Math 40 Exercises (Orthogonal Diagonalization of Symmetric Matrices)

1. Determine the eigenvalues and the associated eigenspaces of the following symmetric matrices
over R. Find an orthogonal matrix P such that P −1 AP is diagonal.
   
0 0 1 −3 0 −1
a. A = 0 0 0 c. A =  0 −2 0 
1 0 0 −1 0 −3
   
1 0 0 1 0 −4
b. A = 0 3 −2 d. A =  0 5 4 
0 −2 3 −4 4 3

2. A matrix A ∈ Mn (R) is orthogonal if and only if hAv, Awi = hv, wi for all v, w ∈ Rn .

3. If A and B are orthogonal matrices then AB is also orthogonal.

4. If A is an orthogonal matrix then A−1 is also orthogonal.

5. If A is an orthogonal matrix then det(A) = ±1.

6. Let A be an orthogonal matrix. Show that if λ is an eigenvalue of A then |λ| = 1.