Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/ib/paper-2/18d/c/solution

The first column already has zeros below the top entry. In the last three rows of the second column, reflect to using . Since , the Householder reflection is
With , direct multiplication gives
The transformed least-squares objective is . Its first two squares can both vanish, so the unique answer is
Uniqueness follows because the triangular leading block is invertible; this calculation implements Householder QR decomposition without squaring the condition number through normal equations.

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