Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/ib/paper-3/19d/c/solution

The first column is with length three. Choose , so . Its Householder reflection is
Direct multiplication gives
To eliminate the remaining third-row entry in the second column, reflect the last two coordinates using . Then
and
Both steps are Householder reflections; the second happens to exchange two coordinates. Solve the leading triangular equations and to obtain
For an independent check, , whose squared norm is nine and which is orthogonal to both columns of . Thus , confirming the least-squares minimizer.

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