Bauer-Fike theorem
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In mathematics, the Bauer-Fike theorem is a standard result in the perturbation theory of the eigenvalue of a complex-valued diagonalizable matrix. In its substance, it states an absolute upper bound for the deviation of one perturbed matrix eigenvalue from a properly chosen eigenvalue of the exact matrix. Informally speaking, what it says is that the sensitivity of the eigenvalues is estimated by the condition number of the matrix of eigenvectors.
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[edit] Theorem (Friedrich L. Bauer, C.T.Fike - 1960)
Let
be a diagonalizable matrix, and be
the non singular eigenvector matrix such that A = VΛV − 1. Be moreover μ an eigenvalue of the matrix A + δA; then an eigenvalue
exists such that:
where
is the usual condition number in p-norm.
[edit] Proof
If
, we can choose λ = μ and the thesis is trivially verified (since
).
So, be
. Then
. μ being an eigenvalue of A + δA, we have det(A + δA − μI) = 0 and so
and, since
as stated above, we must have
which reveals the value -1 to be an eigenvalue of the matrix (Λ − μI) − 1V − 1δAV.
For each consistent matrix norm, we have
, so, being all p-norms consistent, we can write:
But (Λ − μI) − 1 being a diagonal matrix, the p-norm is easily computed, and yields:
whence:
.
The theorem can also be reformulated to better suit numerical methods. In fact, dealing with real eigensystem problems, one often has an exact matrix A, but knows only an approximate eigenvalue-eigenvector couple, (
,
), and needs to bound the error. The following version comes in help.
[edit] Theorem (Friedrich L. Bauer, C.T.Fike - 1960) (alternative statement)
Let
be a diagonalizable matrix, and be
the non singular eigenvector matrix such as A = VΛV − 1. Be moreover (
,
) an approximate eigenvalue-eigenvector couple, and
; then an eigenvalue
exists such that:
where
is the usual condition number in p-norm.
[edit] Proof
We solve this problem with Tarık's method:
m(otherwise, we can choose
and theorem is proven, since
).
Then
exists, so we can write:
since A is diagonalizable; taking the p-norm of both sides, we obtain:

But, since
is a diagonal matrix, the p-norm is easily computed, and yields:
whence:
The Bauer-Fike theorem, in both versions, yields an absolute bound. The following corollary, which, besides all the hypothesis of Bauer-Fike theorem, requires also the non-singularity of A, turns out to be useful whenever a relative bound is needed.
[edit] Corollary
Be
a non-singular, diagonalizable matrix, and be
the non singular eigenvector matrix such as A = VΛV − 1. Be moreover μ an eigenvalue of the matrix A + δA; then an eigenvalue
exists such that:
(Note:
can be formally viewed as the "relative variation of A", just as | λ − μ | | λ | − 1 is the relative variation of λ.)
[edit] Proof
Since μ is an eigenvalue of (A+δA) and
, we have, left-multiplying by − A − 1:
that is, putting
and
:
which means that
is an eigenvalue of
, with
eigenvector. Now, the eigenvalues of
are
, while its eigenvector matrix is the same as A. Applying Bauer-Fike theorem to the matrix
and to its eigenvalue
, we obtain:
[edit] Remark
If A is normal, V is a unitary matrix, and
, so that κ2(V) = 1.
The Bauer-Fike theorem then becomes:
- (
in the alternative formulation)
which obviously remains true if A is a Hermitian matrix. In this case, however, a much stronger result holds, known as the Weyl theorem.
[edit] References
- F. L. Bauer and C. T. Fike. Norms and exclusion theorems. Numer. Math. 2 (1960), 137-141.
- S. C. Eisenstat and I. C. F. Ipsen. Three absolute perturbation bounds for matrix eigenvalues imply relative bounds. SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications Vol. 20, N. 1 (1998), 149-158


![=det(\Lambda-\mu I)\ det[(\Lambda-\mu I)^{-1}V^{-1}\delta AV +I]](../../../../math/a/4/8/a48ccb433c7506ae2aac9215cee5ba1b.png)
![det[(\Lambda-\mu I)^{-1}V^{-1}\delta AV +I]=\ 0](../../../../math/f/d/b/fdb22a23d40248a970d66425723d7717.png)





(otherwise, we can choose
and theorem is proven, since 










