + 4x32 4x1 x2 4x1 x3 .

We want to reduce h to the canonical expression using:

- Gauss’method
- Jacobi’s method
- the eigenvalues method.

We also want to verify Sylvester’s law.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 37 / 42

Gauss’method
Since
h(x ) = 5x12 + 6x22 + 4x32 4x1 x2 4x1 x3 =
2
= 6(x22 x1 x2 ) + 5x12 + 4x32 4x1 x3 =
3
x1 2 x12
= 6[(x2 ) ] + 5x12 + 4x32 4x1 x3 =
3 9
x1 2 13
= 6 ( x2 ) + 4x32 4x1 x3 + x12 =
3 3
x1 2 x1 2 10 2
= 6(x2 ) + 4(x3 ) + x1 ,
3 2 3
with the coordinates change given by
0 x1 0 x1 0
x1 = x2 , x2 = x3 and x3 = x1 ,
3 2
we get the following canonical form of h:
0 0 10 0 2
6(x1 )2 + 4(x2 )2 + (x ) .
3 3
R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 38 / 42
Jacobi’method
The matrix of h with respect to the canonical basis is

5 2 2
( 2 6 0 ),
2 0 4
so
5 2 2
5 2
δ1 = j5j = 5, δ2 = = 26 and δ3 = 2 6 0 = 80.
2 6
2 0 4

Therefore we get the following canonical form of h:

0 26 0 2 80 0 2
5(x1 )2 + (x ) + (x3 ) .
5 2 26

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 39 / 42

Eigenvalues method
The matrix of h with respect to the canonical basis is
5 2 2
( 2 6 0 ),
2 0 4

so its eigenvalues are the solution of the equation

5 λ 2 2
2 6 λ 0 = 0,
2 0 4 λ
i.e.
λ1 = 2, λ2 = 5 and λ3 = 8.
Therefore we get the following canonical form of h:
0 0 0
2(x1 )2 + 5(x2 )2 + 8(x3 )2 .

One can see that z = 0, p = 3 and q = 0.

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 40 / 42
 Homework

1. Let us consider the symmetric bilinear form g : R3 R3 ! R whose

analytical expression, with respect to the canonical basis, is given by

g (x, y ) = x1 y1 + 2x1 y2 + 2x2 y1 + x2 y2 + x3 y3 + x1 y3 + x3 y1 .

Find the quadratic form h associated to g .

Determine the rank of h.

2. Using the eigenvalues method, reduce to a canonical expression the

quadratic form h : R3 ! R whose analytic expression with respect to the
canonical basis is given by

h(x ) = 2x22 + 4x1 x2 8x1 x3 4x2 x3 .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 41 / 42

 Homework II

3. Using the Gauss’method, reduce to a canonical expression the

quadratic form h : R3 ! R whose analytic expression with respect to the
canonical basis is given by

h(x ) = x12 + x22 + 3x32 + 4x1 x2 + 2x1 x3 + 2x2 x3 .

4. Using the Jacobi’method, reduce to a canonical expression the

quadratic form h : R3 ! R whose analytic expression with respect to the
canonical basis is given by

h(x ) = x12 + 3x22 + x32 + 4x1 x2 + 6x1 x3 + 8x2 x3 .

R. Miculescu (Institute) Bilinear and quadratic forms octomber 2019 42 / 42