More from my site

• Find Values of $a$ so that Augmented Matrix Represents a Consistent System Suppose that the following matrix $A$ is the augmented matrix for a system of linear equations. \[A= \left[\begin{array}{rrr|r} 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 \\ 2 &-1 & -2 & a^2 \\ -1 & -7 & -11 & a \end{array} \right],\] where $a$ is a real number. Determine all the […]
• Find All the Square Roots of a Given 2 by 2 Matrix Let $A$ be a square matrix. A matrix $B$ satisfying $B^2=A$ is call a square root of $A$. Find all the square roots of the matrix \[A=\begin{bmatrix} 2 & 2\\ 2& 2 \end{bmatrix}.\]   Proof. Diagonalize $A$. We first diagonalize the matrix […]
• A ring is Local if and only if the set of Non-Units is an Ideal A ring is called local if it has a unique maximal ideal. (a) Prove that a ring $R$ with $1$ is local if and only if the set of non-unit elements of $R$ is an ideal of $R$. (b) Let $R$ be a ring with $1$ and suppose that $M$ is a maximal ideal of $R$. Prove that if every […]
• Rank and Nullity of Linear Transformation From $\R^3$ to $\R^2$ Let $T:\R^3 \to \R^2$ be a linear transformation such that \[ T(\mathbf{e}_1)=\begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 0 \end{bmatrix}, T(\mathbf{e}_2)=\begin{bmatrix} 0 \\ 1 \end{bmatrix}, T(\mathbf{e}_3)=\begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 0 \end{bmatrix},\] where $\mathbf{e}_1, […]
• Polynomial $x^4-2x-1$ is Irreducible Over the Field of Rational Numbers $\Q$ Show that the polynomial \[f(x)=x^4-2x-1\] is irreducible over the field of rational numbers $\Q$.   Proof. We use the fact that $f(x)$ is irreducible over $\Q$ if and only if $f(x+a)$ is irreducible for any $a\in \Q$. We prove that the polynomial $f(x+1)$ is […]
• Linear Algebra Midterm 1 at the Ohio State University (2/3) The following problems are Midterm 1 problems of Linear Algebra (Math 2568) at the Ohio State University in Autumn 2017. There were 9 problems that covered Chapter 1 of our textbook (Johnson, Riess, Arnold). The time limit was 55 minutes. This post is Part 2 and contains […]
• Symmetric Matrix and Its Eigenvalues, Eigenspaces, and Eigenspaces Let $A$ be a $4\times 4$ real symmetric matrix. Suppose that $\mathbf{v}_1=\begin{bmatrix} -1 \\ 2 \\ 0 \\ -1 \end{bmatrix}$ is an eigenvector corresponding to the eigenvalue $1$ of $A$. Suppose that the eigenspace for the eigenvalue $2$ is $3$-dimensional. (a) Find an […]
• A Square Root Matrix of a Symmetric Matrix with Non-Negative Eigenvalues Let $A$ be an $n\times n$ real symmetric matrix whose eigenvalues are all non-negative real numbers. Show that there is an $n \times n$ real matrix $B$ such that $B^2=A$. Hint. Use the fact that a real symmetric matrix is diagonalizable by a real orthogonal matrix. […]