For compactly supported smooth vector fields, two integrations by parts show that is formally self-adjoint. Pointwise,
Therefore
It follows that exactly when , that is, when is a symmetric matrix at every point.
If is a real symmetric matrix, the finite-dimensional spectral theorem lets us choose the normalized left eigenvector and right eigenvector to be the same vector. Thus
More generally, the unitary diagonalization of a normal matrix shows that a real normal matrix also has coincident normalized left and right eigenspaces for each real eigenvalue. Since the question assumes , one can again choose , and every such simple eigenvalue has
Let be the homogeneous density. A Lagrangian coordinate volume contains the same mass as its image under the Zeldovich approximation, so mass conservation gives
Since , the density contrast is
For , the deformation tensor is
Equality of mixed partial derivatives makes it a real symmetric matrix. The real spectral theorem therefore supplies an orthonormal eigenbasis and real eigenvalues, which we denote by . In that basis,
and hence
Before the first crossing all factors are positive, allowing the absolute values to be omitted.
When , the map loses rank in the corresponding principal direction. Its Jacobian determinant vanishes, trajectories meet, and shell crossing creates a cosmological caustic. The single-stream pressureless density formally diverges and the approximation no longer describes the subsequent multistream dynamics. If only one is positive, one axis first collapses while the other two remain extended, producing a sheet or pancake. Collapse along a second and then a third principal axis produces filaments and nodes. Spatial variation of the eigenvalues joins these objects into the cosmic web around underdense voids.
The approximation succeeds because it reproduces linear growing-mode evolution exactly, preserves the initial tidal displacement and anisotropic collapse, and follows matter along nearly inertial comoving trajectories instead of expanding only the density at a fixed point. Large scales remain weakly nonlinear and are insensitive to the detailed dynamics after crossing. Its limitations begin at shell crossing: it permits streams to pass through one another, cannot produce virialized halos, and omits velocity dispersion, vorticity, gas pressure, shocks, feedback, and strongly nonlinear self-gravity.
For the one-dimensional displacement,
so mass conservation gives
The earliest crossing occurs where the cosine is maximal:
for integers . The denominator vanishes at these isolated points.
Write at . The Taylor series gives
Thus and
The first caustic is therefore a cubic cusp with
If a real matrix has a positive diagonal matrix such that is a symmetric matrix, then is a symmetric matrix related to by a similarity transformation: gives . Thus is a diagonalizable matrix with real eigenvalues. If for all real vectors , its eigenvalues are nonpositive. This converts symmetry in a weighted inner product into Euclidean symmetry.
Quadratic form net bound 2026-10-06
For a symmetric matrix and an -metric net of the unit sphere, with , approximate a maximizing unit vector by . Expanding bounds its absolute value by . Rearrangement proves the bound. The volumetric bound for Euclidean metric nets limits the number of needed directions, allowing a union bound to control a random matrix.
Regular level set Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
A level set at a regular value is a smooth submanifold. By the regular level set theorem, its codimension is the dimension of the target. For determinant-one real symmetric matrices, is nonzero because gives , so the constraint has codimension one.
For a zero-diagonal real symmetric matrix, put and . The Schur complement formula for a diagonal resolvent entry gives . Subtracting the comparison value gives . Upper-half-plane positivity and the principal minor resolvent trace bound control this defect by the average of plus a trace correction.
Semidefinite programming 2026-10-05
A semidefinite program optimizes a linear function subject to equalities between affine functions and positive semidefinite matrix inequalities. It generalizes linear programming: a diagonal matrix is a positive semidefinite matrix exactly when its diagonal entries are nonnegative. Matrix trace expresses the objective as for real symmetric matrices.
Special linear congruence action on symmetric matrices Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
The special linear group acts on determinant-one real symmetric matrices by matrix congruence. Symmetry and determinant are preserved, and signatures are preserved by Sylvester's law of inertia. The determinant-one set is a regular level set of dimension , with tangent directions satisfying . Its infinitesimal left-action fields are ; converting them to a Lie algebra representation requires the infinitesimal left-action sign convention.
A real symmetric matrix whose quadratic form is positive at every nonzero vector in the nonnegative orthant. By compactness of the nonnegative unit sphere, this is equivalent to a positive uniform lower bound on that orthant. It need not be a positive-definite matrix.
For a real symmetric matrix , set . Then
For sufficiency, factor . Its contribution is a sum of squares of linear combinations of , while the contribution of is . For necessity, use a homogeneous sum of squares representation and sign averaging of a sum of squares. Writing each quadratic summand with coefficients gives , and for . Comparing coefficients gives .
This is the basic semidefinite programming certificate of copositivity discussed in Parrilo's paper on matrix copositivity.
For a real symmetric matrix with eigenvalues , the sum of its largest eigenvalues is the support function of the fantope:
Here is the Loewner order. In an orthonormal eigenbasis for , the objective depends only on the diagonal entries of , which lie in the capped simplex. Thus the identity reduces to the sum of the largest components of the eigenvalues.
The displayed coordinates identify determinant-one real symmetric matrices of size two with the two-sheeted hyperboloid. The special linear congruence action on symmetric matrices is transitive on each sheet, with stabilizer . In particular the positive sheet is the homogeneous space , a model of the hyperbolic plane.
For a nearest-neighbour classical chain with finitely many spin states and dimensionless bond energy , its transfer matrix is . On-site energies are divided between adjacent bonds. Periodic boundary conditions give partition function by direct multiplication and summation over spin labels. For a strictly positive symmetric matrix, the Perron–Frobenius theorem gives . A diagonal local observable has expectation , tending to for a normalized dominant eigenvector.
Two-column dominant-subspace condition Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Let a real symmetric matrix have an orthonormal eigenbasis , with
Write two starting vectors as
For two-column subspace iteration to recover
, the two projections onto that dominant subspace must be independent. The exact condition is
Requiring each of the four coefficients to be nonzero does not imply this determinant condition.
Wigner matrix 2026-10-07
A real Wigner matrix is a real symmetric matrix whose upper off-diagonal entries are independent centered copies of a fixed random variable, scaled to have variance of order . Diagonal conventions may vary and should be specified separately. A common version has variance-one unscaled off-diagonal entries and either zero diagonal entries or independent diagonal entries with a bounded second moment.