Find a basis for a given matrix

linear algebra

Considering the following matrix $A=\left[ \begin{matrix} 1 & 1 & -1 \\ -1 & 3 & -1 \\ -1 & 1 & 1 \end{matrix} \right]$, which has an eigenvalue of $\lambda=2$, I need to find a basis for the eigenspace corresponding to the given eigenvalue.

So, basically I did $\ker(A-\lambda I)=0$, which resulted in $\ker(\left[ \begin{matrix} -1 & 1 & -1 \end{matrix} \right])$ after simplification.

That is equal to $-x_1+x_2-x_3=0$, but I'm stuck from there. How can I represent a basis for the matrix?

Best Answer

The equation can be rewritten as $x_1=x_2-x_3$ and you can assign arbitrary values to $x_2$ and $x_3$, thus getting all solutions. In order to find two linearly independent solutions, choose first $x_2=1$ and $x_3=0$; then $x_2=0$ and $x_3$, getting the two vectors $$ \begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 1 \\ 0 \end{bmatrix} \qquad \begin{bmatrix} -1 \\ 0 \\ 1 \end{bmatrix} $$ These are obviously linearly independent, by just looking at the second and third row.