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8 votes
2 answers
746 views

Field extension containing the eigenvectors of a Hermitian matrix

Let H be a (finite-dimensional) Hermitian matrix with algebraic numbers for its entries, all of which lie in some minimal field extension of the rational numbers; call this field ℚ(H) for short. ...
Steve Flammia's user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
1k views

"Conjugacy rank" of two matrices over field extension

I have posted this elsewhere and got only a partial reply. I don't know whether this qualifies the question for an open-problem tag; if it does, please anyone insert it. Let $L$ be a field, and $K$ a ...
darij grinberg's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Inverting a covariance matrix numerically stable

Given an $n\times n$ covariance matrix $C$ where $n$ around $250$, I need to calculate $x\cdot C^{-1}\cdot x^t$ for many vectors $x \in \mathbb{R}^n$ (the problem comes from approximating noise by an $...
Erwin's user avatar
  • 51
3 votes
4 answers
3k views

spectral radius of a matrix as one element changes

Here's my question -- Let $A$ be an $n \times n$ real matrix, and suppose that the spectral radius $\rho(A)$ is less than one (spectral radius = max eigenvalue). Let's choose some $1 \leq i \leq N$ ...
hal iii's user avatar
  • 147
11 votes
3 answers
500 views

Local-globalism for similar matrices?

My background on number theory is very weak, so please bear with me... Given two matrices $A$ and $B$ in $\mathbb{Z}^{n\times n}$. Assume that for every prime $p$, the images of $A$ and $B$ in $\...
darij grinberg's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
720 views

"Transient" of the discrete-time Riccati equation

It is a well-known result that, if the pair $(A,Q^{1/2})$ is stabilizable and the pair $(A, C)$ is detectable, the solution to the discrete-time Riccati recursion $P(t+1) = A P(t) A^T - A P(t) C^T\ (...
Federico Ramponi's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
748 views

Tensored Over Abelian Groups?

Suppose I have an category additive category C (i.e. the hom sets are enriched in abelian groups and there are finite direct sums). Suppose further that C has cokernels. Then I can make C tensored ...
Chris Schommer-Pries's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
323 views

Approximately known matrix

What linear algebraic quantities can be calculated precisely for a nonsingular matrix whose entries are only approximately known (say, entries in the matrix are all huge numbers, known up to an ...
Daniel Moskovich's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
536 views

Broken Symmetry

I have a tangled web of ideas about natural transformations, vector spaces, equivalence classes, local coordinates, etc. in my head that I'm trying to unravel. So here are some of the questions I ...
5 votes
3 answers
3k views

Endomorphisms of vector bundles

I'm a bit stuck, and I'm hoping someone can help me out. I have a vector bundle $E$ on an algebraic curve (the ones I am interested in are holomorphic, but I'm sure that doesn't matter so much for ...
stuck's user avatar
  • 53
4 votes
5 answers
5k views

conjugate gradient iteration

I'm having problems understanding why the conjugate gradient method breaks down for singular matrices. I've read a good introduction to intuitively understanding the CG method through visualizing the ...
john's user avatar
  • 51
9 votes
1 answer
708 views

Hilbert spaces are induced by a bilinear form. How about n-linear forms?

A Hilbert space is a complete vector space equipped with scalar product, i.e. a symmetric positive definite bilinear form. What if we replace 'bilinear' by 'n-linear'? One might wonder, whether the $...
shuhalo's user avatar
  • 5,327
2 votes
3 answers
946 views

How can I measure the Morse index in infinite dimensions?

Let $V$ be a vector space over $\mathbb R$, and $a: V\otimes V\to \mathbb R$ a symmetric bilinear pairing. Recall that the Morse index of $a$ is the maximal dimension of any subspace $V_- \subseteq V$...
Theo Johnson-Freyd's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
3k views

Splitting a space into positive and negative parts

Let $V$ be a vector space over $\mathbb R$. A symmetric bilinear pairing on $V$ is a linear map $a: V\otimes V \to \mathbb R$. Because $\mathbb R$ is characteristic not-two, I will freely confuse ...
Theo Johnson-Freyd's user avatar
16 votes
3 answers
3k views

A riddle about zeros, ones and minus-ones

I was asked this years ago, but I don't remember by whom, and have never managed to solve it. Consider the $2^n \times n$ matrix of all vectors in {-1,1}$^n$. Someone comes and maliciously replaces ...
Ehud Friedgut's user avatar
9 votes
6 answers
4k views

Exact short sequences of vector spaces

If possible, how could one prove that every short exact sequence $0 \to A \xrightarrow f B \xrightarrow g C \to 0$ of vector spaces (here $A$, $B$ and $C$) splits without using any basis of $A$, $B$ ...
puzzgek's user avatar
  • 117
11 votes
1 answer
4k views

Singular value decomposition over finite fields?

