All Questions
6,260 questions
13
votes
1
answer
5k
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Surprising connection between linear algebra and graph theory
What is the intuition for linear algebra being such an effective tool to resolve questions regarding graphs?
For example, one can determine if a given graph is connected by computing its Laplacian ...
- 407
13
votes
1
answer
702
views
Integer matrices with a strange divisibility property
Fix an integer $n$. What can you say about a (not necessarily square) matrix $A$ with integer entries that has the property that for any $k$, every $k\times k$ minor of $A$ is divisible by $n^{k-1}$? ...
- 1,960
13
votes
1
answer
962
views
Axiom(s) of choice and bases of vector spaces
I'm not sure this question is more suitable for MO or for MSE, so feel free to move it to MSE if necessary.
I work here in ZF theory. Consider the following statements:
$(C)$ Axiom of choice: for ...
- 1,766
13
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Banach-Mazur distance between $\ell^p$-norms
Let $E^n$ be the real or complex space of dimension $n$. If $N$ and $M$ are two norms over $E^n$, and if $A$ is an endomorphism, then
$$\|A\|^M_N:=\sup_{x\ne0}\frac{M(Ax)}{N(x)}$$
is an operator norm ...
- 52.4k
13
votes
1
answer
732
views
What is the "positive part" of the unit ball in $M_n(R)$ ?
In ${\bf M}_n(\mathbb R)$, let us consider the usual operator norm
$$\|A\|=\sup\frac{\|Ax\|}{\|x\|},$$
where $\|x\|$ is the Euclidian norm.
The closed unit ball $B$ is the set of contractions (in the ...
- 52.4k
13
votes
2
answers
1k
views
A matrix norm inequality
Suppose that $A, B$ are Hermitian positive definite matrices of the same order and $0\le p\le 1$. Using a standard approach in matrix analysis, one can show that
$\|A^{1-p}B^p\|\ge \|A\sharp_p B\|$, ...
- 1,748
13
votes
1
answer
516
views
Permanent of a matrix of odd integers
It is clear that the permanent of an $n\times n$ matrix which entries are odd integers, is an even number, as it is the sum of $n!$ odd numbers. I am interested in finding the highest power of $2$ ...
- 273
13
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Combinatorial proof of (a special case of) the spectral theorem?
The spectral theorem for a real $n \times n$ symmetric matrix $A$ says that $A$ is diagonalizable with all eigenvalues real. If $A$ happens to have non-negative integer entries, it can be interpreted ...
- 118k
13
votes
2
answers
768
views
Is there a proof of Warning's Second Theorem using p-adic cohomology?
Let $\mathbb{F}_q$ be a finite field, $n \in \mathbb{Z}^+$, and $f_1,\ldots,f_r \in \mathbb{F}_q[t_1,\ldots,t_n]$ with $\operatorname{deg}(f_i) = d_i$. Put $d = \sum_{i=1}^n d_i$ and suppose $d< n$...
- 65.4k
13
votes
2
answers
947
views
Computing a large permanent
Is there a practical way to compute the permanent of a large ($91 \times 91$) $(0,1)$ matrix?
I have tried to use the matlab function written by Luke Winslow which works great for smaller matrices ...
- 6,962
13
votes
1
answer
592
views
Is there a straightforward generalization of min(x,y) to positive-semidefinite Hermitian matrices?
This is an open-ended question I have. Is there a function of two positive-semidefinite hermitian operators $\min(A,B)$ returning another positive-semidefinite Hermitian operator such that:
If A and ...
- 1,947
13
votes
1
answer
311
views
Permanent of the Coxeter matrix of a distributive lattice
Let $L$ be a finite distributive lattice with $n$ elements. Let $C=(c_{x,y})$ be the $n \times n$ matrix with entry 1 in case $x \leq y$ and 0 else.
The Coxeter matrix of $L$ is defined as the matrix $...
- 26.5k
13
votes
1
answer
468
views
Near-linear mappings from $\mathbb F_p$ to $\mathbb R$
$\newcommand{\F}{{\mathbb F}}$
$\newcommand{\R}{{\mathbb R}}$
$\renewcommand{\phi}{\varphi}$
Let $p\ge 5$ be a prime.
