Setting linear algebra problems

Setting Linear Algebra Problems
John D. Steele
School of Mathematics
University of New South Wales
Sydney NSW 2052
Australia
j.steele@unsw.edu.au

Abstract: In this report I collect together some of the techniques I have evolved for setting
linear algebra problems, with particular attention payed towards ensuring relatively easy arithmetic.
Some are given as MAPLE routines.
AMS Classification: 15-00, 15-02, 15-04, 15A36.

1 Introduction
When I first began teaching Linear Algebra at the University of New South Wales, I was
disappointed by the level of arithmetic competence of my students, and annoyed to find that
problems were being set where this lack of competence meant one could never really see
whether students understood the material and techniques or not. I began to think through
these problems backwards, and ask “How can I set these problems so that the arithmetic
does not obscure the mathematics?”
I am sure many people have gone through the same process and evolved their own ideas
and ad hoc methods of conjuring up the appropriate matrix or set of vectors, but I looked
in vain for anything on paper. This report is intended to set down some of the useful tricks
I came up with while setting linear algebra problems. The point of this exercise is to pay
careful attention to having the arithmetic as easy as can be arranged. This latter requirement
means that vectors and matrices should be integer where possible, or rational numbers with
small denominator, or simple, small surds if that is the best that can be done. Of course,
there is a downside to this, as it is also a useful lesson for students that the numbers do not
always work out, but one can also use these tricks to make sure that they do not.
I will only be concerned with Rn , given that any other finite-dimensional vector space
over R can be isometrically mapped to a suitable Rn . Of course, R can usually be replaced
with C.

1

Most of these tricks are essentially routine applications of basic linear algebra, and there-
fore most of the references given are to textbooks. A few use slightly more sophisticated
ideas to ensure the methods work. I expect no result given here is either deep or new —
most are very simple and/or very old. I would expect most readers reaction to them would
be along the lines of “Well, obviously!” A few are perhaps not as well known, or as fully
appreciated, as they should be.
Throughout this report I will refer to MAPLE procedures that I have written to use some
of these ideas. These procedures are given in the file MakeMatrix , available at
http://www.maths.unsw.edu.au/∼jds/Papers/MakeMatrix
and are based around the LinearAlgebra package introduced in Maple 7. Similar routines
based on the older linalg package are also available at
http://www.maths.unsw.edu.au/∼jds/Papers/makematrix
In one case the method is given as a semi-MAPLE algorithm. The routines are very
simple, and readers will find it easy to write their own versions in whatever language they
are most comfortable.

2 Vectors of integer norm
In R2 , a vector will have an integer norm if and only if its components are the first two
numbers in a Pythagorean triple. All these have been known since antiquity, and are given
by the following well-known result:

Theorem 1 (Pythagorean triples). The three numbers x, y, z form a Pythagorean triple
if and only if there are three integers u, v and k such that

x = k(u2 − v 2 ) y = 2kuv z = k(u2 + v 2 )

(or the same with x and y exchanged).

Typical examples of such triples are, of course, (3, 4, 5), (5, 12, 13) etc, leading to vectors
like (−3, 4), (12, −5) etc.

In R3 the situation is governed by the theorem, see e.g. [3]:

Theorem 2. The square of an integer n can be decomposed non-trivially into the sum of
two or three squares if and only if n is not a power of 2.

Typical examples of these that are useful in linear algebra are, for example

32 = 12 + 22 + 22
72 = 22 + 32 + 62
92 = 12 + 42 + 82 = 42 + 42 + 72
112 = 62 + 62 + 72 = 22 + 62 + 92
122 = 42 + 82 + 82

2

as well as “degenerate” cases arising from Pythagorean triples.

For higher dimensions, we have Lagrange’s theorem (see, e.g. [3])

Theorem 3 (Lagrange’s Theorem). Any integer can be decomposed into the sum of at
most four squares.

One of the most useful examples of this is that 22 = 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 .

