Saddle-point matrix ($\left(\begin{array}{cc}H& A^T\\ A& -C\end{array}\right)$)

A common symmetric saddle-point system couples primal unknowns with constraint multipliers through the displayed block matrix, with symmetric $H,C$. At $C=0$, full row rank of $A$ and a nonsingular reduced Hessian are exactly the nonsingularity conditions. Such matrices arise from equality-constrained quadratic models and mixed finite element methods. A regularized block $C=\mu I$ also arises when an augmented linear system replaces a badly scaled quadratic-penalty Newton system.