Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / iii / Paper 336 / 1 / a

Use the characteristic polynomial in the convention $p(\lambda )=\det (\lambda I-A)$:For fixed $\alpha >0$ with $\alpha \ne 1$, all three limiting eigenvalues are simple. Expanding this polynomial at each root, or applying first-order perturbation of a simple eigenvalue, givesThese are fixed-$\alpha$ asymptotic expansions, not uniform through $\alpha =1$. At $\alpha =1/3$ the displayed correction to ${\lambda }_{\alpha }$ vanishes because $\lambda =1/3$ is an exact root for every $ϵ$; there is no second nonzero term for that branch.

The two roots near $1$ interact when the correction $ϵ/(\alpha -1)$ is comparable to their unperturbed gap $\alpha -1$. Thus the distinguished limit is $\alpha =1+d\sqrt{ϵ}$, with bounded real $d$. Set $h=\sqrt{ϵ}$ and $\lambda =1+hL+h^{2}N+\cdots$. The polynomial becomesAt orders $h^2$ and $h^3$,With $D=\sqrt{d^2+4}$, the two interacting eigenvalues areThe $h^2$ correction to the pair is included to resolve the next perturbative term as well as the leading splitting. In particular the previously excluded fixed case $\alpha =1$ is $d=0$:The half-integer powers reflect square-root splitting of a defective double eigenvalue: the limiting matrix has a nontrivial Jordan block at $1$.

For matching, write $\Delta =\alpha -1$ and take the overlap $\sqrt{ϵ}\ll |\Delta |\ll 1$. For $d\to +\infty$, $L_{+}=d+d^{-1}+O(d^{-3})$, $N_{+}=1+O(d^{-2})$, while $L_{-}=-d^{-1}+O(d^{-3})$, $N_{-}=O(d^{-2})$. Consequently the distinguished branches reduce toThe regular coefficient satisfies $(3\alpha -1)/[(\alpha +1)(\alpha -1)]=1/\Delta +2/(2+\Delta )=1/\Delta +1+O(\Delta )$, proving agreement. For $d\to -\infty$ the labels $+$ and $-$ exchange roles and the same matching holds. The isolated negative branch also matches because $-2/(\alpha +1)=-1+O(\Delta )$. As a spectral check, positive diagonal symmetrization of a matrix transforms this tridiagonal matrix to a real symmetric matrix with off-diagonal entries $\sqrt{2ϵ}$ and $\sqrt{ϵ}$; its eigenvalues are real for positive $ϵ$.