Jordan canonical form theorem
Over a splitting field, every linear operator is similar to a direct sum of Jordan blocks.
Jordan canonical form theorem: Let be a linear operator on a finite-dimensional vector space over an algebraically closed field (more generally, assume the characteristic polynomial splits over ). Then there exists a basis of in which the matrix of is block diagonal with blocks of the form , where ranges over the eigenvalues of . Each Jordan block corresponds to a chain of generalized eigenvectors, and the multiset of block sizes for each is uniquely determined by up to permutation.
In this form, is diagonalizable exactly when all Jordan blocks have size . The sizes of Jordan blocks are governed by the primary decomposition of the -module associated to , and can be derived from the minimal polynomial; one route is through the rational canonical form theorem