Sylvester's law of inertia
Theorem of matrix algebra of invariance properties under basis transformations / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sylvester's law of inertia is a theorem in matrix algebra about certain properties of the coefficient matrix of a real quadratic form that remain invariant under a change of basis. Namely, if is the symmetric matrix that defines the quadratic form, and is any invertible matrix such that is diagonal, then the number of negative elements in the diagonal of is always the same, for all such ; and the same goes for the number of positive elements.
This property is named after James Joseph Sylvester who published its proof in 1852.[1][2]