Submitted to-: Mrs.

Gurpreet Kaur

Submitted by-: Suraj pal gangwar

Roll no.-: Rk6001a29

Section no.-: k6001

Topic-: Explain positive definite Quadratic

forms giving Examples
 Quadratic form
In mathematics, a quadratic form is a homogeneous polynomial of degree two in a
number of variables. For example,

is a quadratic form in the variables x and y.

Quadratic forms occupy a central place in various branches of mathematics,

including number theory, linear algebra, group theory (orthogonal group),
differential geometry (Riemannian metric), differential topology (intersection forms
of four-manifolds), and Lie theory (the Killing form)

Introduction

Quadratic forms are homogeneous quadratic polynomials in n variables. In the

cases of one, two, and three variables they are called unary, binary, and ternary
and have the following explicit form:

Q(x)= ax2 (unary)

Q(x,y)= ax2+bxy+cy2 (binary)
Q(x,y,z) = ax2+by2+cz2+dxy+exy+fyz
(ternary)

where a,…,f are the coefficients.[1] Note that quadratic functions, such as
ax2+bx+c in the one variable case, are not quadratic forms, as they are typically
not homogeneous (unless b and c are both 0).

The theory of quadratic forms and methods used in their study depend in a large
measure on the nature of the coefficients, which may be real or complex numbers,
rational numbers, or integers. In linear algebra, analytic geometry, and in the
majority of applications of quadratic forms, the coefficients are real or complex
numbers. In the algebraic theory of quadratic forms, the coefficients are elements
of a certain field. In the arithmetic theory of quadratic forms, the coefficients belong
to a fixed commutative ring, frequently the integers Z or the p-adic integers Zp.[2]
Binary quadratic forms have been extensively studied in number theory, in
particular, in the theory of quadratic fields, continued fractions, and modular forms.
The theory of integral quadratic forms in n variables has important applications to
algebraic topology.

Using homogeneous coordinates, a non-zero quadratic form in n variables defines

an (n−2)-dimensional quadric in the (n−1)-dimensional projective space. This is a
basic construction in projective geometry. In this way one may visualize 3-
dimensional real quadratic forms as conic sections.

A closely related notion with geometric overtones is a quadratic space, which is a

pair (V,q), with V a vector space over a field k, and q:V → k a quadratic form on V.
An example is given by the three-dimensional Euclidean space and the square of
the Euclidean norm expressing the distance between a point with coordinates
(x,y,z) and the origin:

q(x,y,z)=d((x,y,z),(0,0,0))2 = ││(x,y,z)││2 =
x2+y2+z2
Example-:

Sometimes it is not possible or readily apparent how to factor an equation

or complete its square. However, all quadratic equations that can be put
into the form

ax2 + bx + c = 0

can be solved using the quadratic formula:

For example, to find the roots of

x2 – 4x = -3

the equation is first put into the standard form

x2 – 4x + 3 = 0

In this equation a = 1, b = -4, and c = 3. These terms are then substituted into the quadratic
formula:

X = -(-4)+- √(-4)2 – 4(1) (3)

 2(1)

X = 4 +- √ 16-12 = 4+-√4 = 4+- 2 = 3 and 1

2 2 2

Factoring Quadratic Equations

It is not so easy to isolate the variable on one side of an equation in which

more than one degree of the variable appears. Quadratic equations are
the simplest such equations. Given any quadratic equation of the general
form

ax2 + bx + c = 0
a number of approaches are possible depending on the specific nature of the equation in question.
If the equation can be factored, then the solution is straightforward. For instance, if a = 1, b = -3,
and c = -10, then

x2 – 3x – 10 = 0

can be factored as follows:

(x – 5)(x + 2) = 0

The only way to get 0 when multiplying numbers together is when one of the numbers is 0.
Therefore this equation can only be true when one or the other of the individual factors is equal
to zero—that is, when x - 5 = 0 or x + 2 = 0. Thus the equation has two solutions: x = 5 and x =
-2. That these are the solutions to the equation may again be verified by substituting them back
into the original equation:

52 – 3(5) – 10 = 25 - 15 - 10 = 0

and (-2)2 – 3(-2) - 10 = 4 + 6 - 10 = 0.

