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Concept
Normal matrix
Summary
In mathematics, a complex square matrix A is normal if it commutes with its conjugate transpose A^:
The concept of normal matrices can be extended to normal operators on infinite dimensional normed spaces and to normal elements in C-algebras. As in the matrix case, normality means commutativity is preserved, to the extent possible, in the noncommutative setting. This makes normal operators, and normal elements of C*-algebras, more amenable to analysis.
The spectral theorem states that a matrix is normal if and only if it is unitarily similar to a diagonal matrix, and therefore any matrix A satisfying the equation AA = AA is diagonalizable. The converse does not hold because diagonalizable matrices may have non-orthogonal eigenspaces.
The left and right singular vectors in the singular value decomposition of a normal matrix differ only in complex phase from each other and from the corresponding eigenvectors, since the phase must be factored out of the eigenvalues to form singular values.
Among complex matrices, all unitary, Hermitian, and skew-Hermitian matrices are normal, with all eigenvalues being unit modulus, real, and imaginary, respectively. Likewise, among real matrices, all orthogonal, symmetric, and skew-symmetric matrices are normal, with all eigenvalues being complex conjugate pairs on the unit circle, real, and imaginary, respectively. However, it is not the case that all normal matrices are either unitary or (skew-)Hermitian, as their eigenvalues can be any complex number, in general. For example,
is neither unitary, Hermitian, nor skew-Hermitian, because its eigenvalues are ; yet it is normal because
The concept of normality is important because normal matrices are precisely those to which the spectral theorem applies:
The diagonal entries of Λ are the eigenvalues of A, and the columns of U are the eigenvectors of A. The matching eigenvalues in Λ come in the same order as the eigenvectors are ordered as columns of U.
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