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Is there a simple notation to transform a column vector to a diagonal matrix with only matrix operations?

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 I have worried about this, and think the answer is basically no, largely because a column vector is rank 1 and the diagonal matrix is larger rank. But I wouldn't say that's a proof. – Allen Knutson Feb 18 2011 at 4:11
When you say "notation", do you mean "method"? – Yemon Choi Feb 18 2011 at 4:17
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 Well you can hardly call it a method, it doesn't really do any multiplications, its basically just writing it in a way that implies its shape. – Jerry Feb 18 2011 at 4:22
notation-wise that's $diag({\bf x})$. proof-wise, however, I agree with the first comment, you jump from a $1$-dimensional space to an $n$-dimensional space, so no linear operator can get you there. From the diagonal you can definitely go to the vector. Just multiply it with the all ones vector. – Anadim Feb 18 2011 at 4:34
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 I think this question should be improved before it is appropriate for MO. As is, I have voted to close, but I hope that instead OP rewrites it to clarify (you can modify the question by clicking the little "edit" button). Please see mathoverflow.net/howtoask . – Theo Johnson-Freyd Feb 18 2011 at 5:14
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closed as not a real question by Theo Johnson-Freyd, Yemon Choi, Denis Serre, David Roberts, Andrew Stacey Feb 18 2011 at 8:07

1 Answer

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I'm not sure whether it answers your question, but here is a "matrix procedure" to transform the column vector $v$ into a diagonal matrix $D$:

Let $E_i$ be the $n \times n$ matrix with a $1$ on position $(i,i)$ and zeros everywhere else; similarly, let $e_i$ be the $1 \times n$ row matrix with a $1$ on position $(1,i)$ and zeros everywhere else. Then

$$D = \sum_{i=1}^n E_i v e_i .$$

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