ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Spectrum of a matrix

Imagine a big box of crayons. Each crayon has a different color. We can arrange these crayons in a line from left to right, with the lightest color on the left and the darkest color on the right.

Now let's think about a matrix. A matrix is like a big grid of numbers. Instead of crayons, we have numbers. And just like the crayons, these numbers can be arranged in a certain way. This arrangement is called the spectrum of the matrix.

The spectrum of a matrix is like a line of colors, but instead of colors, we have numbers. These numbers tell us something about the matrix. They can give us information about how the matrix behaves when we do certain operations on it.

For example, if we have a matrix and we want to multiply it by another matrix, the spectrum can tell us how the answer will be affected. It can tell us if the answer will be bigger or smaller than the original matrix, or if it will change in some other way.

In summary, the spectrum of a matrix is like a line of colors, but instead of colors, we have numbers. These numbers can give us information about how the matrix behaves when we do certain operations on it.