More from my site

• 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 […]
• Vector Space of Functions from a Set to a Vector Space For a set $S$ and a vector space $V$ over a scalar field $\K$, define the set of all functions from $S$ to $V$ \[ \Fun ( S , V ) = \{ f : S \rightarrow V \} . \] For $f, g \in \Fun(S, V)$, $z \in \K$, addition and scalar multiplication can be defined by \[ (f+g)(s) = f(s) + […]
• A Matrix Commuting With a Diagonal Matrix with Distinct Entries is Diagonal Let \[D=\begin{bmatrix} d_1 & 0 & \dots & 0 \\ 0 &d_2 & \dots & 0 \\ \vdots & & \ddots & \vdots \\ 0 & 0 & \dots & d_n \end{bmatrix}\] be a diagonal matrix with distinct diagonal entries: $d_i\neq d_j$ if $i\neq j$. Let $A=(a_{ij})$ be an $n\times n$ matrix […]
• Example of an Infinite Algebraic Extension Find an example of an infinite algebraic extension over the field of rational numbers $\Q$ other than the algebraic closure $\bar{\Q}$ of $\Q$ in $\C$.   Definition (Algebraic Element, Algebraic Extension). Let $F$ be a field and let $E$ be an extension of […]
• If $R$ is a Noetherian Ring and $f:R\to R’$ is a Surjective Homomorphism, then $R’$ is Noetherian Suppose that $f:R\to R'$ is a surjective ring homomorphism. Prove that if $R$ is a Noetherian ring, then so is $R'$.   Definition. A ring $S$ is Noetherian if for every ascending chain of ideals of $S$ \[I_1 \subset I_2 \subset \cdots \subset I_k \subset […]
• Non-Prime Ideal of Continuous Functions Let $R$ be the ring of all continuous functions on the interval $[0,1]$. Let $I$ be the set of functions $f(x)$ in $R$ such that $f(1/2)=f(1/3)=0$. Show that the set $I$ is an ideal of $R$ but is not a prime ideal.   Proof. We first show that $I$ is an ideal of […]
• The Product of Two Nonsingular Matrices is Nonsingular Prove that if $n\times n$ matrices $A$ and $B$ are nonsingular, then the product $AB$ is also a nonsingular matrix. (The Ohio State University, Linear Algebra Final Exam Problem)   Definition (Nonsingular Matrix) An $n\times n$ matrix is called nonsingular if the […]
• The Inverse Matrix of the Transpose is the Transpose of the Inverse Matrix Let $A$ be an $n\times n$ invertible matrix. Then prove the transpose $A^{\trans}$ is also invertible and that the inverse matrix of the transpose $A^{\trans}$ is the transpose of the inverse matrix $A^{-1}$. Namely, show […]