History
The study of particular quadratic forms, in particular the question of whether a
given integer can be the value of a quadratic form over the integers, dates back
many centuries. One such case is Fermat's theorem on sums of two squares, which
determines when an integer may be expressed in the form x2 + y2, where are
integers. This problem is related to the problem of finding Pythagorean triples,
which appeared in the second millennium B.C.[3]

In 628, the Indian mathematician Brahmagupta wrote Brahmasphutasiddhanta

x2 −
which includes, among many other things, a study of equations of the form

ny2 = c. In particular he considered what is now called Pell's equation, x2 −

ny2 = 1, and found a method for its solution.[4] In Europe this problem was
studied by Brouncker, Euler and Lagrange.

In 1801 Gauss published Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, a major portion of which was

devoted to a complete theory of binary quadratic forms over the integers. Since
then, the concept has been generalized, and the connections with quadratic number
fields, the modular group, and other areas of mathematics have been further
elucidated.

Real quadratic forms

Any n×n real symmetric matrix A determines a quadratic form qA in n variables by
the formula

QA(x1,……,xn) = ∑ aij x i x j
Conversely, given a quadratic form in n variables, its coefficients can be arranged
into an n×n symmetric matrix. One of the most important questions in the theory of
quadratic forms is how much can one simplify a quadratic form q by a
homogeneous linear change of variables. A fundamental theorem due to Jacobi
asserts that q can be brought to a diagonal form

ƛ1x21+ƛ2x22+…….+ƛnx2n ,
so that the corresponding symmetric matrix is diagonal, and this is even possible to
accomplish with a change of variables given by an orthogonal matrix – in this case
the coefficients λ1, λ2, …, λn are in fact determined uniquely up to a permutation. If
the change of variables is given by an invertible matrix, not necessarily orthogonal,
then the coefficients λi can be made to be 0,1, and −1. Sylvester's law of inertia
states that the numbers of 1 and −1 are invariants of the quadratic form, in the
sense that any other diagonalization will contain them in the same quantities. The
case when all λi have the same sign is especially important: in this case the
quadratic form is called positive definite (all 1) or negative definite (all −1); if none
of the terms are 0 then the form is called nondegenerate; this includes positive
definite, negative definite, and indefinite (a mix of 1 and −1); equivalently, a
nondegenerate quadratic form is one whose associated symmetric form is a
nondegenerate bilinear form. A real vector space with an indefinite nondegenerate
quadratic form of index (p,q) (p 1s, q −1s) is often denoted as particularly in the
physical theory of space-time.

Below we reformulate these results in a different way.

Let q be a quadratic form defined on an n-dimensional real vector space. Let A be

the matrix of the quadratic form q in a given basis. This means that A is a
symmetric n×n matrix such that

q(v) = xTAx,

where x is the column vector of coordinates of v in the chosen basis. Under a

change of basis, the column x is multiplied on the left by an n×n invertible matrix S,
and the symmetric square matrix A is transformed into another symmetric square
matrix B of the same size according to the formula

A->B = SAST
Any symmetric matrix A can be transformed into a diagonal matrix

by a suitable choice of an orthogonal matrix S, and the diagonal entries of B are

uniquely determined — this is Jacobi's theorem. If S is allowed to be any invertible
matrix then B can be made to have only 0,1, and −1 on the diagonal, and the
number of the entries of each type (n0 for 0, n+ for 1, and n− for −1) depends only
on A. This is one of the formulations of Sylvester's law of inertia and the numbers
n+ and n− are called the positive and negative indices of inertia. Although their
definition involved a choice of basis and consideration of the corresponding real
symmetric matrix A, Sylvester's law of inertia means that they are invariants of the
quadratic form q.

