[Math] $A$ is not similar to a diagonal matrix over the reals

diagonalizationlinear algebramatrices

Let $A = \begin{bmatrix} 6 & -3 & -2 \\ 4 & -1 & -2 \\ 10 & -5 & -3 \end{bmatrix} $ then $A$ is not similar to a diagonal matrix over the reals and it is not similar to a diagonal matrix over the complexes.

We know that $A$ is similar to a diagonal matrix over the reals(complexes) if there exist $D$ diagonal matriz and $P$ invertible matrix both $n \times n$ with real entries (complex entries) such that $A = PDP^{-1}$

I find that the inverse of $A$ is $A^{-1} = \frac{1}{2}\begin{bmatrix} -7 & 1 & 4 \\ -8 & 2 & 4 \\ -10 & 0 & 6 \end{bmatrix}$ and i diagonalize the matrix $A$ and got $A = PBP^{-1}$ with $ P = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & \frac{3}{5}-\frac{i}{2} & \frac{3}{5}+\frac{i}{2} \\ 0 & \frac{3}{5}-\frac{i}{2} & \frac{3}{5}+\frac{i}{2} \\ 2 & 1 & 1 \end{bmatrix} $ , $ P^{-1} = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & -1 & 0 \\ -1 + 3i & 1-\frac{i}{2} & \frac{1}{2}-\frac{3i}{2} \\ -1 – 3i & 1+\frac{i}{2} & \frac{1}{2}+\frac{3i}{2} \end{bmatrix} $ and finally i got $D = \begin{bmatrix} 2 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & -i & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & i \end{bmatrix}$ then A is diagonalizable but my question is how can i conclude that $A$ is not similar to a diagonalize matrix over the reals? , please some help for this.

Best Answer

  • $A$ is diagonalisable to a matrix over $\mathbb{C}$.
  • The diagonal components contain complex numbers.
  • Matrix diagonals are unique (up to a permutation).

Therefore it is not diagonalisable over $\mathbb{R}$.

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