(a) Describe an implementation of the power method for determining the eigenvalue of largest modulus and its associated eigenvector for a matrix that has a unique eigenvalue of largest modulus.
Now let A be a real n×n matrix with distinct eigenvalues satisfying ∣λn∣=∣λn−1∣ and ∣λn∣>∣λi∣,i=1,…,n−2. The power method is applied to A, with an initial condition x(0)=∑i=1nciwi such that cn−1cn=0, where wi is the eigenvector associated with λi. Show that the power method does not converge. Explain why x(k),x(k+1) and x(k+2) become linearly dependent as k→∞.
(b) Consider the following variant of the power method, called the two-stage power method, applied to the matrix A of part (a):
Pick x(0)∈Rn satisfying ∥∥∥x(0)∥∥∥=1. Let 0<ε≪1. Set k=0 and x(1)=Ax(0).
Calculate x(k+2)=Ax(k+1) and calculate α,β that minimise
f(α,β)=∥∥∥∥x(k+2)+αx(k+1)+βx(k)∥∥∥∥.
If f(α,β)⩽ε, solve λ2+αλ+β=0 and let the roots be λ1 and λ2. They are accepted as eigenvalues of A, and the corresponding eigenvectors are estimated as x(k+1)−λ2x(k) and x(k+1)−λ1x(k).
Otherwise, divide x(k+2) and x(k+1) by the current value of ∥∥∥x(k+1)∥∥∥, increase k by 1 and return to Step 1.
Explain the justification behind Step 2 of the algorithm.
(c) Let n=3, and suppose that, for a large value of k, the two-stage power method yields the vectors