Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 4 40C e Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let the computed eigenpair residual beDefine the rank-one matrixThenso is an exact eigenpair of the perturbed matrix . Moreover,which is the backward error of an approximate eigenpair.
Follow the simple eigenvalue branch from for . The first-order perturbation of a simple eigenvalue and part (b) giveSince the residual is at the machine precision scale, this proves
Power iteration eigenpair diagnostics 2026-10-14
For each unit vector iterate compute the Rayleigh quotient and the eigenpair residual . Use the same multiplication for both diagnostics and the next normalized iterate. For any complex matrix, this Rayleigh quotient minimizes over complex scalars , because . Under power iteration convergence for a diagonalizable matrix, and , even when the vectors alternate signs or phases.[ref]
A dimensionless stopping quantity iswhen the denominator is positive; is the operator norm, and a known upper bound may replace it if computing it is costly. A small eigenpair residual certifies a small backward error of an approximate eigenpair, but does not establish that the eigenvalue found is dominant.
For a Hermitian matrix with orthonormal eigenbasis , write . Then the independently useful identityshows that some eigenvalue lies within of . If a specific target eigenvalue is separated from all the others by , it also gives . This separation is measured from the computed Rayleigh quotient; it differs from the dominant-modulus spectral gap. For a nonnormal matrix, the same orthogonal expansion is unavailable and a small eigenpair residual alone need not imply a comparably small distance to the spectrum.