3 Matrices of a given determinant
One of the standard results of linear algebra is the P LU decomposition (see e.g. [4]):

Theorem 4. Any matrix can be decomposed into the product of a permutation matrix P , a
unimodular lower triangular matrix L and an upper triangular matrix U .

There are two uses for this theorem. Firstly, the choice of L will govern the number (and
diﬃculty) of the row operations for reducing the product A = LU back to echelon form U :
choosing any vector x then gives us the right hand side for a set of linear equations Ax = b.
Secondly, we can use this theorem in reverse to create a matrix of a given determinant. All
that is required is to take the product of a unimodular lower triangular matrix and an upper
triangular matrix with the determinant desired: the MAPLE routine RandomMatrix has
options that create such matrices. A MAPLE procedure MakeDetMat to make the required
matrices is given in the ﬁle MakeMatrix . The columns (or rows) of a matrix of non-zero
determinant give bases of the appropriate space of course.
A most useful way of using the P LU decomposition is to create matrices of determinant
±1. These are particularly good for problems involving calculating the inverse of a matrix
(there will be no fractions in the solution), and for similarity transformations. The following
easy theorem illustrates why this is so:

Theorem 5. Let A be a square integer matrix. Then A−1 is an integer matrix if and only
if det A = ±1.

Proof. Since det A−1 = (det A)−1 , the only if part is easy. The if part is a consequence of the
well-known result that A−1 is the (classical) adjoint (the transpose of the matrix of minors,
which will be an integer matrix) divided by det A. Or, alternatively, it follows from Cramer’s
Rule.

4 Matrices with a given kernel
There are several ways of doing this. One is to use the normal form [6] directly:

3

Theorem 6. Any n × m matrix A can be written as the product QN P −1 where P ∈
GL(m, R), Q ∈ GL(n, R) and the normal form N is of the form

Ir O
O O

with rank(A) = r, Ir the r × r identity matrix and O signifying zero matrices.
In order to find P in this theorem, one finds the kernel of A and extends it to a basis of
m
R . This basis then forms the columns of P , with the the last m − r columns of P spanning
the kernel of A. For Q one takes the images of the extension vectors and extends them to a
basis for Rn .
So, to get a matrix with a given kernel, extend the basis for the kernel by adjoining
random vectors as desired. Then premultiplying P −1 by a matrix of the form of N in the
theorem and of the required size will give the matrix A with given kernel. A premultiplication
by any invertible Q can be applied as a disguise.
A second way is to jump the need for extending a basis by using the fact that (W ⊥ )⊥ = W
for finite dimensions. Take a matrix A whose rows are a basis for the desired kernel. Then
a matrix whose row space is ker(A) has the desired kernel.
The procedure MakeKernel in MakeMatrix does this and it is designed so that the output
will always be an integer matrix with the minimum number of rows: premultiplication by
any matrix of full rank and more rows will not alter the kernel.
Alternatively, one can build a suitable matrix directly from row reduction. Suppose W
is a linearly independent set of r vectors in Rn , and is to be a basis for the kernel. Then
create the matrix whose first r rows are the members of W and whose last row is a general
vector (v1 , v2 , . . . , vn ) in Rn . This is easily done with Matrices and Vectors in MAPLE. Then
row reduce the matrix to echelon form. There will be n − r entries in the echelon form that
are linear equations in the entries vi and give conditions for a vector to be in the span of
W . The coefficients of these equations are the rows of a (n − r) × n matrix whose kernel
is therefore W . Any matrix whose rows are linear combinations of the rows of this latter
matrix will have kernel containing W , so one can multiply on the left by any matrix of full
rank to get any size of matrix required.

5 Leontieff Input-Output Matrices
The problem with creating Leontieff matrices is to ensure that we have a consumption (or
technology) matrix A, a demand vector d and an output vector x all of which have non-
negative entries and for which (I − A)x = d. A consumption matrix for which each entry of
(I − A)−1 is non-negative is called productive, and such a consumption matrix will always
do the job.
One simple way of making a productive consumption matrix is to rely on the theorem
(e.g. [1], p. 615) that non-negative A is productive if each row (or column) sum of A is less
than 1.