The quadratic form q is positive definite (resp., negative definite) if q(v)>0 (resp.,
q(v)<0) for every nonzero vector v.[5] When q(v) assumes both positive and
negative values, q is an indefinite quadratic form. The theorems of Jacobi and
Sylvester show that any positive definite quadratic form in n variables can be
brought to the sum of n squares by a suitable invertible linear transformation:
geometrically, there is only one positive definite real quadratic form of every
dimension. Its isometry group is a compact orthogonal group O(n). This stands in
contrast with the case of indefinite forms, when the corresponding group, the
indefinite orthogonal group O(p,q), is non-compact. Further, the isometry groups of
Q and −Q are the same (), but the associated Clifford algebras (and hence Pin
groups) are different.

Definitions

An n-ary quadratic form over a field K is a homogeneous polynomial of degree 2 in n

variables with coefficients in K:

q(x1,……..,xn) = ∑ aijXiXj, aijЄ K

This formula may be rewritten using matrices: let x be the column vector with
components x1, …, xn and A = (aij) be the n×n matrix over K whose entries are the
coefficients of q. Then

q(x) = xtAx.

Two n-ary quadratic forms φ and ψ over K are equivalent if there exists a
nonsingular linear transformation T ∈GLn(K) such that

Let us assume that the characteristic of K is different from 2.

(The theory of quadratic forms over a field of characteristic 2 has important
differences and many definitions and theorems have to be modified.) The
coefficient matrix A of q may be replaced by the symmetric matrix 1/2(A + At) with
the same quadratic form, so it may be assumed from the outset that A is
symmetric. Moreover, a symmetric matrix A is uniquely determined by the
corresponding quadratic form. Under an equivalence T, the symmetric matrix A of φ
and the symmetric matrix B of ψ are related as follows:

B = TtAT.

The associated bilinear form of a quadratic form q is defined by

bq(x,y) = ½ ( q(x+y) – q(x) – q(y)) = Xt Ay =

Yt Ax

Thus, bq is a symmetric bilinear form over K with matrix A. Conversely, any

symmetric bilinear form b defines a quadratic form

q(x) = b(x,x)

and these two processes are the inverses of one another. As a consequence, over a
field of characteristic not equal to 2, the theories of symmetric bilinear forms and of
quadratic forms in n variables are essentially the same.

Quadratic spaces

A quadratic form q in n variables over K induces a map from the n-dimensional

cooordinate space Kn into K:

Q(v) = q(v), v = [v1,……,vn]t Є Kn

The map Q is a quadratic map, which means that it has the properties:

Q(av) = a2Q(v) for all a Є K, v Є V

The map BQ: V×V → K defined below is bilinear over K:

Bq(v,w) = ½ (Q(v+w) – Q(v) – Q(w))

The pair (V,Q) consisting of a finite-dimensional vector space V over K and a
quadratic map from V to K is called a quadratic space and BQ is the associated
bilinear form of Q. The notion of a quadratic space is a coordinate-free version of
the notion of quadratic form. Sometimes, Q is also called a quadratic form.

Two n-dimensional quadratic spaces (V,Q) and (V ′, Q ′) are isometric if there exists
an invertible linear transformation T: V →V ′ (isometry) such that

Q(v) = Q’(Tv) for all v Є V

The isometry classes of n-dimensional quadratic spaces over K correspond to the

equivalence classes of n-ary quadratic forms over K.

Further definitions
Two elements v and w of V are called orthogonal if B(v, w)=0. The kernel of a
bilinear form B consists of the elements that are orthogonal to each elements of V.
Q is non-singular if the kernel of its associated bilinear form is 0. If there exists a
non-zero v in V such that Q(v) = 0, the quadratic form Q is isotropic, otherwise it is
anisotropic. This terminology also applies to vectors and subspaces of a quadratic
space. If the restriction of Q to a subspace U of V is identically zero, U is totally
singular.

