Characteristic and minimal polynomials of right multiplication
ID: characteristic-and-minimal-polynomials-of-right-multiplication
Characteristic and minimal polynomials of right multiplication by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-25
On two-by-two complex matrices let . In row-entry coordinates, its matrix is , so its characteristic polynomial is the square of that of . For every polynomial , . Thus implies , and the reverse implication follows by taking . The operators have exactly the same annihilating polynomials and hence the same minimal polynomial. In general, right multiplication on -by- matrices has characteristic polynomial and the same minimal polynomial.
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