Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-options-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2005/p/1/solution

For a complex matrix , Gershgorin's theorem puts every eigenvalue in the union of the row discs , where . To prove it, choose an eigenvector for an eigenvalue and an index maximizing . Its th equation gives
Division proves .
The usual counting refinement says that a connected component made of discs contains exactly eigenvalues, with algebraic multiplicity. For completeness, deform the matrix from its diagonal part to the original by multiplying all off-diagonal entries by . Its discs have radii and stay inside the original discs. Continuous variation of the roots of the characteristic polynomial keeps the number inside any contour separating one original component from the others constant. At , the diagonal entries give exactly roots there, proving the refinement.
For the application put . The matrix is
Its three row discs have positive real centres and leftmost real coordinates
All are strictly positive, so zero lies in none of the discs. It cannot be an eigenvalue. Thus is nonsingular for every real .

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