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Section 25.2 Terminology and notation

similar matrices
a pair of square matrices \(A \) and \(B \) for which there exists an invertible matrix \(P \) satisfying \(B = \inv{P} A P \)
transition matrix
an invertible matrix \(P \) that realizes a similarity relationship \(B = \inv{P} A P \) for similar matrices \(A \) and \(B \)
diagonalizable
a square matrix that is similar to a diagonal matrix
The next two definitions apply to an eigenvalue of a square matrix.
algebraic multiplicity
the number of times the eigenvalue is repeated as a root of the characteristic polynomial of the matrix
geometric multiplicity
the dimension of the corresponding eigenspace