The characteristic polynomial and eigenvalues of 2 × 2

matrices
Elizabeth Meckes Mark Meckes

This is a supplement to “Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors” in Section 2.1 of Linear Algebra.

Example 6 on pages 72–73 illustrates a method for finding the eigenvalues of a 2 × 2 matrix in
by finding the roots of a certain polynomial. The following result systematizes that method.

 
a b
Proposition 1. Let A = ∈ M2 (F), and define the polynomial
c d

p(x) = x2 − (a + d)x + (ad − bc).

Then λ ∈ F is an eigenvalue of A if and only if p(λ) = 0.

 
x
Proof. By definition λ is an eigenvalue of A if and only if there is a nonzero vector such
y
that     
a b x x
=λ .
c d y y
 
x
Subtracting λ from both sides, we can rewrite this as
y
    
a−λ b x 0
= .
c d−λ y 0
That is, λ is an eigenvalue
 of A exactly
 when the homogeneous linear system with coefficient
a−λ b
matrix A − λI2 = has a nonzero solution. Since every homogeneous system
c d−λ
has a zero solution, Theorem 1.3 implies that this happens exactly when the REF of A − λI2
has fewer than 2 pivots.
Assume for simplicity that c 6= 0. (The case c = 0 is left as an exercise for the reader.) In
that case we can put A − λI2 most of the way into REF as follows:
     
a−λ b c d−λ 1 (d − λ)/c
→ →
c d−λ a−λ b a−λ b
(d − λ)/c
   
1 1 (d − λ)/c
→ → .
0 b − (a−λ)(d−λ)
c
0 (a − λ)(d − λ) − bc

1
 Quick Exercise #1. Identify the row operations used above.

The bottom-right entry of this matrix is

(a − λ)(d − λ) − bc = λ2 − (a + d)λ + (ad − bc) = p(λ).

If p(λ) = 0, then the matrix is in REF and has only one pivot, and therefore λ is an eigenvalue
of A. If p(λ) 6= 0, then after dividing the second row by p(λ) the matrix will be in REF with
two pivots, and therefore λ is not an eigenvalue of A.

This result motivates the following definition.

 
a b
Definition. The characteristic polynomial of a 2 × 2 matrix A = ∈ M2 (F) is the
c d
polynomial
pA (x) = x2 − (a + d)x + (ad − bc).
The coefficient a + d is called the trace of A, denoted tr A, and the constant term ad − bc is
called the determinant of A, denoted det A.

Proposition 1 therefore says that the eigenvalues of a 2 × 2 matrix are exactly the roots of its
characteristic polynomial.
A handy observation contained in the proof of Proposition 1 is that
 
a−x b
pA (x) = (a − x)(d − x) − bc = det .
c d−x

Once we’ve found the eigenvalues of A, finding the eigenvectors is just a matter of solving linear
systems, which is a familiar
  routine by now. For each eigenvalue λ, the corresponding eigenvectors
x
are all the solutions of the homogeneous linear system
y

(a − λ)x + by = 0,
cx + (d − λ)y = 0.
 
3 −1
Example. Returning to Example 6 beginning on page 72, the matrix A = has character-
1 1
istic polynomial

pA (x) = x2 − (3 + 1)x + (3 · 1 − (−1)1) = x2 − 4x + 4 = (x − 2)2 .

The only root of pA is 2, and therefore 2 is the only eigenvalue of A. We can now proceed just as
in Example 6 to find the eigenvalues of A.

2
 Proposition 1 can be extended to larger matrices. As we’ll see in Section 6.3, for each n × n
matrix A there is an nth degree polynomial pA (x), again called the characteristic polynomial of A,
whose roots are exactly the eigenvalues of A.
Many students, with vast experience solving quadratic equations, are misled into thinking that
this must be the best way to compute eigenvalues in general. And indeed, using Proposition 1 is
usually the easiest way to find the eigenvalues of a 2 × 2 matrix. For this reason, it’s a favorite tool
when doing quick examples in a linear algebra class, and we’ll use it often — especially when the
point is to show what we can do after we already know the eigenvalues.
The trouble is that most matrices that one meets outside of linear algebra classes are bigger than
2 × 2, and when n > 2, finding roots of polynomials gets a whole lot harder. For example, if you’re
told that the eigenvalues of the matrix
 
2 −1 0 3 1
0
 1 −2 −1 2 
A= 3 0 1 −2 1 
1 3 −2 −1 0
−2 1 −4 0 1

are the roots of its characteristic polynomial

pA (x) = −x5 + 4x4 − 4x3 − 18x2 − 6x − 137,

how close does that get you to knowing what the eigenvalues actually are?
This is one of the (several) reasons that we have chosen to focus more on the definition of
eigenvalues and eigenvectors than on computing them in concrete examples. We’ll discuss this issue
some more after formally introducing the characteristic polynomial of larger matrices in Section 6.3.