4

More generally, a non-negative matrix A is productive if and only if there is a non-
negative x such that x − Ax is non-negative ([1] p. 615). So create an initial non-negative
matrix A and non-negative output vector x and calculate y = A x; we need to make the
entries of y less than the corresponding entries of x. One can ﬁddle a little with the entries
of A , if it is small and only one problem is being set to make this the case. Alternatively,
scale A by a suitable factor: if r ≥ max{yi /xi }, let A = A /r. Then the demand vector is
set to be (I − A)x, which will have non-negative entries.

6 Orthogonal matrices
By orthogonal matrices, I mean (not necessarily square) matrices Q whose columns are
an orthonormal set, so that QT Q = I. Orthogonal 3 × 3 matrices with determinant 1
are rotations, and are dealt with separately below. More general orthogonal matrices are
useful for building sets of vectors for applying the Gram-Schmidt process, or matrices to be
factorised as QR, i.e. orthogonal times upper triangular, by the Gram-Schmidt process.
To make a square orthogonal matrix of any size one can rely on the Cayley transform:
if A is any anti-symmetric n × n matrix, then the matrix (I + A)(I − A)−1 is square and
orthogonal, and can be cut down to size by deleting columns if necessary. The problem with
this method is that is is hard to control the numbers that come out.
Another way to get these matrices is to generate a set of mutually orthogonal vectors
by hand, and then normalise, giving the orthonormal set that forms a basis: of course, this
is what the Gram-Schmidt process is designed to do in the ﬁrst place. This can easily be
done by trial and error (possibly using one or more columns from the Cayley transform)
for two vectors. But for more than that trial and error becomes tedious if one tries to
make the numbers come out. Instead, one can expedite matters by using the Hodge dual
of the outer product in Rn , which gives a generalised cross product. This dual is given by
Σ i...k...l vk . . . wl , where i...l is the alternating symbol — i...l is the sign of the permutation
(i . . . l) or zero if (i . . . l) is not a permutation — and the sum is over the components of the
vectors v, . . . , w. Each column in the Hodge dual is then orthogonal to each of the vectors
v,. . . ,w.
For example, if one begins with the orthogonal vectors v = (5, 3, 1, 1) and w = (1, −3, 5, 1)
found by trial and error, then my procedure 
 GenCross in MakeMatrix applied to these
0 −6 0 18
 6 0 −6 −24
 
vector yields the matrix  , and taking the vectors v, w and the second
 0 6 0 −18
−18 24 18 0
 √ 
5 1 − 2
1 3 −3 0
 
column of this matrix as our orthogonal set we get the orthogonal matrix 6  √ .
1 5 2

√
1 −1 4 2

5

7 Gram-Schmidt and QR decomposition
To get a set of vectors in Rn suitable for applying Gram-Schmidt without the numbers
becoming horrendous, one finds a Q and R for a QR factorisation and uses the columns of
the resultant matrix. Start with an orthogonal matrix Q. The entries of the upper triangular
matrix R will be chosen to make a matrix of integers at the end. A little modular arithmetic
helps everything work out.
 
6a x y
Using the matrix Q of the previous section, start with an R of the form  0 b z ,
√
0 0 c/ 2
so that QR is  
5a 5 x + 1 b 5 y + 1 z − 1 c
6 6 6 6 6
3a 1 x − 1 b 1
y − 1z 
 
2 2 2 2
.
 a 1 x + 5 b 1 y + 5 z + 1 c

6 6 6 6 6
a 1x − 1b 1y − 1z + 2c
6 6 6 6 3

So, a is an integer. The second column is integer iff 5x + b ≡ x + 5b ≡ x − b ≡ 0 mod 6.
This reduces to x ≡ b mod 6. The third column is integer if and only if (y, z, c) is a member
5 1 −1
 

of the kernel of 1 5 1  modulo 6. As this matrix has determinant 108 ≡ 0 modulo
1 −1 4
6 such vectors exists. Maple’s Nullspace command can (sometimes) find the kernel over
rings like Z6 , and will always do so if the modulus is prime. My procedure ModKernel in
MakeMatrix will find the kernel in some of the cases where Nullspace fails. In this example
Nullspace does fail but ModKernel gives as spanning set for the kernel

{ [1, 1, 0], [3, 1, −2], [−2, 0, 2] }.

