Mid-Term Solutions (Q1, Q2 and Q3)

1. (20pt)
Solution:
(a)(15pt) Write the linear system in the matrix form Ax = b, where the coecient matrix
A =

4 8 3
1 2 5
3 6 1

, x =
[
x
1
x
2
x
3
]
T
, and b =
[
16 21 7
]
T
.
The augmented matrix is obtained as

A =
[
A b
]
=

4 8 3 16
1 2 5 21
3 6 1 7

. (2pt)
By Gauss Elimination, we get the row Echelon form as
[
R f
]
=

1 2 5 21
0 0 1 4
0 0 0 0

. (5pt)
The linear system is consistent and has innitely many solutions. (or rank(

A) = rank(A) =
2 < n = 3) (4pt)
The solution is obtained as x =

1 + 2t
t
4

, t R. (4pt)
(b)(5pt) The rank of the augmented matrix

A is 2. (rank(

A) = 2)
2. (10pt)
Solution:
(a)(5pt) Consider the following vector equation
c
1
a
1
+ c
2
a
2
+ c
3
a
3
= 0, where c
1
, c
2
, c
3
R are coecients to be determined.
Rewrite the above equation in matrix form,
Ac = 0,
where A =
[
a
T
1
a
T
2
a
T
3
]
=

2 1 2
0 2 1
1 0 2
0 6 1

, c =
[
c
1
c
2
c
3
]
T
.
We obtain rank(A) = n = 3, therefore, the above homogeneous system only has trivial
solutions to the coecients, c
1
= 0, c
2
= 0, c
3
= 0.
By the denition of linear independence, we prove that these three vectors a
1
, a
2
, a
3
are
linearly independent.
(Or check the rank of the following matrix A)
Let A =

a
1
a
2
a
3

, where a
1
, a
2
, a
3
are the row vectors. By Gauss Elimination, we nd the
row Echelon form R =

2 0 1 0
0 1 3 1
0 0 5
1
2
8

, and rank(A) = rank(R) = 3. Therefore, we verify

the three vectors are linearly independent.
(b)(5pt) The dimension of the vector space spanned by these three vectors is 3, since they
are linearly independent.
(Or check the rank of the following matrix A)
Let A =

a
1
a
2
a
3

, where a
1
, a
2
, a
3
are the row vectors. By Gauss Elimination, we nd the
row Echelon form R =

2 0 1 0
0 1 3 1
0 0 5
1
2
8

, and rank(A) = rank(R) = 3. The vector space

spanned by these three vectors is the row space of the matirx A. Therefore, the dimension of
the vector space spanned by these three vectors is equal to the dimension of the row space, also
equal to the rank of A, which is 3.
3. (20pt)
Solution:
(a)(5pt) The nal new point y = (2

3
3
2
, 0).
1
(b)(5pt) The linear transformation matrix A corresponding to rotating = 30

counter-
clockwise can be represented as
A =
[
cos sin
sin cos
]
=
[
cos

6
sin

6
sin

6
cos

6
]
=
[

3
2

1
2
1
2

3
2
]
.
(c)(5pt) The linear transformation matrix B corresponding to the projection to the horizontal
axis can be represented as
B =
[
1 0
0 0
]
.
(d)(5pt) The overall linear transformation matrix C (rotation rst then projection) from x
to y can be represented as
C = BA =
[
1 0
0 0
]
[

3
2

1
2
1
2

3
2
]
=
[
3
2

1
2
0 0
]
.
2
1


4. Consider the following matrix
A = j
1 -1
2 4
[
(a) (12pt) Find the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors of A.
(b) (2pt) What is the spectrum of A?
(c) (3pt) What are the normalized eigenvectors of A?
(d) (3pt) What are the eigenspaces of the eigenvalues of A?

5. For symmetric, skew-symmetric and orthogonal matrices:
(a) (5pt) We know that any square matrix A is the sum of a symmetric matrix R and a skew-
symmetric matrix S. Show one 2x2 matrix example of A = R + S.

(b) (5pt) Is the following matrix B orthogonal matrix? Find its inverse B
-1
.
B = _
u 1 u
u u 1
1 u u
_

6. For the following matrix
A = _
u u 2
u 2 u
2 u u
_
(a) (15pt) Find an eigenbasis of A, and diagonalize A.
(b) (3pt) What are similar matrices? Show two 2x2 similar matrices.
(c) (2pt) What are the conditions for an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors?




2


Solutions for Q4-6 (50 marks)

Q4. (a) (12 marks) Find the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors of A.

