In
linear algebra, a Toeplitz matrix or diagonal-constant matrix, named after
Otto Toeplitz
Otto Toeplitz (1 August 1881 – 15 February 1940) was a German mathematician working in functional analysis., reprinted in
Life and work
Toeplitz was born to a Jewish family of mathematicians. Both his father and grandfather were ''Gymnasiu ...
, is a
matrix in which each descending diagonal from left to right is constant. For instance, the following matrix is a Toeplitz matrix:
:
Any ''n'' × ''n'' matrix ''A'' of the form
:
is a Toeplitz matrix. If the ''i'', ''j'' element of ''A'' is denoted ''A''
''i'', ''j'' then we have
:
A Toeplitz matrix is not necessarily
square.
Solving a Toeplitz system
A matrix equation of the form
:
is called a Toeplitz system if ''A'' is a Toeplitz matrix. If ''A'' is an ''n'' × ''n'' Toeplitz matrix, then the system has only 2''n'' − 1
degrees of freedom
Degrees of freedom (often abbreviated df or DOF) refers to the number of independent variables or parameters of a thermodynamic system. In various scientific fields, the word "freedom" is used to describe the limits to which physical movement or ...
, rather than ''n''
2. We might therefore expect that the solution of a Toeplitz system would be easier, and indeed that is the case.
Toeplitz systems can be solved by the
Levinson algorithm in
''O''(''n''2) time. Variants of this algorithm have been shown to be weakly stable (i.e. they exhibit
numerical stability
In the mathematical subfield of numerical analysis, numerical stability is a generally desirable property of numerical algorithms. The precise definition of stability depends on the context. One is numerical linear algebra and the other is algorit ...
for
well-conditioned linear systems). The algorithm can also be used to find the
determinant of a Toeplitz matrix in
''O''(''n''2) time.
A Toeplitz matrix can also be decomposed (i.e. factored) in
''O''(''n''2) time. The Bareiss algorithm for an
LU decomposition is stable. An LU decomposition gives a quick method for solving a Toeplitz system, and also for computing the determinant.
Algorithms that are asymptotically faster than those of Bareiss and Levinson have been described in the literature, but their accuracy cannot be relied upon.
General properties
* An ''n'' × ''n'' Toeplitz matrix may be defined as a matrix ''A'' where ''A''
''i'', ''j'' = ''c''
''i''−''j'', for constants ''c''
1−''n'', ..., ''c''
''n''−1. The
set of ''n'' × ''n'' Toeplitz matrices is a
subspace of the
vector space of ''n'' × ''n'' matrices (under matrix addition and scalar multiplication).
* Two Toeplitz matrices may be added in
''O''(''n'') time (by storing only one value of each diagonal) and
multiplied in ''O''(''n''
2) time.
* Toeplitz matrices are
persymmetric In mathematics, persymmetric matrix may refer to:
# a square matrix which is symmetric with respect to the northeast-to-southwest diagonal; or
# a square matrix such that the values on each line perpendicular to the main diagonal are the same for a ...
. Symmetric Toeplitz matrices are both
centrosymmetric and
bisymmetric.
* Toeplitz matrices are also closely connected with
Fourier series
A Fourier series () is a summation of harmonically related sinusoidal functions, also known as components or harmonics. The result of the summation is a periodic function whose functional form is determined by the choices of cycle length (or ''p ...
, because the
multiplication operator by a
trigonometric polynomial,
compressed to a finite-dimensional space, can be represented by such a matrix. Similarly, one can represent linear convolution as multiplication by a Toeplitz matrix.
* Toeplitz matrices
commute asymptotically
In analytic geometry, an asymptote () of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as one or both of the ''x'' or ''y'' coordinates tends to infinity. In projective geometry and related contexts, ...
. This means they
diagonalize in the same
basis when the row and column dimension tends to infinity.
* A
positive semi-definite ''n'' × ''n'' Toeplitz matrix
of
rank ''r'' < ''n'' can be ''uniquely'' factored as
::
:where
is an ''r'' × ''r''
positive definite In mathematics, positive definiteness is a property of any object to which a bilinear form or a sesquilinear form may be naturally associated, which is positive-definite. See, in particular:
* Positive-definite bilinear form
* Positive-definite f ...
diagonal matrix,