Let and . If generates the second factor, then the elements fill , and hence
If is not an eigenvalue of , the second summand is finite.
Absolute relaxation time 2026-10-06
For a finite irreducible Markov chain with at least two states that is an aperiodic Markov chain and a reversible Markov chain, put and . This is the reciprocal of the absolute L2 spectral gap of a reversible Markov chain. It agrees with the reciprocal of the ordinary spectral gap for a lazy Markov chain, but need not agree when there are negative eigenvalues.
Acoustic tensor 2026-10-14
The acoustic tensor determines the plane waves of a locally uniform incremental elastic medium. For a unit material direction , its eigenvalues are and its eigenvectors are displacement polarizations. Major symmetry of the incremental elastic moduli makes a real symmetric matrix. Positivity on every rank-one matrix makes all its wave speeds real and nonzero.
Active spectrum of the power method Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For a diagonalizable matrix, the active spectrum consists of eigenvalues whose eigenspaces have nonzero components of the starting vector in its spectral decomposition. These components are orthogonal projections for a self-adjoint operator, but need not be orthogonal projections for a general diagonalizable matrix. With a unique largest modulus in this active spectrum, the power method selects its eigendirection; an exactly absent dominant component is never created in exact arithmetic.
A rotating wave in a complex dynamo quenching model has constant amplitude and a common phase factor . In the two-hemisphere model with toroidal coupling parameter , eliminating the poloidal amplitudes gives
The matrix is Hermitian, so its eigenvalue is real and a nonzero rotating wave with has . Writing , pure dipole and quadrupole waves have and , respectively, when those quantities are positive.
Alternant character formula for the general linear group Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
For a dominant integer tuple and , the rational Schur character is . For partitions it is a symmetric polynomial; for general tuples it is Laurent on the diagonal torus. The formula follows by comparing the trace of a permuted tensor power with the Frobenius alternant character formula and using independence of symmetric-group characters. Apparent poles at coincident nonzero eigenvalues are removable.
For a smooth ambient function near the unit sphere, the chain rule along the great circles gives . Sum over an orthonormal basis of the tangent space and supplement it by the radial vector . The geodesic trace formula for the Laplace-Beltrami operator then gives the displayed formula, evaluated at radius one. In particular a degree- harmonic polynomial restricts to a spherical harmonic with positive eigenvalue .
On complex symmetric matrices with positive-definite real part, the determinant has a nonzero analytic square root normalized positively on real positive matrices. It is continued within this accretive domain. For , put with real eigenvalues ; then , using positive-real-part roots for each factor. The principal scalar square root of the product determinant need not equal this continued root: accumulated determinant arguments can cross the scalar branch cut. The principal matrix logarithm instead tracks all factors consistently.
Suppose the matrix is holomorphic at zero and is an eigenvalue of . Let be the largest nonnegative integer for which is an eigenvalue of . Seek , with nonzero. The Frobenius method gives for , where scalar terms multiply the identity. Every left-hand matrix is invertible by the choice of . Its inverse is , so a scalar convergent majorant proves convergence of the series. This yields a nonzero analytic solution; it is necessarily nonconstant when , but can be constant when . For the displayed sign convention, indicial exponents are eigenvalues of .
For with symmetric positive definite , the dispersion relation is . Its zero-group velocity saddle is . The anisotropic heat kernel has fixed-position exponential rate , so this accessible saddle gives the actual threshold. At fixed speed , the threshold ranges from to , where are the eigenvalues of . Absence of absolute hydrodynamic instability in every direction requires the upper bound .
ANOVA stratum 2026-10-07
An ANOVA stratum is an orthogonal response subspace representing one level of experimental variation, such as between blocks or within blocks. In a covariance model scalar on each such subspace, its eigenvalue supplies the common variance scale for its projected coordinates. Treatment and residual sums of squares in ANOVA must be compared within appropriate strata.
In the two-component spinor convention with primed symmetric gauge curvature self-dual, an Abelian Maxwell field is anti-self-dual when its primed symmetric gauge curvature two-component spinor vanishes. For a locally exact field , the Bianchi identity gives ; the duality relation then also gives . Thus it obeys the source-free Maxwell equations. In complexified Lorentzian signature the Hodge star eigenvalues are ; the two-component spinor condition specifies which component is meant without imposing a Euclidean eigenvalue on that signature.