If the functions $\phi_1,\phi_2,\phi_3\colon\F_p\to\R$ satisfy $\phi_1(x)+\...
- 23k
13
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Seeking proof for linear algebra constraint problem.
Given a symmetric real matrix with a zero diagonal $M$, I am trying to find a diagonal matrix $D$, such that the matrix $M + D$ is positive definite, and $(M+D)^{-1}$ has a diagonal consisting of all ...
- 379
13
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Left and right eigenvalues
A quaternionic matrix $A$ gives rise to a
function $\mathbb{H}^n \to \mathbb{H}^n$
given by $x \mapsto A \cdot x$. This is real linear,
but not complex- or quaternionic-linear
(in general) if we ...
- 12.5k
13
votes
1
answer
626
views
A difficult determinant
(EDIT: I have removed the denominators I had in a previous version as they were superfluous)
The $N\times N$ determinant
$$D(a,\vec{b})=\det\left((2N+a+b_j-i-j)!\right)$$
has the nice form
$$D(a,\...
- 2,552
13
votes
1
answer
889
views
Probability that random nonnegative integer matrix is singular
Q. What is the probability that an $n \times n$ matrix, whose elements
are independent uniformly random integers in $\{0,1,\ldots,k\}$, is singular?
For example, for $n=3$ and $k=2$, the first ...
- 151k
13
votes
1
answer
1k
views
When is a matrix similar to a non-negative matrix?
Consider a real square matrix $A$ of size $n\times n$. Under which conditions on $A$ does there exist a row-stochastic matrix $U$ (non-negative, rowsums = 1), such that $A'=U^{-1}AU$ is a non-negative ...
- 231
13
votes
1
answer
329
views
Spectral properties of finite metric sets
Given a finite metric set $S=\{P_1,\dots,P_n\}$, one gets a real symmetric matrix $M=M(S)$
with rows and columns indexed by elements of $S$ by setting
$M_{i,j}=d(P_i,P_j)$.
It is easy to see that $M$...
- 17.9k
13
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Determinant of $V^* V$ where $V$ is rectangular Vandermonde matrix with nodes on unit circle
Let $z_{1},\dots,z_{k}$
be distinct complex numbers with $\left|z_{j}\right|=1,\;j=1,\dots,k$. For any natural $N\geqslant k$
consider the rectangular Vandermonde matrix
$$
V_{N}=\begin{pmatrix}1 &...
- 959
13
votes
1
answer
1k
views
A generalization of the Powers-Stormer inequality
The well-known Powers-Stormer inequality says the following: for positive semidefinite operators $A, B$, we have that $\mathrm{Tr}((A - B)(A - B)) \leq \| A^2 - B^2 \|_1$, where $\| \cdot \|_1$ ...
- 2,019
13
votes
1
answer
13k
views
Eigenvalues of submatrices
I am interested in results on the eigenvalues of submatrices.
Given a symmetric and positive-semidefinite matrix $M$, denote the submatrix obtained by deleting the ith column and jth row as $[M]_{ji}$...
- 599
13
votes
2
answers
795
views
Distance of vectors versus distance of their difference vectors
For any given $x \in \mathbb{R}^n$, let $\nabla{x} \in \mathbb{R}^{n \choose 2}$ be the vector whose $\{i,j\}$-th entry is $|x_i-x_j|$. I think the following claim is true.
Claim. If $f, g \in \...
- 519
13
votes
0
answers
448
views
Unit polynomial vector fields on the sphere
Let $\mathbb{S}^3 \subset \mathbb{R}^4$ be the unit $3$-sphere. Is there a classification available for $3$-homogeneous polynomial, unit norm, vector fields on $\mathbb{S}^3$?
More explicitly, a $3$-...
- 501
13
votes
0
answers
786
views
Seek for a algebro-geometric proof: the group homomorphism $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z}) \rightarrow \mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z}/N\mathbb{Z})$ is surjective
It is a well-known fact that the group homomorphism $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z}) \rightarrow \mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z}/N\mathbb{Z})$ is surjective.
