Operators and matrices - basic matrix operations, determinant, spectrum of an operator, spectral theorem in finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces - One Line Questions
1.
What is the adjoint of a matrix A = [[1+i, 2], [3, 4-i]]? —
[[1-i, 2], [3, 4+i]]
2.
What is the transpose of a matrix A = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]]? —
[[1, 4], [2, 5], [3, 6]]
3.
If matrix C = [[2, 1], [1, 3]] and scalar k = 3, what is kC? —
[[6, 3], [3, 9]]
4.
What is the result of adding two matrices A and B, where A = [[1, 2], [3, 4]] and B = [[5, 6], [7, 8]]? —
[[6, 8], [10, 12]]
5.
What is the result of multiplying a matrix A = [[1, 2], [3, 4]] by its transpose A^T? —
[[7, 10], [10, 16]]
6.
Calculate the product of matrices P = [[1, 0], [0, 1]] and Q = [[a, b], [c, d]]. —
[[a, b], [c, d]]
7.
Consider the matrix A = [[0, 1], [0, 0]]. What is its spectrum? —
{0}
8.
What is the spectrum of a nilpotent operator T (i.e., T^k = 0 for some k)? —
{0}
9.
What is the spectrum of the identity operator I on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space? —
{1}
10.
What is the spectrum of a scalar operator T(x) = cx on a Hilbert space? —
{c}
11.
Consider a projection operator P. What are its possible eigenvalues? —
0 and 1
12.
If A is an invertible matrix, then det(A^-1) is equal to: —
1 / det(A)
13.
Find the trace of the matrix B = [[5, 2, 8], [1, 9, 3], [4, 6, 7]]. —
21
14.
Find the determinant of the matrix M = [[2, 3], [4, 5]]. —
-2
15.
A matrix A is called Hermitian if: —
A = A*
16.
For a finite-dimensional Hilbert space, the spectral theorem guarantees that any normal operator is unitarily equivalent to: —
A diagonal operator.
17.
If T is a linear operator on a finite-dimensional vector space, what is an eigenvector? —
A non-zero vector v such that Tv = λv for some scalar λ.
18.
What is the identity matrix I_n? —
A square matrix with 1s on the main diagonal and 0s elsewhere.
19.
What is the determinant of a 2x2 matrix A = [[a, b], [c, d]]? —
ad - bc
20.
The set of eigenvalues of a real symmetric matrix is: —
Always a subset of the real numbers.
21.
If A is a real symmetric matrix, what are its eigenvalues? —
Always real.
22.
If A is a matrix, det(cA) for an n x n matrix and scalar c is equal to: —
c^n det(A)
23.
The eigenvalues of a matrix are the roots of its: —
Characteristic polynomial.
24.
If A is a matrix, det(A^T) is equal to: —
det(A)
25.
What is the definition of a matrix A being singular? —
det(A) = 0
26.
What is the relationship between the determinant and eigenvalues of an n x n matrix A? —
det(A) = product of eigenvalues (counting multiplicity).
27.
If A and B are n x n matrices, then det(AB) is equal to: —
det(A)det(B)
28.
If A is an n x n matrix, how many eigenvalues does it have (counting multiplicities)? —
Exactly n.
29.
What does the spectral theorem imply for a compact normal operator on a Hilbert space? —
It can be represented by a diagonal matrix with eigenvalues on the diagonal.
30.
What property must a matrix satisfy to be diagonalizable by a unitary matrix? —
It must be a normal matrix.
31.
If A is an m x n matrix and B is an n x p matrix, what are the dimensions of the product AB? —
m x p
32.
What is the condition for two matrices A and B to be conformable for multiplication AB? —
Number of columns in A equals the number of rows in B.
33.
What is the spectral decomposition of a self-adjoint operator T in a finite-dimensional Hilbert space? —
T = Σ λ_i P_i, where P_i are orthogonal projection operators.
34.
What is the spectral theorem for a self-adjoint operator T on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space? —
T can be diagonalized by a unitary matrix, and its eigenvalues are real.
35.
For a finite-dimensional complex vector space, a linear operator T is diagonalizable if and only if: —
The geometric multiplicity of each eigenvalue equals its algebraic multiplicity.
36.
For a square matrix A, what does det(A) = 0 imply? —
The matrix is singular.
37.
What is the spectral radius of an operator T? —
The maximum absolute value of the eigenvalues.
38.
What is the geometric interpretation of a matrix determinant? —
The scaling factor of the volume/area under the linear transformation.
39.
What is the spectrum of a linear operator T on a finite-dimensional vector space? —
The set of all eigenvalues of T.
40.
What is the definition of the spectrum of an operator T on a Hilbert space? —
The set of complex numbers λ for which (T - λI) is not invertible.
41.
For a finite-dimensional normal operator T, the spectrum is equal to: —
The set of eigenvalues.
42.
In a finite-dimensional Hilbert space, what is the relationship between the spectrum of an operator and its eigenvalues? —
The spectrum is always equal to the set of eigenvalues.
43.
What is the trace of a square matrix A? —
The sum of the diagonal elements.
44.
If A is a unitary operator on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space, what is true about its eigenvalues? —
Their absolute value is 1.
45.
If A is a normal operator on a finite-dimensional complex Hilbert space, what can be said about its eigenvectors? —
There exists an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors.
46.
If A is a Hermitian matrix, what can be said about its eigenvalues? —
They are always real.
47.
What is the relationship between the trace and eigenvalues of an n x n matrix A? —
tr(A) = sum of eigenvalues (counting multiplicity).
48.
Which property holds for the trace of matrices A and B (where multiplication is defined): tr(AB) = tr(BA)? —
True
49.
If A is a square matrix, when is A an orthogonal matrix? —
When A^T = A^-1
50.
What is the characteristic polynomial of a 2x2 matrix A = [[a, b], [c, d]]? —
λ^2 - tr(A)λ + det(A)