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Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Prove it Romania

For nNn \in \mathbb{N}, n2n \ge 2, consider AA a matrix n×nn \times n with complex entries, such that A2=tr(A)AA^2 = \text{tr}(A) \cdot A. Prove that the matrices ABAABA and ACAACA commute, for any n×nn \times n matrices BB and CC, with complex entries.

Mihai Opincaru

Solution

Observe that tr(A)=0\text{tr}(A) = 0 implies A2=On×nA^2 = O_{n \times n} and
ABAACA=On×n=ACAABA, ABA \cdot ACA = O_{n \times n} = ACA \cdot ABA,

If tr(A)0\text{tr}(A) \neq 0, we show that rank(A)=1\text{rank}(A) = 1. Let r=rank(A)r = \text{rank}(A). Then we can find matrices XMn×r(C)X \in \mathcal{M}_{n \times r}(\mathbb{C}) and YMr×n(C)Y \in \mathcal{M}_{r \times n}(\mathbb{C}) with rank(X)=rank(Y)=r\text{rank}(X) = \text{rank}(Y) = r such that A=XYA = XY. Then YXMr(C)YX \in \mathcal{M}_r(\mathbb{C}) and, as tr(A)0\text{tr}(A) \neq 0, we have
rrank(YX)rank(X(YX)Y)=rank(A2)=rank(A)=r, r \geq \text{rank}(YX) \geq \text{rank}(X(YX)Y) = \text{rank}(A^2) = \text{rank}(A) = r,
That is rank(YX)=r\text{rank}(YX) = r and the matrix YXYX is non-singular. Equality A2=tr(A)AA^2 = \text{tr}(A) \cdot A, can be written (X)2=tr(A)XY(X)^2 = \text{tr}(A) \cdot XY, obtaining (YX)3=tr(A)(YX)2(YX)^3 = \text{tr}(A) \cdot (YX)^2. As YXYX is non-singular, we get YX=tr(A)IrYX = \text{tr}(A) \cdot I_r. In conclusion,
tr(A)=tr(XY)=tr(YX)=tr(A)r, \text{tr}(A) = \text{tr}(XY) = \text{tr}(YX) = \text{tr}(A) \cdot r,
giving r=1r = 1. To conclude, let B,CMn(C)B, C \in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C}). We have ABA=XYBXY=pXY=pAABA = XYBXY = pXY = pA, where p=YBXM1(C)p = YBX \in \mathcal{M}_1(\mathbb{C}). In the same way ACA=qAACA = qA with qCq \in \mathbb{C}, concluding the result of the problem.

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