Let $A$ and $B$ be real matrices of the form $\left[\begin{array}{ll}\alpha & 0 \\ 0 &…

Let $A$ and $B$ be real matrices of the form $\left[\begin{array}{ll}\alpha & 0 \\ 0 & \beta\end{array}\right]$ and $\left[\begin{array}{ll}0 & \gamma \\ \delta & 0\end{array}\right]$, respectively. Statement 1: $A B-B A$ is always an invertible matrix. Statement $2: A B-B A$ is never an identity matrix.
  1. Statement 1 is true, Statement 2 is false.
  2. Statement 1 is false, Statement 2 is true.
  3. Statement 1 is true, Statement 2 is true; Statement 2 is a correct explanation of Statement 1 .
  4. Statement 1 is true, Statement 2 is true, Statement 2 is not a correct explanation of Statement 1.

Solution

Let $A$ and $B$ be real matrices such that $A=\left[\begin{array}{ll}\alpha & 0 \\ 0 & \beta\end{array}\right]$ and $B=\left[\begin{array}{ll}0 & \gamma \\ \delta & 0\end{array}\right]$ Now, $A B=\left[\begin{array}{cc}0 & \alpha \gamma \\ \beta \delta & 0\end{array}\right]$ and $B A=\left[\begin{array}{cc}0 & \gamma \beta \\ \delta \alpha & 0\end{array}\right]$ Statement-1: $ \begin{aligned} & \left.A B-B A=\left[\begin{array}{cc} 0 & \gamma(\alpha-\beta \\ \delta(\beta-\alpha) & 0 \end{array}\right]\right) \\ & |A B-B A|=\left(\alpha-\beta^2\right\rangle \delta \neq 0 \end{aligned} $ $\therefore A B-B A$ is always an invertible matrix. Hence, statement $-1$ is true. But $A B-B A$ can be identity matrix if $\gamma=-\delta$ or $\delta=-\gamma$ So, statement $-2$ is false

Asked in: JEE Main 2012 (12 May Online)

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