Apply the matrix norm induced by an energy norm and set . Multiplication gives
The bracket factors as . Because and ,
Thus for the stated matrix. In particular is a positive semidefinite matrix. The Euclidean operator norm squared is the largest eigenvalue of , and all those eigenvalues are nonnegative. Consequently
This identity is the algebraic step in the energy-norm proof of convergence of SOR; spectral radius equals the largest eigenvalue here because .
For , the coefficient is positive. Moreover
is a positive-definite matrix: for a nonzero vector , put ; then . Hence every eigenvalue of is strictly below one. Part (d) also gives , so these eigenvalues are nonnegative. Therefore
The energy-norm proof of convergence of SOR thus makes the iteration a strict contraction mapping in this norm. Its forward error satisfies , so it converges geometrically to zero.