Paper 4, Section II, E

Linear Algebra
Part IB, 2013

What does it mean for an n×nn \times n matrix to be in Jordan form? Show that if AMn×n(C)A \in M_{n \times n}(\mathbb{C}) is in Jordan form, there is a sequence (Am)\left(A_{m}\right) of diagonalizable n×nn \times n matrices which converges to AA, in the sense that the (ij)(i j) th component of AmA_{m} converges to the (ij)(i j) th component of AA for all ii and jj. [Hint: A matrix with distinct eigenvalues is diagonalizable.] Deduce that the same statement holds for all AMn×n(C)A \in M_{n \times n}(\mathbb{C}).

Let V=M2×2(C)V=M_{2 \times 2}(\mathbb{C}). Given AVA \in V, define a linear map TA:VVT_{A}: V \rightarrow V by TA(B)=AB+BAT_{A}(B)=A B+B A. Express the characteristic polynomial of TAT_{A} in terms of the trace and determinant of AA. [Hint: First consider the case where AA is diagonalizable.]