Find eigenvectors of matrix:
$$ A = \left[ \begin{matrix}1&1&3\\1&5&1\\3&1&1\end{matrix} \right] $$The eigenvectors and eigenvalues of matrix A are:
Eigenvalue | Eigenvector |
$ -2 $ | $ \begin{bmatrix} 1 \cr 0 \cr -1 \end{bmatrix} $ |
$ 6 $ | $ \begin{bmatrix} 1 \cr 2 \cr 1 \end{bmatrix} $ |
$ 3 $ | $ \begin{bmatrix} 1 \cr -1 \cr 1 \end{bmatrix} $ |
Step 1 : Find characteristic polynomial $ p(\lambda) $:
$$ p(\lambda) = -\lambda^3+7\lambda^2-36 $$Step 2 : Find the eigenvalues by solving the characteristic equation $ -\lambda^3+7\lambda^2-36 = 0. $
The eigenvalues are
$$ \lambda_1 = -2 ~ , ~ \lambda_2 = 6 ~ , ~ \lambda_3 = 3 $$( click here to view an explanation on how to solve this equation.)
Step 3 : To find the associated eigenvectors ( $ x $ ), we have to solve the equation $ A x = \lambda I $.
For $ \lambda_ 0 = -2 $ we have $ A x = -2 I $.
For $ \lambda_ 1 = 6 $ we have $ A x = 6 I $.
For $ \lambda_ 2 = 3 $ we have $ A x = 3 I $.