The orthogonal group of a non-singular quadratic form Q is the group of the linear
automorphisms of V that preserve Q, i.e. the group of isometries of (V, Q) into itself.

Equivalence of forms
Every quadratic form q in n variables over a field of characteristic not equal to 2 is
equivalent to a diagonal form

Q(x) = a1x21 + a2x22+………+anxnn

Such a diagonal form is often denoted by < a1,……..,an>

Classification of all quadratic forms up to equivalence can thus be reduced to the

case of diagonal forms.

Integral quadratic forms

Quadratic forms over the ring of integers are called integral quadratic forms,
whereas the corresponding modules are quadratic lattices (sometimes, simply
lattices). They play an important role in number theory and topology.

An integral quadratic form has integer coefficients, such as x2 + xy + y2;

equivalently, given a lattice Λ in a vector space V (over a field with characteristic 0,
such as or ), a quadratic form Q is integral with respect to Λ if and only if it is
integer-valued on Λ, meaning Q(x,y) Є Z if x,y Є Λ

This is the current use of the term; in the past it was sometimes used differently, as
detailed below.

Historical use

Historically there was some confusion and controversy over whether the notion of
integral quadratic form should mean:

twos in

the quadratic form associated to a symmetric matrix with integer coefficients

twos out
a polynomial with integer coefficients (so the associated symmetric matrix may
have half-integer coefficients off the diagonal)

This debate was due to the confusion of quadratic forms (represented by

polynomials) and symmetric bilinear forms (represented by matrices), and "twos
out" is now the accepted convention; "twos in" is instead the theory of integral
symmetric bilinear forms (integral symmetric matrices).

In "twos in", binary quadratic forms are of the form ax2 + 2bxy + cy2, represented
by the symmetric matrix ; this is the convention Gauss uses in Disquisitiones
Arithmeticae.

In "twos out", binary quadratic forms are of the form ax2 + bxy + cy2, represented
by the symmetric matrix .

Several points of view mean that twos out has been adopted as the standard
convention. Those include:

better understanding of the 2-adic theory of quadratic forms, the 'local' source of
the difficulty;

the lattice point of view, which was generally adopted by the experts in the
arithmetic of quadratic forms during the 1950s;

the actual needs for integral quadratic form theory in topology for intersection
theory;

the Lie group and algebraic group aspects.

Universal quadratic forms

A quadratic form representing all of the positive integers is sometimes called

universal. Lagrange's four-square theorem shows that w2 + x2 + y2 + z2 is

universal. Ramanujan generalized this to aw2 + bx2 + cy2 + dz2 and
found 54 {a,b,c,d} such that it can generate all positive integers, namely,

{1,1,1,d}; d = 1-7

{1,1,2,d}; d = 2-14

{1,1,3,d}; d = 3-6

{1,2,2,d}; d = 2-7

{1,2,3,d}; d = 3-10

{1,2,4,d}; d = 4-14

{1,2,5,d}; d = 6-10

There are also forms that can express nearly all positive integers except one, such
as {1,2,5,5} which has 15 as the exception. Recently, the 15 and 290 theorems
have completely characterized universal integral quadratic forms: if all coefficients
are integers, then it represents all positive integers if and only if it represents all
integers up through 290; if it has an integral matrix, it represents all positive
integers if and only if it represents all

References
O'Meara, T. (2000), Introduction to Quadratic Forms, Berlin, New York: Springer-
Verlag, ISBN 978-3-540-66564-9

Conway, John Horton; Fung, Francis Y. C. (1997), The Sensual (Quadratic) Form,
Carus Mathematical Monographs, The Mathematical Association of America, ISBN
978-0-88385-030-5

External links
A.V.Malyshev (2001), "Quadratic form", in Hazewinkel, Michiel, Encyclopaedia of
Mathematics, Springer, ISBN 978-1556080104

A.V.Malyshev (2001), "Binary quadratic form", in Hazewinkel, Michiel, Encyclopaedia

of Mathematics, Springer, ISBN 978-1556080104ntegers up through 15.