Characteristic Polynomial Calculator

The characteristic polynomial of a square matrix A is a polynomial whose roots are the eigenvalues of the matrix.

The Formula:

It is found by calculating the determinant of the matrix (A - λI), where:

• A is the original matrix.
• λ (lambda) is a variable representing the eigenvalues.
• I is the identity matrix of the same size as A.

The resulting expression, det(A - λI), will be a polynomial in terms of λ. Setting this polynomial to zero gives the characteristic equation, which can be solved to find the eigenvalues.