In the mathematical field of linear algebra, an arrowhead matrix is a square matrix containing zeros in all entries except for the first row, first column, and main diagonal. In other words, the matrix has the form
                    A        =                              [                                                                                                ∗                                                  ∗                                                  ∗                                                  ∗                                                  ∗                                                                                                                  ∗                                                  ∗                                                  0                                                  0                                                  0                                                                                                                  ∗                                                  0                                                  ∗                                                  0                                                  0                                                                                                                  ∗                                                  0                                                  0                                                  ∗                                                  0                                                                                                                  ∗                                                  0                                                  0                                                  0                                                  ∗                                                      ]                          .                Any symmetric permutation of the arrowhead matrix,                               P                      T                          A        P                , where P is a permutation matrix, is a (permuted) arrowhead matrix. Real symmetric arrowhead matrices are used in some algorithms for finding of eigenvalues and eigenvectors.
Let A be a real symmetric (permuted) arrowhead matrix of the form
                    A        =                  [                                                                      D                                                  z                                                                                                  z                                          T                                                                                        α                                                              ]                ,                where                     D        =                                            d              i              a              g                                      (                  d                      1                          ,                  d                      2                          ,        …        ,                  d                      n            −            1                          )                 is diagonal matrix of order n-1,
                    z        =                                            [                                                                                          ζ                                              1                                                                                                                        ζ                                              2                                                                                                  ⋯                                                                              ζ                                              n                        −                        1                                                                                                        ]                                            T                                   is a vector and                     α                 is a scalar. Let
                    A        =        V        Λ                  V                      T                                  be the eigenvalue decomposition of A, where                     Λ        =                                            d              i              a              g                                      (                  λ                      1                          ,                  λ                      2                          ,        …        ,                  λ                      n                          )                
is a diagonal matrix whose diagonal elements are the eigenvalues of A, and                     V        =                              [                                                                                v                                          1                                                                                        ⋯                                                                      v                                          n                                                                                            ]                                  
is an orthonormal matrix whose columns are the corresponding eigenvectors. The following holds:
If                               ζ                      i                          =        0                 for some i, then the pair                     (                  d                      i                          ,                  e                      i                          )                , where                               e                      i                                   is the i-th standard basis vector, is an eigenpair of A. Thus, all such rows and columns can be deleted, leaving the matrix with all                               ζ                      i                          ≠        0                .The Cauchy interlacing theorem implies that the sorted eigenvalues of A interlace the sorted elements                               d                      i                                  : if                               d                      1                          ≥                  d                      2                          ≥        ⋯        ≥                  d                      n            −            1                                   (this can be attained by symmetric permutation of rows and columns without loss of generality), and if                               λ                      i                                  s are sorted accordingly, then                               λ                      1                          ≥                  d                      1                          ≥                  λ                      2                          ≥                  d                      2                          ≥        ⋯        ≥                  λ                      n            −            1                          ≥                  d                      n            −            1                          ≥                  λ                      n                                  .If                               d                      i                          =                  d                      j                                  , for some                     i        ≠        j                , the above inequality implies that                               d                      i                                   is an eigenvalue of A. The size of the problem can be reduced by annihilating                               ζ                      j                                   with a Givens rotation in the                     (        i        ,        j        )                -plane and proceeding as above.Symmetric arrowhead matrices arise in descriptions of radiationless transitions in isolated molecules and oscillators vibrationally coupled with a Fermi liquid.
Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
Symmetric arrowhead matrix is irreducible if                               ζ                      i                          ≠        0                 for all i and                               d                      i                          ≠                  d                      j                                   for all                     i        ≠        j                . The eigenvalues of an irreducible real symmetric arrowhead matrix are the zeros of the secular equation
                    f        (        λ        )        =        α        −        λ        −                  ∑                      i            =            1                                n            −            1                                                              ζ                              i                                            2                                                                    d                                  i                                            −              λ                                      ≡        α        −        λ        −                  z                      T                          (        D        −        λ        I                  )                      −            1                          z        =        0                which can be, for example, computed by the bisection method. The corresponding eigenvectors are equal to
                              v                      i                          =                                            x                              i                                                    ∥                              x                                  i                                                            ∥                                  2                                                                    ,                          x                      i                          =                              [                                                                                                      (                      D                      −                                              λ                                                  i                                                                    I                      )                                                              −                      1                                                        z                                                                              −                  1                                                      ]                          ,                i        =        1        ,        …        ,        n        .                Direct application of the above formula may yield eigenvectors which are not numerically sufficiently orthogonal. The forward stable algorithm which computes each eigenvalue and each component of the corresponding eigenvector to almost full accuracy is described in. The Julia version of the software is available.
Let A be an irreducible real symmetric arrowhead matrix. If                               d                      i                          =        0                 for some i, the inverse is a permuted irreducible real symmetric arrowhead matrix:
                              A                      −            1                          =                              [                                                                                D                                          1                                                              −                      1                                                                                                            w                                          1                                                                                        0                                                  0                                                                                                  w                                          1                                                              T                                                                                        b                                                                      w                                          2                                                              T                                                                                        1                                      /                                                        ζ                                          i                                                                                                                    0                                                                      w                                          2                                                                                                            D                                          2                                                              −                      1                                                                                        0                                                                              0                                                  1                                      /                                                        ζ                                          i                                                                                        0                                                  0                                                      ]                                  where
                                                                                          D                                      1                                                                              =                                                                            d                      i                      a                      g                                                                      (                                  d                                      1                                                  ,                                  d                                      2                                                  ,                …                ,                                  d                                      i                    −                    1                                                  )                ,                                                                                      D                                      2                                                                              =                                                                            d                      i                      a                      g                                                                      (                                  d                                      i                    +                    1                                                  ,                                  d                                      i                    +                    2                                                  ,                …                ,                                  d                                      n                    −                    1                                                  )                ,                                                                                      z                                      1                                                                              =                                                                            [                                                                                                                                  ζ                                                              1                                                                                                                                                                        ζ                                                              2                                                                                                                                          ⋯                                                                                                              ζ                                                              i                                −                                1                                                                                                                                                        ]                                                                            T                                                  ,                                                                                      z                                      2                                                                              =                                                                            [                                                                                                                                  ζ                                                              i                                +                                1                                                                                                                                                                        ζ                                                              i                                +                                2                                                                                                                                          ⋯                                                                                                              ζ                                                              n                                −                                1                                                                                                                                                        ]                                                                            T                                                  ,                                                                                      w                                      1                                                                              =                −                                  D                                      1                                                        −                    1                                                                    z                                      1                                                                                        1                                          ζ                                              i                                                                                            ,                                                                                      w                                      2                                                                              =                −                                  D                                      2                                                        −                    1                                                                    z                                      2                                                                                        1                                          ζ                                              i                                                                                            ,                                                                    b                                            =                                                      1                                          ζ                                              i                                                                    2                                                                                                              (                  −                  a                  +                                      z                                          1                                                              T                                                                            D                                          1                                                              −                      1                                                                            z                                          1                                                        +                                      z                                          2                                                              T                                                                            D                                          2                                                              −                      1                                                                            z                                          2                                                        )                                .                                                            If                               d                      i                          ≠        0                 for all i, the inverse is a rank-one modification of a diagonal matrix (diagonal-plus-rank-one matrix or DPR1):
                              A                      −            1                          =                              [                                                                                D                                          −                      1                                                                                                                                                    0                                                      ]                          +        ρ        u                  u                      T                          ,                where
                    u        =                              [                                                                                D                                          −                      1                                                        z                                                                              −                  1                                                      ]                          ,                ρ        =                              1                          α              −                              z                                  T                                                            D                                  −                  1                                            z                                      .