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mnb96
Jun8-10, 10:25 AM
Hello,
I guess this is a basic question.
Letīs say that If I am given a matrix X it is possible to form a symmetric matrix by computing X+X^{T} .

But how can I form a matrix which is both symmetric and orthogonal? That is:
M=M^{T}=M^{-1}.

marcusl
Jun9-10, 02:28 PM
You have implicitly stated that M is real. In this case I think only the identity matrix matches your requirements.

chingkui
Jun9-10, 03:56 PM
And also diagonal matrix with 1 or -1 at diagonal. Any more?

mnb96
Jun10-10, 03:03 AM
Thanks for the answers.
I just noticed that unfortunately I stated my problem incorrectly.

Starting from a matrix, I wanted to find another matrix which is symmetric (not Hermitian!) and unitary. That is:

M=M^{T}
MM^\dagger=I

Here M^{T} means "transpose", while M^\dagger means "conjugate transpose".