Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2009 / ia / Paper 1 / 2B (Vectors and Matrices)

For a complex matrix, its Hermitian conjugate is obtained by transposing and taking entrywise complex conjugates:The defining conditions areFor a square matrix, either one of the two inverse identities in the unitary matrix condition implies the other. A Hermitian matrix may have complex entries, but its diagonal entries are real.

Since $A$ is an invertible matrix, so is its Hermitian conjugate, andIf $A$ is a normal matrix, substitute $A^{†}A=A{A}^{†}$ into the second identity to obtain $B{B}^{†}=I$, so $B$ is a unitary matrix. Conversely, if $B$ is a unitary matrix, multiply $B{B}^{†}=I$ on the left by $A$ and on the right by $A^{†}$. This gives $A^{†}A=A{A}^{†}$, the defining normal matrix identity. Thus $B$ is a unitary matrix exactly when $A$ is a normal matrix.

Using the complex Euclidean norm and the normal matrix identity,Both sides are nonnegative. Therefore $\Vert Cx\Vert =0$ if and only if $\Vert C^{†}x\Vert =0$. This proves the stronger reusable fact that normal matrices have equal adjoint norms.

The shifted matrix $N=D-\lambda I$ is still a normal matrix, sinceand $N{N}^{†}$ has the same expansion except that its first term is $D{D}^{†}$, which equals $D^{†}D$. For the given eigenvector, $Ne=0$. Part (b), applied to $N$, therefore gives $N^{†}e=0$. Since $N^{†}=D^{†}-\overline{\lambda }I$,The corresponding eigenvalue of the Hermitian conjugate is the complex conjugate of the original eigenvalue.