Nearest points to the origin on a positive-definite ellipsoid ($d_{\min }={\lambda }_{\max }^{-1/2}$)

For a positive-definite symmetric matrix $A$, the ellipsoid $x^{T}Ax=1$ has nearest points to the origin exactly at $x={\lambda }_{\max }^{-1/2}u$, where $u$ ranges over unit vectors in the largest-eigenvalue eigenspace. Indeed, the spectral theorem for real symmetric matrices gives $x^{T}Ax\le {\lambda }_{\max }|x{|}^2$, with equality precisely in that eigenspace. A simple largest eigenvalue gives two opposite nearest points; multiplicity $m>1$ gives a scaled $(m-1)$-sphere of nearest points.