spectral theorem

In mathematics, particularly linear algebra and functional analysis, the spectral theorem is any of a number of results about linear operators or matrices. In broad terms, the spectral theorem provides conditions under which an operator or a matrix can be diagonalized (that is, represented as a diagonal matrix in some basis). Intuitively, diagonal matrices are computationally quite manageable, so it is of interest to see whether an arbitrary matrix can be diagonalized. The concept of diagonalization is relatively straightforward for operators on finite-dimensional vector spaces but requires some modification for operators on infinite-dimensional spaces. In general, the spectral theorem identifies a class of linear operators that can be modeled by multiplication operators, which are as simple as one can hope to find. In more abstract language, the spectral theorem is a statement about commutative C*-algebras. See also spectral theory for a historical perspective.