So we could take a = 1, b = c = 4, x = −2, y = 3, and z = 1 to give the product
 
5 −1 2
3 −3 1
 
.
1 3 2

1 −1 3

8 Least-Squares Problems
The commonest type of least-squares problem is fitting polynomials (most often lines) to n
data points (xi , yi ) in the plane. The normal equations come down to M x = z, where

xi 2
 
n xi ...
 xi xi 2 xi 3 . . . yi
M = , z= .
 
 xi 2 xi 3 xi 4 . . . xi yi
.
. .
. .
. ..
. . . .

6

There is little freedom here: the equations are unpleasant to solve directly except for the
2 × 2 case. Anything else should be designed to be tackled with a QR factorisation, with A
set up to be as easy to factorise as possible. Of course, one is constrained by the fact that
in fitting a polynomial of degree n, A will of necessity consist of the first n + 1 columns of a
Vandermonde matrix so there is no freedom of choice except in the second column.
In the case of lines, while with integer points the solution is always rational, it is possible
to arrange for the solution to be integer, as follows: Suppose we are looking for the line of
best fit to the data points (xi , yi ), where the xi are known and the yi are to be chosen to make
the final answer integer. Let x ∈ Rn be the vector (x1 , . . . , xn ) and A the coefficient matrix of
the least squares problem, with first column 1s and second column x. Define ∆ = det(AT A)
and M = ∆(AT A)−1 to be the classical adjoint of AT A. Now calculate ker M in Z∆ and
form the matrix B by augmenting AT with any vector in kerZ∆ (M ). Then for any integer
vector w in ker B, the first n components can be used as the yi in the set of data points,
since then AT y is ∆ times an integer vector. Of course, the vector y chosen should not be in
ker AT or the problem is trivial. The procedure MakeLeastSquares in MakeMatrix takes
the vector x and returns a matrix M such that any vector in the image of M is a suitable y.
If a more general least squares problem is to be set, the easiest course is to build a matrix
A whose QR factorisation is easy and use that.
The interesting general question is: can one start with the normal equations M x = z for
any symmetric M with full rank (so the solution is unique) and get a matrix A and a vector
y for which these equations are the appropriate normal equations?
Thus, given symmetric invertible M and z ∈ Rn , we want to set up a problem Ax = y,
so that M = AT A, A is m × n and z = AT y. Clearly y ∈ Rm .
Firstly, the rank of A: any vector in ker A is in ker M and ker M is trivial so ker A is
trivial. Therefore A has rank n and m ≥ n.
The next point to make is that M must positive definite, since

M u, u = AT Au, u = Au, Au ≥ 0,

and M has no zero eigenvalues.
Finally, if we have such an A, we can solve AT y = z iff z ∈ (ker A)⊥ (see e.g. [5] p. 198).
As ker A is trivial, we can always find a suitable y given z.
These necessary conditions are in fact sufficient. To prove this, we make use of the
Singular Value decomposition, see e.g. [4] section 6.2. The matrix A can be decomposed as
QΛP T , where Q is m × m orthogonal, P is n × n orthogonal and Λ is m × n and of the form
D
, where D is n × n diagonal and O is an appropriately sized zero matrix. It follows
O
that M = P D2 P T , and so the diagonal entries of D are square roots of the eigenvalues of
M (giving a second proof of the necessity of positive definiteness). Note that if Λ+ is the
D−1
matrix , so that A+ = P Λ+ QT is the Moore-Penrose generalised inverse, the solution
O
to the least squares problem is x = A+ y [4].

7

Thus, given positive definite M , we can find D and P , and then we need only extend D
to Λ and rig a suitable Q to get A. Whether this can be done so that A is integer is another
matter, as is thinking of a problem for which A arises as required.

