[Math] When do the eigenvectors of a $n\times n$ matrix span $\mathbb{R}^n$? (aka when is a matrix diagonalizable?)

eigenvalues-eigenvectorslinear algebra

When learning Linear Algebra, I learned that rotation matrices don't have real eigenvalues or eigenvectors, because their characteristic polynomial does not factor over $\mathbb{R}$. Over the complex numbers it does, so an $n$-dimensional rotation matrix has $n$ linearly independent eigenvectors.

Somehow I concluded that over the complex numbers, all $n\times n$-matrices have $n$ linearly independent eigenvectors. But the following shear matrix does not:

$$
S = \left(\begin{matrix}1 & 1 \\ 0 & 1 \end{matrix}\right)
$$

This matrix has two eigenvalues $\lambda_{1,2} = 1$, and the eigenvector $(1,0)$. So the question arises, what is the other eigenvector? Mathematica says $(0,0)$ is the other eigenvector, but I find that a cheap answer, since $(0,0)$ is trivially an eigenvector of every matrix.

So, my first question is, does one really consider $(0,0)$ an eigenvector of $S$?

Second question: Is there a condition for an $n\times n$-matrix to have $n$ linearly independent eigenvectors? Maybe the symmetry of the matrix? Maybe that the eigenvalues are nondegenerate?

Best Answer

No, $(0,0)$ is not an eigenvector. The matrix $S$ you wrote down has only one eigenvector. It has one eigenvalue, $1$, which has a algebraic multiplicity (the number of times it appears as a root of the characteristic polynomial) of $2$ and a geometric multiplicity (the dimension of its eigenspace) of $1$.

In general, a $n\times n$ matrix does not have $n$ linearly independent eigenvectors. For a detailed explanation, I suggest you read about the Jordan canonical form of a matrix, and connected to that, algebraic and geometric multiplicity of eigenvalues, invariant subspaces and characteristic/minimal polynomials. The entire theory behind this is not very complicated (it's taught usually at the end of an introductory linear algebra class), but it does take a couple of lessons to fully cover.

However, there are cases when we can be sure that the matrix has $n$ eigenvectors (in other words, we say that the matrix is diagonalizable). One simple condition that assures this is if the matrix is symmetric.