- Gershgorin circle theorem
In
mathematics , the Gershgorin circle theorem may be used to bound the spectrum of a square matrix. It was first published by the Belarusian mathematicianSemyon Aranovich Gershgorin in 1931. The spelling of S. A. Gershgorin's name has been transliterated in several different ways, including Geršgorin, Gerschgorin and Gershgorin.tatement and proof
Let "A" be a complex "n"×"n" matrix, with entries ("a""ij"). For "i" ∈ {1, … "n"} write "R""i" = ∑"j" ≠ "i" |"a""ij"| where |"a""ij"| denotes the
absolute value of "a""ij". Let "D"("a""ii", "R""i") be the closed disc centered at "a""ii" with radius "R""i". Such a disc is called a "Gershgorin disc".Theorem: Every eigenvalue of "A" lies within at least one of the Gershgorin discs "D"("a""ii", "R""i").
"Proof": Let λ be an eigenvalue of "A" and let x = ("x""j") be a corresponding eigenvector. Let "i" ∈ {1, … "n"} be chosen so that |"x""i"| = max"j" |"x""j"|. Then |"x""i"| > 0, otherwise x = 0. Since x is an eigenvector, "A"x = λx or equivalent
: sum_{j} a_{ij} x_{j} = lambda x_{i} quad forall i in 1 ldots n
so, splitting the sum, we get
: sum_{j eq i} a_{ij} x_{j} = lambda x_{i}-a_{ii} x_{i}
We may then divide both sides by x_{i} (choosing i as we explained we can be sure that x_{i} eq 0 ) and take the absolute value to obtain
: lambda - a_{ii}| = left|frac{sum_{j e i} a_{ij} x_{j{x_{i ight| le sum_{j e i} |a_{ij}| = R_i.
where the last inequality is valid because left| frac{x_{j{x_{i ight| leq 1 quad forall j eq i
Corollary: The eigenvalues of "A" must also lie within the Gershgorin discs "C""j" corresponding to the columns of "A".
"Proof": Apply the Theorem to "A"T.
Example For a
diagonal matrix , the Gershgorin discscoincide with the spectrum. Conversely, if the Gershgorin discs coincidewith the spectrum, the matrix is diagonal.Discussion
One way to interpret this theorem is that if the off-diagonal entries of a square matrix over the complex numbers have small norms, the eigenvalues of the matrix cannot be "far from" the diagonal entries of the matrix. Therefore, by reducing the norms of off-diagonal entries one can attempt to approximate the eigenvalues of the matrix. Of course, diagonal entries may change in the process of minimizing off-diagonal entries.
Application
The Gershgorin circle theorem is useful in solving matrix equations of the form "Ax" = "b" for "x" where "b" is a vector and "A" is a matrix with a large
condition number .In this kind of problem, the error in the final result is usually of the same
order of magnitude as the error in the initial data multiplied by the condition number of "A". For instance, if "b" is known to six decimal places and the condition number of "A" is 1000 then we can only be confident that "x" is accurate to three decimal places. For very high condition numbers, even very small errors due to rounding can be magnified to such an extent that the result is meaningless.It would be good to reduce the condition number of "A". This can be done by
preconditioning : A matrix "P" such that "P" ≈ "A"−1 is constructed, and then the equation "PAx" = "Pb" is solved for "x". Using the "exact" inverse of "A" would be nice but finding the inverse of a matrix is generally very difficult.Now, since "PA" ≈ "I" where "I" is the identity matrix, the
eigenvalue s of "PA" should all be close to 1. By the Gerschgorin circle theorem, every eigenvalue of "PA" lies within a known area and so we can form a rough estimate of how good our choice of "P" was.References
* Gerschgorin, S. "Über die Abgrenzung der Eigenwerte einer Matrix." Izv. Akad. Nauk. USSR Otd. Fiz.-Mat. Nauk 7, 749-754, 1931
* Varga, R. S. "Geršgorin and His Circles." Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2004. ISBN 3-540-21100-4. [http://www.math.kent.edu/~varga/pub/corrections.pdf Errata] .External links
*planetmath reference|id=3709|title=Gershgorin's circle theorem
* Eric W. Weisstein. " [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/GershgorinCircleTheorem.html Gershgorin Circle Theorem] ." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource.
* Semyon Aranovich Gershgorin biography at [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Gershgorin.html MacTutor]
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