9 Householder matrices and QR by Householder
By the Householder matrix for a vector v ∈ Rn of norm M , I mean the matrix of the
reflection that swaps v with w = ±M e1 , where e1 is the first member of the standard basis
for Rn and the sign is chosen to be the opposite to that of v · e1 , see [4]. Since this matrix is
given by I − 2uuT , where u is the unit vector in the direction of v − w, the vector v must
be of integer norm if the calculation is to be possible without introducing nested surds.
Creating a matrix that can be QR factorised by hand with Householder matrices (see [4])
is best done backwards. Since Q is the product of Householder matrices, it is square and R
is the same dimension as the matrix to be factorised. I illustrate one way of doing this with
a 4 by 3 matrix.
The last matrix to be transformed, A3 , will be 2 × 1, and should be chosen to be a vector
of integer norm, for example (4, 3). The second last matrix to be transformed, A2 , will be
 
a b
3 × 2, and after multiplication by a Householder matrix will look like R2 = 0 4 for our
0 3
choice of A3 . It follows that the first column of A2 will be a vector of norm a, so choose a
and the column c2 appropriately. Then A2 is the matrix Q2 R2 , where Q2 is the Householder
matrix of c2 . The constant b is chosen to make A2 as simple as possible (integer if possible).
−1 −1 1
   

For example, with a = 3, c2 =  2  and b = −1, A2 is  2 3.
−2 −2 4
 
c d e
0 −1 1
 
Finally, the matrix A will after the first transformation look like R1 =  , so
0 2 3
0 −2 4
as before choose c and appropriate first column c1 of A of norm c, then A = Q1 R1 where Q1
is the Householder matrix of c1 , with d and e chosen to give as simple a matrix as possible.
For example, with c = 7, c1 = (−2, 0, 6, 3)T , d = 3 and b = 1 we get
    
−2 0 4 −30 30 −96 3 7 3 1
 0 −1 1 1  0 −35 −14 −98 0 3 −1
 
A= =
  
6 4 1 105  90 50 −13 −16 0 0 −5
  
3 −1 3 45 −80 −38 34 0 0 0

Note that the product of the norms of the columns will occur as the factor before the matrix
Q.

8

10 Matrices with a given Jordan form
Firstly, to create a diagonalisable matrix, the simplest way is to create a matrix P with
determinant ±1 and then perform a similarity transformation P DP −1 , where D is a diagonal
matrix with the desired eigenvalues. The columns of P then form the eigenvectors.
A simple extension of this idea gives non-diagonalisable matrices with a given Jordan
canonical form [6]. Rather than performing a similarity transformation on a diagonal matrix,
perform it on the appropriate Jordan form. Alternatively, use the matrix formed from blocks
given by companion matrices, since the companion matrix of the polynomial (t − λ)n has
Jordan form consisting of a single Jordan block. The routine MakeJordan in MakeMatrix
takes the first of these approaches. It can also be used with a given transition matrix.

11 Orthogonal matrices in R3
I have three ways of calculating these matrices, which geometrically are rotations in R3 . If
one wishes to control the axis of rotation and the angle, use the following parameterisation
of SO(3):
0 −u3 u2
 

Theorem 7. If u = (u1 , u2 , u3 )T is a unit vector in R3 and U =  u3 0 −u1  then
−u2 u1 0
the matrix
Q = I3 cos θ + uuT (1 − cos θ) + U sin θ
is the matrix of the rotation about the direction of u through angle θ.
Proof. That QT Q = I3 can be checked with a direct calculation. Since det Q is a continuous
function from R to {−1, 1} that clearly has value 1 at 0, it has value 1 for all θ, and so
Q ∈ SO(3). Then since U u = 0, and uT u = 1, Qu = u, so u is the direction of the axis.
Finally Tr Q = 1 + 2 cos θ, so that θ is the angle of rotation.

