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Linear AlgebraHardSymmetric Matrices & Quadratic Forms

Symmetric Matrices & Quadratic Forms · Hard problem

A matrix A=(−100054045)A = \begin{pmatrix}-1&0&0\\0&5&4\\0&4&5\end{pmatrix} has a positive (2,2)(2,2) entry, and its lower-right 2×22\times2 block (5445)\begin{pmatrix}5&4\\4&5\end{pmatrix} has positive determinant (25−16=925-16=9) and positive trace — yet AA is NOT positive definite, because positive-definiteness requires checking the LEADING principal minors (starting from the top-left corner), not just any block. Find the smallest eigenvalue of AA to confirm this.