[Math] A matrix is symmetric iff its eigenspaces are orthogonal

linear algebra

I was looking at a post regarding the orthogonality of the eigenvectors of a symmetric matrix, and wanted to see if the following statement is true, and why?

A matrix is symmetric if and only if its eigenspaces are orthogonal.

Is this true and why?

Best Answer

In this form it is not exactly true. For example, we can take a matrix that has no eigenspaces at all, like $$ A=\left(\begin{array}{ll}0&1\\-1&0\end{array}\right). $$ It is not symmetric, and technically all of its eigenspaces are orthogonal ))

However, the following is true: a real $n\times n$ square matrix $A$ is symmetric if and only if all of its eigenspaces are orthogonal and the sum of these eigenspaces is the whole $\mathbb{R}^n$. This condition is equivalent to saying that there is an orthonormal basis consisting of eigenvectors of $A$, and this is the statement from the post that you mentioned.

UPDATE: If you're interested in the same question but for matrices over $\mathbb{C}$ and using orthogonality that arises from the standard inner product $(a,b) = \sum a_i \overline{b}_i$, then the statement isn't true. The counterexample is the same matrix $A$ as above. It is not symmetric and not Hermitian, but it has two eigenspaces generated by vectors $(1, i)^T$ and $(1, -i)^T$ which are orthogonal.

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