Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/iii/paper-46/3/b/i/solution

For , direct multiplication by the sample covariance matrix gives
It is therefore an eigenvector, with eigenvalue . Normalization gives , so the corresponding sample principal component is
Its coefficients are proportional to the required vector. The remaining eigenvalues calculated in (ii) are smaller, confirming that this is the first principal component.

New to topics? Read the docs here!