[Math] Limit of a sequence of matrices

limitslinear algebramatrices

I'm preparing or my exam in linear algebra and I'm stuck with a question. I've tried to find some help in my textbook (Linear Algebra and its applications, 4th Edition, By David C. Lay). I can't find anything about it (maybe because the question is written in danish and I'm having trouble translating it right?).

I'm asked to find the limiting value, $\lim_{n \to \infty}A^nx$ where

$$
A = \begin{bmatrix}
0.25 & -0.75 & 0.75 \\[0.3em]
-0.5 & 0 & 0.5 \\[0.3em]
0.25 & -0.25 & 0.75
\end{bmatrix}
$$
$$
x = \begin{bmatrix}
2 \\[0.3em]
3 \\[0.3em]
3
\end{bmatrix}
$$

How am I supposed to solve this? I'm not asking you to calculate the answer for me, but I'm asking for the right way to solve this kind of problem.

Best Answer

$A$ is clearly diagonalisable, as the eigenvalues of $A$ are $-1/2,1/2,1$. Therefore, $A = PDP^{-1}$, where

$$D = \begin{bmatrix} -0.5 & 0 & 0 \\[0.3em] 0 & 0.5 & 0 \\[0.3em] 0 & 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$$ Now, $A^n = PD^nP^{-1}$, therefore, $\displaystyle \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} A^n = \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} PD^nP^{-1} = P X P^{-1}$, where, $$X = \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\[0.3em] 0 & 0 & 0 \\[0.3em] 0 & 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$$ Now, all that remains is to find $P,P^{-1}$. I'll leave this easy calculation, as the method is clear.