Definition:Inertia of Hermitian Matrix

Definition

Let $\mathbf H$ be a Hermitian matrix.

The inertia of $\mathbf H$ is an ordered triple of integers comprising:

the number of positive eigenvalues of $\mathbf H$

the number of negative eigenvalues of $\mathbf H$

the number of zero eigenvalues of $\mathbf H$

in that order.

Also see

• Results about inertia of hermitian matrices can be found here.

Linguistic Note

The word inertia comes from the Latin for laziness or idleness.

Sources

• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): inertia: 2.