Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/paper-2/16/b/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2008 Paper 2 16 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
For , is real symmetric. Sylvester's criterion says that all eigenvalues are positive exactly when its leading principal matrix minors are positive. These are , , and . ThereforeAt either endpoint one eigenvalue is zero, so the strict positivity requirement excludes it.
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