Let A be a 3 × 3 matrix with values given below
⎝ ⎛ x − 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 8 − 2 0 1 7 y 2 0 1 9 2 0 1 5 2 0 1 4 z ⎠ ⎞
for real numbers x , y , and z such that x 2 + 2 y 2 + 3 z 2 = 1 .
Suppose the maximum possible value of [ ln [ det ( e A ) ] ] 2 is of the form q p , for coprime positive integers p and q .
Determine p + q .
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Nice solution! No need to get intimidated by how complex the matrix would be if it is converted to its matrix exponential. Thanks!
However, to further simplify your solution, one could easily arrive at the optimization part of the problem by using the fact that
det ( e A ) = e tr ( A )
where tr ( A ) represents the trace of a matrix, or the sum of its diagonal elements. From here we immediately arrive at solving the inequality. :)
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actually i did do that, but added in the prove for that identity. nice problem btw! it was great practice after recently learning some linear algebra.
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Thanks! It feels great to hear that. I'll keep the problems coming!
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so the key to solving this problem is to write the matrix in terms of its eigenvectors, i.e A = S Λ S − 1 we know we can expontiate it e A = S e Λ S − 1 → d e t ( e A ) = d e t ( S e Λ S − 1 ) since the determinant is multiplicative d e t ( e A ) = d e t ( S S − 1 ) d e t ( e Λ ) = d e t ( e Λ ) remember that Λ is a diagonal matrix, and d e t ( d i a g o n a l ) = ∏ p i v o t s , so d e t ( e Λ ) = e λ 1 × e λ 2 × e λ 3 → ln ( d e t ( e A ) ) = λ 1 + λ 2 + λ 3 we know the sum of the eigenvalues is the trace of the matrix, or λ 1 + λ 2 + λ 3 = x + y + z by cauchy swarz we have ( 1 + 2 1 + 3 1 ) ( x 2 + 2 y 2 + 3 z 2 ) ≥ ( x + y + z ) 2 → 6 1 1 ≥ ( x + y + z ) 2 = ln 2 ( d e t ( e A ) )