[Math] How to check the correctness of calculated eigenvalues

eigenvalues-eigenvectorslinear algebramatrices

Let's say you are given the following easy matrix:

$$\begin{bmatrix}{-1}&{0}\\
{1}&{1}\end{bmatrix}$$

and you've calculated the following two eigenvalues:

$\lambda_{1} = -1$

$ \lambda_{2} = 1$

Is there a way to check whether the calculated eigenvalues are correct?

I know that with the eigenvectors you can just check everything all at once by checking it with this formula:

$$A. \vec{x} = \lambda \vec{x}$$

But how can you check the correctness of the computed results without having to calculate all the eigenvectors and fill in the formula?

Best Answer

Suppose you have a $2\times 2$ matrix, A. You can use the fact that $$\lambda^2 -\lambda\tau(A)+\det(A)=0$$ Where $\tau(A)$ is the trace of your matrix $A$.