[Math] Which of the following statements is NOT true for a square matrix A

linear algebra

Which of the following statements is NOT true for a square matrix A?

(a)If A is an upper triangular matrix, the eigenvalues of A are the diagonal elements of it.

(b) If A is real symmetric, the eigenvalues of A are always real and positive.

(c) If A is real, the eigenvalues of A and Transpose(A) are always the same.

(d) If all the principal minors of A are positive, all the eigenvalues of A are also positive.

I am confirmed about (a) and (d) but confused between (c) and (b). Please help.

Best Answer

b) Consider the matrix

$$\begin{pmatrix}-1&0\\0&-2\end{pmatrix}$$

(Actually, even $\begin{pmatrix}-1\end{pmatrix}$ is enough.)

c) Diagonalize the matrix as

$$A=PDP^{-1}.$$

Now, $$A^T=P^{-T}D^TP^T=QDQ^{-1}$$ because $D=D^T$.

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