CHARACTERISTIC POLYNOMIAL TECHNIQUE

These concepts are explained for the matrix

The characteristic equation of this matrix reads

Calculating the determinant, this yields the quadratic equation

whose solutions (also called roots) are = 1 and = 3. The eigenvectors for the eigenvalue = 3 are determined by using the eigenvalue equation, which in this case reads

The juxtaposition at the left hand side denotes matrix multiplication. Spelling this out, this equation comparing two vectors is tantamount to a system of the following two linear equations:

Both equations reduce to the single linear equation x = y. That is to say, any vector of the form (x, y) with y = x is an eigenvector to the eigenvalue = 3. However, the vector (0, 0) is excluded. A similar calculation shows that the eigenvectors corresponding to the eigenvalue = 1, are given by non-zero vectors (x, y) such that y = x. For example, an eigenvector corresponding to

= 1, is

whereas an eigenvector corresponding to = 3, is

These vectors, placed as columns in a matrix, may be used to create a diagonalizable matrix.