Square Roots of Matrices and Operators
If A is a positive-definite matrix or operator, then there exists precisely one positive definite matrix or operator B with B2 = A; we then define A1/2 = √A = B. In general matrices may have multiple square roots or even an infinitude of them. For example the 2×2 identity matrix has an infinity of square roots.
Read more about this topic: Square Root
Famous quotes containing the words square and/or roots:
“Rationalists, wearing square hats,
Think, in square rooms,
Looking at the floor,
Looking at the ceiling.
They confine themselves
To right-angled triangles.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
““Jim,” she said earnestly, “if I was put down there in the middle of the night, I could find my way all over that little town; and along the river to the next town, where my grandmother lived. My feet remember all the little paths through the woods, and where the big roots stick out to trip you. I ain’t never forgot my own country.””
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)