What I want is a proof by method of algebraic geometry. ...
- 1,168
13
votes
0
answers
237
views
A Dynkin type classification result in linear algebra
Let $G$ be a finite directed acyclic graph. The Cartan matrix $C_G=C$ of $G$ is defined as the matrix with rows and colums indexed by the vertices of $G$ and $c_{i,j}$ counts the number of paths from $...
- 26.5k
13
votes
0
answers
749
views
Rings whose Frobenius is flat
Let $R$ be a ring of characteristic $p>0$. The (absolute) Frobenius is the map of rings $F_R:R\rightarrow R$ defined by $x\mapsto x^p$.
I am interested in rings for which $F_R$ is flat (hence ...
anon1432
13
votes
0
answers
815
views
Can one Gershgorin circle (only) contain all eigenvalues, when the other circles are not contained in it
In short, following a question from my students, I am trying to find a special case where all the eigenvalues of a matrix lie within only one circle, but not in the others, and the other circles are ...
- 673
13
votes
0
answers
257
views
Is the set of power matrices decidable?
Let $\text{Mat}(n\times n,\mathbb{Z})$ denote the collection of integer $n\times n$ matrices. We say $M\in \text{Mat}(n\times n,\mathbb{Z})$ is a power matrix if there is an integer $k>1$ and a ...
- 48.9k
13
votes
0
answers
348
views
A determinant problem for primes $p\equiv 1\pmod4$
Let $p$ be an odd prime, and let $A_p$ denote the matrix
$$[a_{ij}]_{1\le i,j\le (p-1)/2},$$
where
$$a_{1j}=\left(\frac jp\right),\ \ \text{and}\ \ a_{ij}=\left(\frac{i^2+j^2}p\right)\ \text{for}\ i&...
- 15.6k
13
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Pointwise (Hadamard) matrix product and the rank
$\DeclareMathOperator{\rk}{rk}$
Suppose that $A$ is a square matrix of order $n$. If, for any polynomials $P$ and $Q$ with $\deg P+\deg Q\le 2$, we have
$$ P(A)\circ Q(A^t) = P(1)Q(1)\, I_n \tag{$\...
- 23k
13
votes
0
answers
713
views
Regular languages of matrices and their generating functions
My question is somewhat related to this question.
Let us fix natural numbers $k$ and $C$. Let $A$ be an automaton whose alphabet consists of $k\times k$ matrices with integer coefficients of ...
- 3,897
13
votes
0
answers
943
views
Beilinson-Bernstein localization in positive characteristic
This is a follow-up to this question; in particular, I'm wondering if anyone can expand upon the interesting answers given by Kevin McGerty and David Ben-Zvi there. (In particular, in this question I'...
- 3,637
12
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Differentiability of eigenvalues of positive-definite symmetric matrices
Let $A\in M(n,\mathbb{R})$ be an invertible matrix. Consider the (real) eigenvalues $\lambda_1,\cdots,\lambda_n$, in increasing order, of the positive-definite symmetric matrix $A^t A$. We shall ...
- 3,423
12
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Is any $(n-1)\times (n-1)$ submatrix of an $n \times n$ Vandermonde matrix invertible?
Given an $n \times n$ vandermonde matrix $V$ which is invertible, is any $(n-1) \times (n-1)$ submatrix of $V$ invertible also?
I think the answer is yes, but I don't know how to prove.
- 173
12
votes
5
answers
3k
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How can I learn about doing linear algebra with trace diagrams?
There is a wikipedia article. There is a paper by Elisha Peterson. I tried reading these but they don't seem to click for me.
Are there books or other resources for learning how to do linear algebra ...
- 3,613
12
votes
6
answers
7k
views
Is there an analog of determinant for linear operators in infinite dimensions as that of finite dimensions?
I am trying to find out the essence of what a determinant is. Besides, in finite dimensions, determinant is the kind of numerical invariant that determines the invertibility of a linear operator, but ...
- 663
12
votes
3
answers
15k
views
Kind of submultiplicativity of the Frobenius norm: $\|AB\|_F \leq \|A\|_2\|B\|_F$?
