Linear algebra II

Homework #5 solutions
Problem 1. Compute the power An for any positive integer n when

1 0 1
A = 0 1 1 .
1 1 2
The characteristic polynomial of A is given by
f () = det(A I) = 3 + 42 5 + 2 = ( 2)( 1)2 ,
so the eigenvalues are = 2, 1, 1. To find the corresponding eigenvectors, we compute


1
1
N (A 2I) = Span 1 ,
N (A I) = Span 1 .

1
0
This implies that A is not diagonalizable and that its Jordan form is

2
J = B 1 AB = 1 1 .
1
To find a Jordan basis, we need to find vectors v1 , v2 , v3 such that
Av1 = 2v1 ,

Av2 = v2 ,

Av3 = v2 + v3 .

Thus, we can take v1 , v2 to be the eigenvectors that we found above, namely

1
1
v1 = 1 ,
v2 = 1
1
0
and we can determine v3 by solving the

0
[
]
A I | v2 = 0
1
so we can choose v3 to be the vector

system (A I)v3 = v2 .

0 1 1
1 1
0 1 1 0
0
1 1 0
0
0

1+y
1

y
v3 =
= 0 .
1
1

Row reduction gives

0 1
1 1
0 0

Putting everything

1
B = 1
1
Once we now

1
An = 1
1

together, we arrive at the equation

1 1
2
1 0 = B 1 An B = (B 1 AB)n = J n =
1 n .
0 1
1

solve this equation for An , we may finally conclude that

1 1 2n
1
1
1
n + 2 2n 2n n 1 2n 1
1 0
1 n 1
0 1 = n + 1 2n
2n n
2n 1 .
0 1
1
1 1
0
1 2n
2n 1
2n

Problem 2. Let x0 = 3 and y0 = 3. Suppose the sequences xn , yn are such that

xn = 5xn1 2yn1 ,

yn = 2xn1 + yn1

for each n 1. Determine each of xn and yn explicitly in terms of n.

]
[
]
5 2
xn
and A =
, one easily finds that
Letting un =
yn
2
1
[

un = Aun1 = A2 un2 = . . . = An u0 .
In particular, it remains to compute An . The eigenvalues of A are the roots of
f () = 2 (tr A) + det A = 2 6 + 9 = ( 3)2 ,
so = 3 is the only eigenvalue. Moreover, it is easy to check that the only eigenvector is
[ ]
1
.
v1 =
1
This means that A is not diagonalizable and that the Jordan form is
]
[ n
[
]
3 n3n1
3 1
1
n
1 n
J = B AB =
= J = B A B =
.
3
3n
To find a Jordan basis B, we need to find vectors v1 , v2 such that
Av1 = 3v1 ,

Av2 = v1 + 3v2 .

Thus, we can take v1 to be the eigenvector that we found above and we can determine v2
by solving the system (A 3I)v2 = v1 . Row reduction gives
[
]
[
]
[
]
2 2 1
1 1 1/2
A 3I | v1 =

2 2 1
0
0 0

so we can choose v2 to be the vector

] [ ]
y + 1/2
1/2
v2 =
=
.
y
0

Using our computation above, we may now conclude that

[
][
][
]
[
]
1
2n
1 1/2 3n n3n1 0
n
n 1
n1 3 + 2n
A = BJ B =
=3
.
3n
2 2
2n
3 2n
1 0
In particular, the sequences xn , yn are given explicitly by
[
]
[ ]
xn
n
n 4n + 3
= un = A u0 = 3
.
4n 3
yn
Problem 3. Suppose A is a 5 5 matrix such that A3 = A2 and tr A = 1. Suppose also
that the column space of A is three-dimensional. Find the Jordan form of A.
The eigenvalues must satisfy 3 = 2 , so = 0, 1. To find the exact multiplicity of these
eigenvalues, we note that their sum is tr A = 1. In particular, = 1 is a simple eigenvalue
and = 0 has multiplicity four. Since the null space of A is 2-dimensional, there should be
two Jordan blocks with eigenvalue = 0. This actually gives two possibilities, namely

1
1
0

0 1

.
0
1
0
J1 =
J
=
2

0 1
0 1
0
0
Since A3 = A2 , however, the Jordan form J must satisfy J 3 = J 2 , hence J = J2 .
Problem 4. Suppose that A is a 6 6 matrix whose column space is equal to its null space.
Find the Jordan form of A.
Since every column Aei belongs to the null space, we must have A(Aei ) = 0 for each i
and this means that A2 ei = 0. In particular, every column of A2 is zero, so A2 = 0 as well.
The eigenvalues of A satisfy 2 = 0, so the only eigenvalue is = 0. Also, the number of
Jordan blocks is equal to the dimension of the null space and this is 3 by assumption. It
remains to find the sizes of the three Jordan blocks Ji . Since Ji2 = 0 for each i, the blocks
have to be either 1 1 or 2 2 blocks. Since there are three blocks and 6 eigenvalues, all
the blocks are 2 2 blocks and the Jordan form is

0 1
0

0 1

.
J =

0 1
0