Sorry for not explaning myself... I am new to such forums.
On the topic now... We have not studied roots in matrices, we have done invere matrix, determinant of a matrix, we have also used matrices to solve linear equations, ect... But as it is a bonus question it is prety impossible for us...
However here is what i have done...
The matrices in question are :
\(\displaystyle \begin{bmatrix}2 & -2 \\ 1/2 & 0\end{bmatrix}\)
\(\displaystyle \begin{bmatrix}-2 & 2 \\ -1/2 & 0\end{bmatrix}\)
and
\(\displaystyle \begin{bmatrix}3 & -4 \\ 1 & -1\end{bmatrix}\)
I have to show that the first two are the ONLY sqare roots of the third one.
I said that A^2=B
A=\(\displaystyle \begin{bmatrix}a & b \\ c & d\end{bmatrix}\) and B=\(\displaystyle \begin{bmatrix}3 & -4 \\ 1 & -1\end{bmatrix}\).
Then I arrived to 4 eq.
a
2+bc=3
ac+cd=1
ba+bd=-4
bc+d
2=-1
And I am now stuck on thys system, because i have never done someting like that... However i have solved it with WolframAlpha and I found that the matrices in question are the only possible answers to my equasions.
But in my work I have to show my resoning and solve the equations by myself... And now I am realy stuck....