What is the definition of a singular value over a finite field $\mathcal{F}$ of a matrix ${\bf A}$ in $\mathcal{F}^{m\times n}$? Is there a geometric intuition in the same manner as with the real case ...
Dimitris's user avatar
  • 113
5 votes
6 answers
4k views

Thorough Introduction to Singular Value Decomposition

Can you suggest a book that has a thorough introduction to Singular Value Decomposition?
Kim Greene's user avatar
  • 3,613
11 votes
3 answers
2k views

Matrices whose nullspace is nicely shaped

I'm looking for natural conditions on $a_{ij}$ to guarantee that the null space of the $n\times m$ matrix $A=(a_{ij})$ has a nice basis. The null space of { {1,-2,1,0,0}, {0,1,-2,1,0}, {0,0,1,-2,1} } ...
Kevin O'Bryant's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
363 views

Under what conditions do eigenvalues of a quadratic eigenvalue problem come in reciprocal pairs?

Suppose we have a quadratic eigenvalue problem $\lambda^2 M + \lambda C + K$. Under what conditions is the following statement true: If $\lambda$ is an eigenvalue, so is $1/\lambda$? Here, $M$, $C$, ...
Victor Liu's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
4k views

A random walk matrix has eigenvalue 1 with multiplicty 1 - why?

A random walk matrix has largest eigenvalue 1 with multiplicty 1 - why? Let $G$ be a non-directed, regular connected graph with degree $d$. Let $A$ be its random walk matrix, i.e. it's adjacency ...
shuhalo's user avatar
  • 5,327
33 votes
4 answers
10k views

Definition of inner product for vector spaces over arbitrary fields

Is there a canonical definition of the concept of inner products for vector spaces over arbitrary fields, i.e. other fields than $\mathbb R$ or $\mathbb C$?
heiner's user avatar
  • 341
4 votes
1 answer
173 views

factorization of the product of a matrix element and its cofactor

Hi, this is kind of continuation of this thread to concentrate on a specific problem from linear algebra and analysis that, I think, is rather interesting for itself. Here we go: 1) Main problem: ...
M.G.'s user avatar
  • 7,127
3 votes
1 answer
263 views

Asymptotically multiplicative functions and matrices

Hi, Let $\mathbb{N}_{cop}^2$ denote the set of all pairs of coprime natural numbers. A function $f:\mathbb{C}\rightarrow\mathbb{C}$ is called asymptotically multiplicative, iff $\epsilon_{m,n}:=f(mn)...
M.G.'s user avatar
  • 7,127
5 votes
1 answer
603 views

Hermite normal form in families

How does Hermite normal form (over $Z$) vary in families? I.e. if I have an $n\times m$ matrix $M$ whose entries are integral polynomials in some integral variable $x$, how does the Hermite normal ...
Danny Calegari's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

Real and Complex Projections

A projection $P$ on a real vector space is defined to be a linear mapping such that $P^2 = P$. For projections on complex vector spaces why does one require the extra condition that $P^* = P$, where $...
Aston Symthe's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to compute the rank of a matrix?

Okay, that's a misleading title. This is a somewhat subtler problem than undergraduate linear algebra, although I suspect there's still an easy answer. But I couldn't resist :D. Here's the actual ...
Harrison Brown's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

Is there a name for the matrix equation A X B + B X A + C X C = D?

I happen to be working on a problem that reduces to solving the following equation: $$\mathbf{A X B} + \mathbf{B X A} + \mathbf{C X C} = \mathbf{D}$$ where A through D are known matrices ( A, B, D ...
Jiahao Chen's user avatar
  • 1,890
12 votes
5 answers
3k views

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 ...
Kim Greene's user avatar
  • 3,613
7 votes
8 answers
1k views

Ways to Synthesize Topics in Linear Algebra

Hello, I am currently studying linear algebra right now. In general, the material is pretty straight-forward but it doesn't seem particularly interesting. I suppose that the main thing that I am ...
Alex Anderson's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
559 views

Which quadratic forms on $\Lambda^2 V$ come from quadratic forms on $V$?

Let $V$ be a finite dimensional vector space, say over $\mathbf R$. Let $g \in S^2 V^*$ be a quadratic form on $V$. Then $g$ induces a quadratic form $\Lambda^2 g \in S^2 \Lambda^2 V^*$ on $\Lambda^...
thomas's user avatar
  • 151
3 votes
4 answers
1k views

How can I generate (suitably random) symplectic matrices?

I would like to write a computer script to generate a lot of symplectic matrices. How can I do this? Is there a parameterization of all symplectic matrices?
user1855's user avatar
  • 481
16 votes
5 answers
8k views

Which graphs have incidence matrices of full rank?

