Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/ib/paper-2/18d/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ib Paper 2 18D c Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
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 isWith , direct multiplication givesThe transformed least-squares objective is . Its first two squares can both vanish, so the unique answer isUniqueness 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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