MATB24 Linear Algebra II Assignment 3

Prof. T. Kielstra, Dept. of CMS, University of Toronto, Scarborough

Instructions:
ˆ This assignment is for self work and is worth 0 percent of you final grade.
ˆ These questions are to give you an opportunity to engage with the material of the course.
ˆ By looking at the course outline you can see when your TA will review this material in lab.
ˆ The TA will not review the entire assignment. They will specifically focus on questions that students seem to be
struggling with.
ˆ You should attempt the questions on this assignment before you go to the tutorial.

1. For the following matrix. What are the characteristic values over the field
(a) C
(b) R
(c) Z5
 
2 0 0
 2 3 3 
4 2 2
2. For the following matrix. Compute the minimal polynomial over the field
(a) C
(b) R
(c) Z5
 
2 0 0
 2 3 3 
4 2 2
3. For the following matrix. Determine if c = 1 is a characteristic over the field. If so, calculate its characteristic
space.
(a) C
(b) R
(c) Z2
 
0 0 1
 1 0 1 
0 1 1
4. (6.2.3) Let A be an n × n triangular matrix over the field F. Prove that the characteristic values of A are the
P n
Q
diagonal entries of A. (Hint: Leibniz expansion should help det(A) = sign(σi ) Ai,σj (i) ).
σj ∈Sn i=1

5. (6.2.7) Let T be a linear operator on an n- dimensional vector space A, and let T has n distinct characteristic
values. Prove that T is diagonalizable.
As T is an n-dimensional vector space, the characteristic polynomial will be degree n. The n distinct charac-
teristic values will all be factors of the characteristic polynomial by definition. As an n dimensional polynomial
has n roots, the characteristic polynomial will by
n
Y
f (x) = (x − c1 ) · · · (x − cn ) = (x − ci )di ,
i=1

where di = 1 for all i.

As the values ci are characteristics and di = 1 for all i, the dim(nullspace(T − ci )) = di for all i. By a theorem
from class, we are differentiable.

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 6. (6.2.10) Suppose that A is a symmetric 2 × 2 real matrix. Prove that A is diagonalizable.
7. (6.2.11) Let N be a 2 × 2 complex matrix such that N 2 = 0. Prove that either N = 0 or N is similar over C to
 
0 0
1 0

8. (6.2.12) Use the result of the previous question to prove the following: If A is a 2 × 2 matrix with complex
entries, then A is similar over C to one of the following two matrices.
   
a 0 a 0
0 b 1 a

9. (6.3.1) Let V be a finite-dimensional vector space. What is the minimal polynomial for:
(a) the identity operator
(b) the zero operator
on V ?
10. (6.3.2) Let a, b and c be elements of a field F and let A be the following 3 × 3 matrix over F:
 
0 0 c
A= 1 0 b 
0 1 a

Prove that the characteristic polynomial for A is x3 − ax2 − bx − c and the this is also the minimal polynomial.
(Bonus: extend this concept to polynomials of general degree.)
11. (6.3.7) Let n be a positive integer, and let V be the space of polynomials over R which have degree at most n
(include the zero polynomial). Let D be the differentiation operator on V . What is the minimal polynomial
for D?
12. (6.3.8) Let P be the operator on R2 which projects each vector onto the x-axis, parallel to the y-axis. Show
that P is linear. What is the minimal polynomial for P ?

13. (6.4.1) Let T be the linear operator on R2 , the matrix of which in the standard ordered basis is
 
1 −1
A= (1)
2 2

(a) Prove that the only subspaces of R2 invariant under T are R2 and the zero subspace.
(b) If U is the linear operator on C2 , the matrix of which in the standard ordered basis is A, show that U has
1-dimensional invariant subspaces.
14. Consider the vector space of polynomial over the field F with degree at most n. List all subspaces that
are invariant under the differentiation operator Wi . Are you able to find a basis such that W0 = {α0 },
W1 = {α0 , α1 }, W2 = {α0 , α1 , α2 }, ..., Wn = {α0 , α1 , ..., αn }.
15. (6.4.2) Let W be an invariant subspace for T . prove that the minimal polynomial for the restriction operator
TW divides the minimal polynomial for T , without referring to matrices.
16. (6.4.3) Let c be a characteristic value of T and let W be the space of characteristic vectors associated with the
characteristic value c. What is the restriction operator TW ?
17. (6.4.7) Let T be a linear operator on a finite-dimentsional vector space over the field of complex numbers.
Prove that T is diagonalizable if and only if T is annihilated by some polynomial over C which has distinct
roots.

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18. (6.4.9) Let T be the indefinite integral operator
Zx
(T f )(x) = f (t)dt
0

on the space of continuous functions on the interval [0, 1].

(a) Is the space of polynomial functions invariant under T ?
(b) Is the space of differentiable functions invariant under T ?
(c) Is the space of functions which vanish at a point a ∈ R invariant under T ?
19. (6.4.10) Let A be a 3 × 3 matrix with real entries. Prove that, if A is not similar over R to a triangular matrix,
then A is similar over C to a diagonal matrix.