A = j
1 -1
2 4
[

Find eigenvalues first,

uet(A - zI) = u |A - zI| =
1 - z -1
2 4 - z
= (1 - z)(4 - z) +2
= z
2
-Sz +6 = (z - 2)(z -S) = u
We have: z
1
= 2, z
2
= S (6 marks)

Find eigenvectors for each ,

z
1
= 2, A -zI = j
-1 -1
2 2
[ = j
-1 -1
u u
[ (A - zI)x = u

-x
1
= x
2
y
1
= j
-1
1
[ if z
1
= 2 (3 marks)

z
2
= S, A - zI = j
-2 -1
2 1
[ = j
-2 -1
u u
[ (A -zI)x = u

-2x
1
= x
2
y
2
= j
-2
1
[ if z
2
= S (3 marks)


(b) (2 marks) What is the spectrum of A?

It is the set of all the eigenvalues of A: {2, 3}


(c) (3 marks) What are the normalized eigenvectors of A?


y
1


= 1
2
+ (-1)
2
= 2 j
-1
2
1
2
[
T



y
2


= 1
2
+(-2)
2
= S j
-2
5
1
5
[
T



3


(d) (3 marks) What are the eigenspaces of the eigenvalues of A?

z
1
= 2, the eigenspace of z
1
is: span(0, y
1
)

z
2
= S, the eigenspace of z
2
is: span(0, y
2
)



Q5. (a) (5 marks) Show one 2x2 matrix example of A = R + S.

Symmetric matrix R = j
1 2
2 u
[, (2 marks)

skew-symmetric S = j
u 1
-1 u
[, (2 marks)

for any square matrix A = R +S = j
1 S
1 u
[ (1 mark)

(b) (5 marks) Is the following matrix B orthogonal matrix? Find its inverse B
-1
.

B = _
u 1 u
u u 1
1 u u
_ Yes, B is orthogonal matrix (2 marks)


B
-1
= B
T
= _
u u 1
1 u u
u 1 u
_ B
T
B = BB
T
= I (3 marks)


Q6. (a) (15 marks) Find an eigenbasis of A, and diagonalize A.

A = _
u u 2
u 2 u
2 u u
_ eigenbasis (basis of eigenvectors)

Find eigenvalues first, and eigenvectors of A

uet(A -zI) = _
-z u 2
u 2 -z u
2 u -z
_ = -z
2 -z u
u -z
+2
u 2
2 - z u


= (2 - z)(z
2
- 4) = u
4


z
1
= 2, z
2
= 2, z
3
= -2 (3 marks)

If z
1
= z
2
= 2,

(A -zI) = _
-2 u 2
u u u
2 u -2
_

_
-2 u 2
u u u
u u u
_ rank = 1

x
1
= x
3
, x
2
orb. (2 free variables) _
1
1
1
_, _
1
u
1
_ (2 marks)

if z
3
= -2,

(A - zI) = _
2 u 2
u 4 u
2 u 2
_

_
2 u 2
u 4 u
u u u
_ rank = 2

x
1
= -x
3
, x
2
= u (1 free variable) _
-1
u
1
_ (2 mark)

Eigenbasis of A is: the 3 eigenvectors {y
1
, y
2
, y
3
} (1 mark)


Diagonalize A
D = X
-1
AX (X has eigenvectors as column vectors)

X = _
1 1 -1
1 u u
1 1 1
_, X
-1
= _
u 1 u
1
2
-1
1
2
-
1
2
u
1
2
_

[ X | I ] = _
1 1 -1
1 u u
1 1 1

1 u u
u 1 u
u u 1
_ using row operations, we have

[ I | X
-1
] = _
1 u u
u 1 u
u u 1

u 1 u
1
2
-1
1
2
-
1
2
u
1
2
_ XX
-1
= X
-1
X = I (4 marks)

X
-1
AX = _
u 1 u
1
2
-1
1
2
-
1
2
u
1
2
_ _
u u 2
u 2 u
2 u u
_ _
1 1 -1
1 u u
1 1 1
_
5


= _
u 1 u
1
2
-1
1
2
-
1
2
u
1
2
_ _
2 2 2
2 u u
2 2 -2
_ = _
2 u u
u 2 u
u u -2
_ = _
z
1
u u
u z
2
u
u u z
3
_ (3 marks)


(b) (3 marks) What are similar matrices? Show two 2x2 similar matrices.

Similar matrices A and B, such that B = P
-1
AP

We give: A = j
1 -1
u 1
[ P = j
1 u
u 2
[

[ P | I ] = j
1 u
u 2

1 u
u 1
[ = _
1 u
u 1

1 u
u
1
2
_ = [ I | P
-1
] (1 mark)

B = _
1 u
u
1
2
_ j
1 -1
u 1
[ j
1 u
u 2
[ = _
1 u
u
1
2
_ j
1 -2
u 2
[ = j
1 -2
u 1
[

By definition, A and B are similar matrices. (2 marks)


(c) (2 marks) What are the conditions for an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors?

For all the eigenvectors {o
1
, o
2
, , o
n
], they satisfy the conditions:

o
]
o
k
= o
]
T
o
k
= u, i ] = k;
o
]
o
k
= o
]
T
o
k
= 1, i ] = k;