The MAPLE procedure MakeRot in the file MakeMatrix can use this method.
In order for the final matrix in the first method to have no (or few) surds, it is preferable
to match up any surds in the direction and the angle of rotation. For example, with u =
2 −1
 
√ √ √ 2
1
(1/ 3, 1/ 3, 1/ 3) the rotation about u through angle π/3 is −1 2 2 .
3
2 −1 2
The other two methods of creating a rational rotation matrix can be used if one is not
concerned with the axis and angle. One is to use the Cayley transform, as mentioned in
section 6. The other is to take, say, two orthogonal vectors of unit norm as the first two
columns and their cross product as the third. For example 1 (2, 3, 6)T and 1 (3, −6, 2)T are
7 7
orthogonal, and their cross product is 1 (6, 2, −3)T .
7
The question then arises as to when this latter method can be used: in other words, given
a vector v = (a, b, c) in Z3 , is there a second vector whose entries are some permutation of a, b

9

and c — with sign changes — that is orthogonal to v? There are three possibilities, excluding
re-arrangements and changes of overall sign, depending on how many of the components
change position (I am grateful to Peter Brown [2] for the following analysis):

1. If a2 + b2 = c2 , then (a, b, −c) is orthogonal to v. For example (3, 4, 5) and (3, 4, −5).

2. If c2 = 2ab then (b, a, −c) is orthogonal to v. For example (1, 2, 2) and (2, 1, −2).

3. If a−1 = b−1 +c−1 then (c, a, −b) is orthogonal to v. For example (2, 3, 6) and (6, 2, −3).

The Diophantine equation in (3) has been studied since antiquity. Given any a it is
possible to find a b and c to satisfy the equation: factorise a2 = pq where p ≥ q, and then
b = (q + a) and c = (p + a) solve the equation.
√
The first of these cases will leave a 2 in the matrix, and is therefore not suitable. The
other two methods both lead to vectors of rational norm, and thence to rational orthogonal
matrices. In case 2, the vectors (a, b, c) etc. will all have norm a + b, and in case 3 the vectors
will have norm |c − bc2 − bc + b2 |, as can easily be checked. In both cases we get the nice
form “rational times integer matrix”.
Similar methods could be used in higher dimensions. For example, in R4 , the vector
(a, b, c, d) is orthogonal to (a, b, c, −d) if a2 + b2 + c2 = d2 etc.

12 Symmetric Matrices with given eigenvalues
What we wish to do here is ensure that the matrix we end up with has small integer entries.
At first sight this is relatively simple: take a rational orthogonal matrix and use it in a
similarity transformation of a diagonal matrix with the desired eigenvalues. Then multiply
the final matrix by the appropriate integer to clear all fractions. Unfortunately, I have found
this simple idea of somewhat limited usefulness. The eigenvalues end up being n2 times the
ones you began with (assuming they were integers to start with). In order to try to “clear
up” some (at least) of the fractions, it is necessary to be careful in the choice of eigenvalues.
a
The 2 × 2 case is very easy: if one eigenvector is ∆−1 , ∆ = 1/(a2 + b2 ), then the
b
−b
other is ∆−1 . We take the eigenvalues to be 0 and k∆ (which can be shifted by adding
a
λI), and then the matrix is
b2 k bka
.
bka a2 k
For the 3 × 3 case, proceed as follows:
1
Let Q = n P , where P is an integer matrix, be orthogonal. Define A = QΛQT , where
Λ is the diagonal matrix with entries λi and define M = n2 A. We want to solve a linear
system in integers, so use the MAPLE command
syss:=seq(M[1,i]-n^2*d[i]=0,i=1..3),seq(M[2,j]-n^2*d[2+j]=0,j=2..3),

10

M[3,3]-n^2*d[6]=0;
where the d[i] are dummy variables, to set up a system of 6 equations in 9 unknowns. The
command
G:=GenerateMatrix([syss],[seq(lambda[i],i=1..3),seq(d[k],k=1..6)])[1];
extracts the matrix of this system, and we want the kernel of G: set kk:=NullSpace(G);
Then if one takes an arbitrary linear combination of the vectors in this kernel, the first
three components will give you three eigenvalues that will ensure that A is an integer matrix.
For example, with the matrix of a rotation through π/3 around (1, 1, 1) (see previous
section), the kernel of the matrix G is found to be spanned by

