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Practice Problems Chapter 3

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9 views

Practice Problems Chapter 3

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MATH235: Linear Algebra 2

Practice Problems for Chapter 3: Diagonalizability

Instructions
• These problems are meant to give you an opportunity to practice the material covered in class
and in the course notes. They are ungraded: you do not have to submit them. However, we
highly recommend that you attempt all of them and write up full solutions to each.

• You are welcome to discuss these problems with your instructor, classmates, and on Piazza.

• All vector spaces are assumed to be finite-dimensional, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Computational Problems
Q1. For each linear operator L : V → V given below, (a) find the eigenvalues of L, (b) obtain a
basis for the eigenspace corresponding to each eigenvalue, and (c) determine whether or not
L is diagonalizable. If L is diagonalizable, give a basis D that diagonalizes L.

(a) L : V → V defined by L( #»
x ) = #»
x , where V is any finite-dimensional vector space.
(b) L : R → R defined by L( x ) = projection of #»
2 2 #» x onto the line y = x in R2 .
(c) L : R3 → R3 defined by L( #»
x ) = projection of #»
x onto the plane x − y + 2z = 0 in R3 .
(d) L : P2 (F) → P2 (F) defined by L(a + bx + cx2 ) = ax + bx2 .
(e) L : Pn (F) → Pn (F) defined by L(p(x)) = p′ (x).
(f) L : Pn (F) → Pn (F) defined by L(p(x)) = p(2x).
   
a b d −b
(g) L : M2×2 (F) → M2×2 (F) defined by L = (i.e. L(A) = adj(A)).
c d −c a
[Note: If n ≥ 3 then L : Mn×n (F) → Mn×n (F) defined by L(A) = adj(A) is not a linear
map.]
   
a b a c
(h) L : M2×2 (F) → M2×2 (F) defined by L = (i.e. L(A) = AT ).
c d b d
Q2. Give an example of a linear operator L : V → V that is...

(a) ...diagonalizable but not injective.


(b) ...injective but not diagonalizable.
(c) ...diagonalizable but not surjective.
(d) ...surjective but not diagonalizable.
(e) ...diagonalizable but not an isomorphism.
(f) ...an isomorphism but not diagonalizable.

[Hint: One approach here is to convert this into a problem about matrices.]

1
MATH235: Linear Algebra 2
Practice Problems for Chapter 3: Diagonalizability

Conceptual Problems
 
x
Q1. Let λ, µ ∈ F. For what values of µ is the linear map L : F2 → F2 defined by L =
y
 
λx + µy
diagonalizable?
λy

Q2. Let L : V → V be a linear operator and let A = [L]B be the matrix of L with respect to an
ordered basis B of V .

(a) Prove that λ ∈ F is an eigenvalue of L if and only if λ is an eigenvalue of A.


(b) Prove that #»
x ∈ V is an eigenvector of L if and only if [ #»
x ]B is an eigenvector of A.
(c) Prove/disprove: if λ is an eigenvalue of L (hence of A), then the eigenspace of L corre-
sponding to λ is equal to the eigenspace of A corresponding to λ.
(d) Prove/disprove: if λ is an eigenvalue of L (hence of A), then the dimension of the
eigenspace of L corresponding to λ is equal to the dimension of the eigenspace of A
corresponding to λ.

Q3. Let L : V → V be a linear operator and let A = [L]B and B = [L]C be the matrices of L with
respect to ordered basis B and C of V . Prove that the characteristic polynomial of A is equal
to the characteristic polynomial of B. (This allows us to define the characteristic polynomial
of an operator L to be the characteristic polynomial of [L]B for any basis B for V .)

Q4. Let L : V → V and T : V → V be diagonalizable linear operators. Prove/disprove:

(a) L ◦ L : V → V is diagonalizable.
(b) L ◦ T : V → V is diagonalizable.
(c) If L is an isomorphism, then L−1 : V → V is diagonalizable.
   
0 1 1 0
Q5. Consider the subspace W = Span , of M2×2 (R). Show that if A ∈ W ,
1 0 0 −1
then A is diagonalizable over R.

Q6. (a) Find a matrix A ∈ M2×2 (F) whose characteristic polynomial is λ2 +aλ+b, where a, b ∈ F
are arbitrary.
(b) Prove that there is no matrix B ∈ M3×3 (F) whose characteristic polynomial is λ3 +λ+1.
(c) [Challenging!] Prove that there is a matrix C ∈ Mn×n (F) whose characteristic poly-
nomial is (−1)n λn + cn−1 λn−1 + · · · + c1 λ + c0 , where ci ∈ F are arbitrary.

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