Definiteness of Gram matrix

Definition 1 Definiteness of a matrix

Let $A$ be $n \times n$ real symmetric matrix, and column vector $x \in \mathbb{R}^n$.

- $A$ is positive (negative) definite if $x^TAx > 0 \ (x^TAx < 0),\ \forall x \neq 0$.
- $A$ is positive (negative) semidefinite if $x^TAx \geq 0 \ (x^TAx \leq 0),\ \forall x \in \mathbb{R}^n $, and $x^TAx = 0$ for at least one $ x \neq 0$.
- $A$ is indefinite if $x^TAx$ takes on both positive and negative values (with different, non-zero $x$'s)

Definition 2 Gram matrix

The Gram matrix of a set of vectors $v_1, \dots, v_n$ in an inner product space is the Hermitan matrix of inner products, whose entries are given by (1).
$$
\begin{align}
G_{ij} = \langle v_i, v_j \rangle \tag{1} \\
\end{align}
$$
For finite dimensional real vectors in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with the usual Euclidean dot product, the Gram matrix $G$ is simply $G=V^TV$, where the column of V is $v_i$.

Theorem 1 The symmetric matrix $G$ is a Gram matrix if and only if it is positive semidefinite or positive definite.

Proof

(1) Gram matrix $G=V^TV$ is positive semidefinite or positive definite.
$$
x^TAx = x^TV^TVx = (Vx)^T(Vx) = \| Vx\|^2 \geq 0, \forall x \in \mathbb{R}^n
$$
(2) Positive semidefinite or positive definite matrix is Gram matrix.

Positive semidefinite or positive definite $n \times n$ matrix $G$ with rank $r \leq n$ can be decomposed as (2)-(a) by Spectral Theorem (since those are symmetric, hence Hermitan), where $T = diag(\lambda_1, \dots , \lambda_n)$ is the diagonal matrix containing the eigenvalues in its main diagonal, while $U = (u_1, \dots , u_n)$ is the orthogonal matrix containing the corresponding eigenvectors of $A$ in its columns in the order of the eigenvalues.
$$
G \stackrel{(a)}{=} UTU^H = U \sqrt{T} \sqrt{T} U^H = U \sqrt{T}^H (U \sqrt{T}^H)^H  \tag{2} \\
$$
Theorem 2 Gram matrix $G=V^TV$ is positive definite if and only if the column vectors in $V$ are linearly independent (or ker V = {0}).

Reference

Horn, Roger A.; Johnson, Charles R. (2013). "7.2 Characterizations and Properties". Matrix Analysis (Second ed.). Cambridge University PressISBN 978-0-521-83940-2.

댓글

이 블로그의 인기 게시물

Proof of well-known 'Intersection Of Three Planes' formula.

Linux에서 특정한 디렉토리가 차지하는 용량을 효율적이고, 빠르게 계산하는 법(Fast, efficient way to calculate directory size recursively on linux)

영화 'Call me by your name'의 OST 중 'Visions of Gideons' 번역 및 해석