// Destination: general-relativity.bigb
The annual pulse-breeding predator-prey model is an area-preserving map in logarithmic population coordinates: , then . Each step is a shear of determinant one. At a positive fixed point, the ordinary-population Jacobian matrix has determinant one and trace . Eigenvalues lie on the unit circle for , but this linear neutrality does not prove nonlinear stability at every resonance. Area preservation excludes an isolated attracting positive periodic cycle.
For a Twisted Dirac operator on a closed even-dimensional spin manifold, the theorem identifies its analytic Fredholm index with the integral of the top-degree part of the A-hat form times the Chern character. This is one geometric specialization of the general theorem for elliptic differential operators, which expresses the analytic index in terms of the topological class of the principal symbol. The heat proof pairs all positive eigenvalues by the odd Dirac operator, leaving only the index in the supertrace; Getzler rescaling computes its local limit from curvature.
Avoided crossing 2026-10-03
An avoided crossing occurs when two parameter-dependent eigenvalues approach one another but an interaction prevents equality. Near a two-level crossing, a nonzero off-diagonal matrix element opens a positive minimum gap.
Backus' necessary condition for dynamo action Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
For an isolated bounded conductor of uniform magnetic diffusivity , contained in a sphere of radius and matched to a decaying potential field in an insulating exterior, dynamo action requires maximum stretching rate . Here bounds the largest eigenvalue of the rate-of-strain tensor throughout the flow and time. Use fluid boundary conditions eliminating the stretching boundary term, for example a no-slip boundary condition, and no imposed energy input. The proof combines the magnetic free-decay spectral bound with the magnetic energy equation. This is a necessary condition, not a sufficiency criterion; changing magnetic boundary conditions changes the spectral constant.
Give Alice the first qubit and Bob the second . Compare the Bell state with a preparation that tosses a fair classical bit and gives both parties its value. Their density operators, written in the computational basis ordered , are
They have identical diagonal quantum state populations. The off-diagonal entries of the Bell state retain quantum coherence between and ; the classical mixture has none in this basis.
If both parties perform a Pauli measurement of , the Born rule gives and for both preparations. Perfect agreement here therefore cannot establish entanglement: an ordinary shared random bit already explains it.
Now both measure , whose normalized eigenstates are and . Changing basis gives
The Bell state again has matching outcomes, each with probability . For either product state or , each of the four outcome pairs has probability , so their classical mixture does too. Equivalently, the Pauli correlator is one for the Bell state and zero for this mixture, while is one for both.
Figure 1.
Joint measurement probabilities distinguish a Bell state from a classical mixture while every local outcome remains uniformly random
. Details.
Taking a partial trace gives for both preparations. Thus every measurement confined to Alice's system has the same statistics in the two cases, and so does every measurement confined to Bob's. They reveal the difference by comparing records through classical communication. Conditional on Alice's result, Bob can predict a matching result for the Bell state; without that result, his outcomes remain evenly split. An uncommunicated local quantum channel, including a measurement with its outcome discarded, leaves his reduced density matrix unchanged. This is quantum no-signalling, even when conditional states change. [ref]
The Von Neumann entropy makes the joint-versus-local distinction numerical. With base-two logarithms, the Bell state has eigenvalues , giving , whereas the mixture has , giving . Both have . Their quantum mutual information is consequently two and one bits, respectively. The value two is not two readable classical bits in either local qubit: the matching records have ordinary mutual information one bit in both cases. Random records can come from a globally pure state. [ref]
These two matching-axis measurements distinguish the specified preparations; they alone are not a test of a Bell inequality. A local hidden-variable theory could assign shared random answers separately to these two axes. Bell theorem concerns incompatible correlations across a suitable larger collection of measurement settings. Bell's 1964 paper established the obstruction for local hidden-variable descriptions of the predicted correlations. [ref]
Bifurcation parameter 2026-10-13
A bifurcation parameter labels a family of dynamical systems in which a qualitative change of equilibria or other invariant sets is studied. Near a simple critical eigenvalue crossing, a nonzero derivative with respect to the physical control parameter permits using that eigenvalue itself as a local parameter. At a codimension-two bifurcation, two independent parameters are generally needed.