{(3, −3, 0, 0, 2, −2, −1, 0, 1), (−5/2, 2, 2, 0, −1, 2, 3/2, 1, 0), (−2, 4, 1, 1, −2, 2, 2, 0, 0)}

and taking xv1 + 2yv2 + zv3 , say, the eigenvalues are 3x − 5y − 2z, −3x + 4y + 4z and 4y + z
for any choice of x, y and z, so for example, with eigenvalues a = −5, b = −2 and c = 1, A
is an integer matrix.
Naturally, all the eigenvalues can be shifted by λ by the addition of λI. And of course
this all works for higher dimensions, suitably modified. The procedure MakeSymmetric in
MakeMatrix will provide the matrix A with given eigenvectors.
It is also possible to cook up symmetric matrices more directly, with less control over the
eigenvalues and eigenvectors. For example the matrix
 
1 b c
 b b2 bc
c bc c2

has eigenvalues 0, 0 and 1 + b2 + c2 .

13 Matrices with easily calculated exponential
The n × n matrices A whose exponential is easiest to calculate are either those with only one
eigenvalue, diagonalisable matrices whose eigenvalues are ±1, or matrices with eigenvalues
0 and any one other non-zero, non-deficient eigenvalue µ.
In the first case, since (A − λI)m = O for some m ≤ n, the exponential can be expressed
as eλt times a polynomial in t(A − λI) of degree m.
In the second case, A2 = I, since the minimal polynomial is λ2 − 1, and one can calculate
the exponential directly from the series definition.
In the third case, Am+1 = µAm , where m is the size of the largest Jordan block for
eigenvalue 0, since the minimal polynomial is λm (λ − µ), and again one can calculate the
exponential directly from the series.
All these types can easily be created using the above methods.
Failing that, ensuring that there is a basis of generalised eigenvectors that is as easy to
invert as possible will simplify any calculations.

11

14 Systems of linear differential equations with con-
stant coefficients
The basic philosophy here is to ensure that the vectors that occur are (generalised) eigen-
vectors. So to solve, for example, y (t) = Ay(t) + b(t), by the formula y = exp(tA)z(t) with
z = exp(−tA)b, one would want b(t) to be a (generalised) eigenvector, so that exp(−tA)b
is an easy calculation with the following theorem, which follows from basic properties of the
exponential
Theorem 8. Let A be an n × n matrix; let λ be an eigenvalue of A and v ∈ ker(A − λI)k+1
be a generalised eigenvector for eigenvalue λ. Then
1 1
etA v = eλt v + t(A − λI)v + t2 (A − λI)2 v + · · · + tk (A − λI)k v .
2! k!
The point here is that one calculates a finite sum, all terms of which are of the form
matrix×vector. One would also need to rig the initial condition so that the arbitrary constant
from the integration is a (generalised) eigenvector. If b is of the form eλt v where v is a
(generalised) eigenvector for eigenvalue λ, this latter part is easy, as the constant vector is
the initial condition, otherwise one needs to be more careful.
To make these problems slightly more involved, rather than use (generalised) eigenvectors
one can use a simple combination of two or more (generalised) eigenvectors.

15 Acknowledgements
I wish to record my thanks to Peter Brown, Peter Donovan, Dennis Trenerry and Rod James
of the University of New South Wales for several useful discussions over the past several years.
MAPLE is a registered trademark of Waterloo Maple Inc.

References
[1] Howard Anton and Chris Rorres, Elementary Linear Algebra Applications Version,
Eighth edition, Wiley (2000)
[2] Peter Brown, Private communication
[3] H. Davenport The Higher Arithmetic, fourth edition Hutchinson University Library
(1970)
[4] Richard O. Hill, Jr Elementary Linear Algebra with Applications, second edition, Har-
court Brace Jovanovich (1991)
[5] Terry Lawson, Linear Algebra, Wiley (1996)
[6] Michael O’Nan, Linear Algebra, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1976)

12

Setting linear algebra problems

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