Characteristic and Minimal Polynomials In Problems

Abstract

In linear algebra, the minimal polynomial of an n-by-n matrix A over a field F is the monic polynomial p(x) over F of least degree such that p(A)=0. Any other polynomial q with q(A)=0 is a (polynomial) multiple of p. The following three statements are equivalent: ??F is a root of p(x), ? is a root of the characteristic polynomial of A, ? is an eigenvalue of A. The multiplicity of a root ? of p(x) is the geometric multiplicity of ? and is the size of the largest Jordan block corresponding to ? and the dimension of the corresponding Eigen space. The minimal polynomial is not always the same as the characteristic polynomial.