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Exercise 148Linear algebra › Eigenvalues and diagonalisationL1Added 3 Nov 2026

A matrix with a single eigenvalue

#eigenvalues#eigenspace#diagonalization#Jordan block

Statement

Let
A=(310031003).A = \begin{pmatrix} 3 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 3 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 & 3 \end{pmatrix}.
Find the eigenvalues of AA and dim⁡E3\dim E_3. Is AA diagonalizable?

Hint

The matrix is upper triangular with diagonal 3,3,33,3,3. Compute ker⁡(A−3I)\ker(A-3I).

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Solution

Eigenvalue. XI−AXI-A is upper triangular with all diagonal entries X−3X-3, so χA(X)=(X−3)3\chi_A(X)=(X-3)^3: the only eigenvalue is 33, with algebraic multiplicity 33.

Eigenspace.
A−3I=(010001000).A-3I = \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}.
(A−3I)(x,y,z)T=(y,z,0)T=0(A-3I)(x,y,z)^T=(y,z,0)^T=0 iff y=z=0y=z=0, so E3={(x,0,0)}E_3=\{(x,0,0)\}, of dimension 11.

Conclusion. The geometric multiplicity 11 is smaller than the algebraic multiplicity 33, so AA is not diagonalizable. (Directly: a diagonalizable matrix whose only eigenvalue is 33 equals 3I3I.)

Remark. AA is a single Jordan block of size 33 for the eigenvalue 33.