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University College London Department of Physics and Astronomy

The document is a problem sheet for a mathematical methods physics and astronomy course. It contains 3 problems: 1) Derive an expression for the determinant of the identity matrix plus a small number times any square matrix to second order. Verify for a specific matrix. 2) Find the eigenvalues and evaluate powers of a specific matrix. Calculate trace-based quantities and show their behavior as the power increases. 3) Show that the eigenvalues of an anti-Hermitian matrix are purely imaginary or zero. Verify for a specific anti-Hermitian matrix.

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33 views1 page

University College London Department of Physics and Astronomy

The document is a problem sheet for a mathematical methods physics and astronomy course. It contains 3 problems: 1) Derive an expression for the determinant of the identity matrix plus a small number times any square matrix to second order. Verify for a specific matrix. 2) Find the eigenvalues and evaluate powers of a specific matrix. Calculate trace-based quantities and show their behavior as the power increases. 3) Show that the eigenvalues of an anti-Hermitian matrix are purely imaginary or zero. Verify for a specific anti-Hermitian matrix.

Uploaded by

Roy Vesey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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2B21 M3

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON


DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
2B21 MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

Problem Sheet M3 (2003–2004)


Solutions to be handed in on Tuesday 28 October 2003

1. My favourite result in matrix theory is the following expression for the deter-
minant of the matrix I + ε A:
   
|I + ε A| = exp tr `n I + ε A .

Here A is any square matrix, I the corresponding unit matrix, and ε is a small
number. The logarithm is defined by its series expansion in powers of ε with
`n(I) = 0. The trace of a square matrix B, tr (B), is the sum of its diagonal
elements.
Show that to second order in ε
 
|I + ε A| = 1 + ε tr (A) + 12 ε2 (tr A)2 − tr (A2 ) + 0(ε3 ) . [6 marks]

!
1 i
Verify the theorem for the matrix A = . [4 marks]
i 1
!
0 1
2. Find the eigenvalues of the matrix A = . [2 marks]
1 2

Show that A2 = I + 2A and hence evaluate A4 and A8 . [4 marks]

If tn is defined in terms of the trace of a matrix through

tn = [tr(An )]1/n ,

show that t2 ≈ 2.4495, t4 ≈ 2.4147, and t8 ≈ 2.4142. [3 marks]


√
Why does tn → 2 + 1 as n → ∞? [3 marks]

3. Given that A is an anti-Hermitian matrix, A † = −A, show from first principles


that its eigenvalues are either purely imaginary or zero. [5 marks]
Verify this result for the following matrix, where one eigenvalue is λ = i,
 
0 1+i i
A =  −1 + i 0 1−i 
 .

[5 marks]
i −1 − i 0

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