7.3 The Jordan Form

Jordan Form是一种比upper triangular更为简单的形式，是结合了之前对幂零矩阵和primary decomposition theorem的结果而成。Jordan form在讨论一些抽象的问题时特别简便，但如何从一个operator得到其Jordan form的矩阵（即求出对应的一组基或者相似矩阵）貌似是非常麻烦的。这一节很多是讨论Jordan form理论性的应用。

Exercises

1.Let $N_1$ and $N_2$ be $3\times 3$ nilpotent matrices over the field $F$. Prove that $N_1$ and $N_2$ are similar if and only if they have the same minimal polynomial.
Solution: If $N_1$ and $N_2$ are similar, then they are similar to the same matrix which is in the rational form, thus have the same minimal polynomial.
Conversely, let $p$ be the minimal polynomial for $N_1$ and $N_2$, then since both are nilpotent, $p$ can only be $x,x^2$ or $x^3$. If $p=x$, then $N_1=N_2=0$ and are similar. If $p=x^2$, then both $N_1$ and $N_2$ are similar to the matrix $$\left[\begin{array}{ccc}0& 0& 0\\ 1& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 0\end{array}\right]$$. If $p=x^3$, then both $N_1$ and $N_2$ are similar to the matrix $$\left[\begin{array}{ccc}0& 0& 0\\ 1& 0& 0\\ 0& 1& 0\end{array}\right]$$.

2.Use the result of Exercise 1 and the Jordan Form the prove the following: Let $A$ and $B$ be $n\times n$ matrices over the field $F$ which have the same characteristic polynomial
$$f=(x-c_1{)}^{d_1}\cdots (x-c_k{)}^{d_k}$$
and the same minimal polynomial. If no $d_i$ is greater than $3$, then $A$ and $B$ are similar.
Solution: We can see that $A$ and $B$ are separately similar to the matrix
$$A=\left[\begin{array}{cccc}{A}_1& 0& \cdots & 0\\ 0& A_2& \cdots & 0\\ ⋮& ⋮& & ⋮\\ 0& 0& \cdots & A_k\end{array}\right],B=\left[\begin{array}{cccc}{B}_1& 0& \cdots & 0\\ 0& B_2& \cdots & 0\\ ⋮& ⋮& & ⋮\\ 0& 0& \cdots & B_k\end{array}\right]$$
where each $A_i,B_i$ are $d_i\times d_i$ matrices. Since $d_i$ is no greater than $3$, the minimal polynomial for $A$ and $B$ are the same, use Exercise 1 we know $A_i$ is similar to $B_i$, and the conclusion follows.

3.If $A$ is a complex $5\times 5$ matrix with characteristic polynomial $f=(x-2{)}^3(x+7{)}^2$, and minimal polynomial $p=(x-2{)}^2(x+7)$, what is the Jordan form for $A$?
Solution: The Jordan form for $A$ is
$$\left[\begin{array}{ccccc}2& 0& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 2& 0& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 2& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 0& -7& 0\\ 0& 0& 0& 0& -7\end{array}\right]$$

4.How many possible Jordan forms are there for a $6\times 6$ complex matrix with characteristic polynomial $(x+2{)}^4(x-1{)}^2$?
Solution: The Jordan form of this matrix can be written as $\left[\begin{array}{cc}{A}_1& 0\\ 0& A_2\end{array}\right]$, where $A_1$ is $4\times 4$ matrix and $A_2$ is $2\times 2$ matrix. $A_2$ has two possible forms, corresponding to the minimal polynomial for the subspace $W_2=\text{null }(T-I)$ being $x-1$ or $(x-1{)}^2$.
For $A_1$, if the minimal polynomial $p$ for $W_1=\text{null }(T+2I)$ is