Let $\|\cdot\|_F$ and $\|\cdot\|_2$ be the Frobenius norm and the spectral norm, respectively.
I'm reading Ji-Guang Sun's paper 'Perturbation Bounds for the Cholesky and QR Factorizations' from BIT ...
12
votes
3
answers
784
views
Can the equation $1+z+z^2=z^n$ for natural $n$ have multiple complex roots $z$?
The question is stated in the title of this post.
It is easy to see that, if $z$ is a multiple root of $p_n(z):=1+z+z^2-z^n$, then $(n-2)z^2+(n-1)z+n=0$, so that we can successively express $z^2,\dots,...
- 128k
12
votes
2
answers
1k
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The character table of the symmetric group modulo m
Let $S_n$ be the symmetric group and $M_n$ the character table of $S_n$ as a matrix (in some order) for $n \geq 2$.
Question: Is it true that the rank of $M_n$ as a matrix modulo $m$ for $m \geq 2$ ...
- 26.5k
12
votes
2
answers
1k
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Matrix inequality $(A-B)^2 \leq c (A+B)^2$ ?
Let A and B be positive semidefinite matrices. It is not hard to see that $(A-B)^2 \leq 2A^2 + 2B^2$. In fact, $2A^2 + 2B^2 - (A-B)^2 = (A+B)^2$ is positive semidefinite.
My question is: Is there a ...
- 123
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Weil Conjectures for nonprojective algebraic varieties
If we replace projective variety with algebraic variety in the statement of the Weil conjectures what happens? To me it seems the statement still makes sense. But is it still true?
- 1,462
12
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Does k(X) have a k-basis for every set X, without AC?
This question is inspired by Pace Nielsen's recent question Does a left basis imply a right basis, without AC?.
For any field $k$, the field $k(x)$ of rational functions in one variable has an ...
- 35.2k
12
votes
2
answers
661
views
The $r$-dimensional volume of the Minkowski sum of $n$ ($n\geq r$) line sets
Let $n$ line sets be $\mathcal{S}_i=\{a\mathbf{h}_i:0 \le a \le 1\}$, for $1 \le i \le n$, where $\{\mathbf{h}_1,\cdots,\mathbf{h}_n\}$ is a vector group of rank $r$ in the $r$-dimensional Euclidean ...
- 550
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Stable conjugacy for integer matrices
$\DeclareMathOperator\GL{GL}$Let $F$ be a field, and $E$ an extension field. Then two matrices in $\GL_n(F)$ are conjugate if and only if they are conjugate in $\GL_n(E)$. I'm curious whether the ...
- 385
12
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Prove that matrix is positive definite
I faced a hard question in kernel methods theory, which I can't answer for about one week. Initially it was formulated in terms of positive valued functions, but it could be reformulated easier:
Let $...
user99354
12
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Is this formulation of the Singular Value Decomposition standard?
In customary formulations of the Singular Value Decomposition or SVD that I have seen,
(e.g., Wikipedia or Gil Strang's textbooks) it is always stated in terms of writing an
$m \times n$ matrix $M$ (...
- 15.3k
12
votes
2
answers
9k
views
What is the time complexity of the matrix exponential?
While trying to compute the Matrix Exponential of an $n \times n$ array I decided to take advantage of a Python function called scipy.linalg.expm().
According to ...
- 241
12
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Conjugacy in $GL(n,\mathbb Z)$
How can I determine whether $A_1,A_2\in GL(n,\mathbb Z)$ conjugate in $GL(n,\mathbb Z)$ and if they are, how can I find a $P\in GL(n,\mathbb Z)$ for which $A_2 = P^{-1}.A_1.P$ ?
In $GL(n,\mathbb Q)$ ...
- 347
12
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is there an eigenvalue of modulus larger than 1?
Given a matrix $A\in \operatorname{SL}_d(\mathbb{Z})$ (the special linear group) satisfying the two conditions: (1) no eigenvalue of $A$ is a root of unity, (2) the characteristic polynomial of $A$ is ...
- 43.2k