This is a follow-up to a previous question. What graphs have incidence matrices of full rank? Obvious members of the class: complete graphs. Obvious counterexamples: Graph with more than two ...
Jiahao Chen's user avatar
  • 1,890
8 votes
1 answer
638 views

Composite residues with determinant denominators

I am looking for a good reference on composite residues of multi-variable contour integrals (something better and more explicit than Griffiths and Harris or Tsikh). This means I want to evaluate $\...
Jared Kaplan's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
5k views

Notions of Matrix Differentiation

There are a few standard notions of matrix derivatives, e.g. If f is a function defined on the entries of a matrix A, then one can talk about the matrix of partial derivatives of f. If the entries of ...
Elisha Peterson's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
356 views

Is there a specific name for matrices with nonsingular principal submatrices?

Is there a specific name for matrices with nonsingular principal submatrices?
Shake Baby's user avatar
  • 1,638
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

How do you construct a symplectic basis on a lattice?

Is this possible to do constructively? The only sources that I have for the possibility of this construction is an exercise in Lang's Algebra (on p. 598, I believe) which states that one can be ...
Simon Rose's user avatar
  • 6,290
-2 votes
1 answer
162 views

What is the weakest condition on the matrices A_k that guarantees v_k->0 => A_kv_k->0 ? [closed]

What is the weakest condition on the sequence of real matrices A_k that guarantees that whenever a sequence of real vectores v_k converges to zero, the product A_kv_k also converges to zero? Edit: ...
Shake Baby's user avatar
  • 1,638
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

Graphs with incidence matrices whose pseudoinverses are proportional to their transposes

When I was working on my PhD dissertation, I came across a physical situation involving nodes and flows between them. It turned out that I was working with a complete oriented graph $K_n$ (all nodes ...
Jiahao Chen's user avatar
  • 1,890
2 votes
3 answers
493 views

In an n-dimensional linear 2nd-order ODE, why is the transpose-inverse to a system of solutions also a solution?

I'm at a sticky spot in my research. Namely, I have a particular fact, and it ought to have a short proof, but the only way I know how to show it is long and drawn out, and I don't like it and worry ...
Theo Johnson-Freyd's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Hermitian matrices with prescribed number of positive and negative eigenvalues

Let $H$ be a linear subspace of the space of Hermitian $n\times n$ matrices. Is there a good characterization of those $H$ such that every $A\in H$ has at least $k$ positive and $k$ negative ...
AndreA's user avatar
  • 971
31 votes
10 answers
9k views

When to pick a basis?

Picking a specific basis is often looked upon with disdain when making statements that are about basis independent quantities. For example, one might define the trace of a matrix to be the sum of the ...
Steve Flammia's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
385 views

Is it that only with normal matrices, the transition matrix to its [del: inherent] [ins: own] basis is unitary?

Does this even make sense what I translated into english? PS. I am probably gonna delete this question eventually
person's user avatar
  • 13
91 votes
5 answers
124k views

Eigenvalues of matrix sums

Is there a relationship between the eigenvalues of individual matrices and the eigenvalues of their sum? What about the special case when the matrices are Hermitian and positive definite? I am ...
Jean-Pierre Gunman's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
5k views

What are the components of a transpose operator from $\mathbb R^{n\times n}$ to $\mathbb R^{n\times n}$?

Say I'm working in the space of linear transformations from $\mathbb R^n$ to $\mathbb R^n$ and I've picked a basis so I can identify with any operator a component matrix in $\mathbb R^{n\times n}$. ...
Rhys Ulerich's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
4k views

Shear transformations

Where can I learn more about shear matrices? The Wikipedia article is not enough, and sadly it does not have any references. I understand they are linear transformations. Do they form a group? How ...
M. E. Irizarry-Gelpí's user avatar
1 vote
8 answers
2k views

Bivectors in 3 and 4 dimensions

The big questions behind are: Is a bivector a two-form? Why a bivector is simply a vector in 3 dimensions? How to distinguish between vectors and bivectors in 3D? Why all bivectors are not vectors ...
Pedro's user avatar
  • 19
30 votes
7 answers
4k views

When is a monic integer polynomial the characteristic polynomial of a non-negative integer matrix?

Suppose $P(x)$ is a monic integer polynomial with roots $r_1, ... r_n$ such that $p_k = r_1^k + ... + r_n^k$ is a non-negative integer for all positive integers $k$. Is $P(x)$ necessarily the ...
Qiaochu Yuan's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
679 views

Quantifying aggregate vector strength/vector arithmetic

Say I have 5 vectors and I measure the similarity of each one to a fixed reference vector using cosine similarity. But now what I want to do is understand the aggregate or collective strength of these ...
JPF's user avatar
  • 11
24 votes
5 answers
6k views

Generators for congruence subgroups of SL_2

For positive integers $n$ and $L$, denote by $SL_n(Z,L)$ the level $L$ congruence subgroup of $SL_n(Z)$, i.e. the kernel of the homomorphism $SL_n(Z)\rightarrow SL_n(Z/LZ)$. For $n$ at least $3$, it ...
Andy Putman's user avatar
  • 44.8k