Suppose $A$ is a $n\times n$ real matrix and $det(A)<0$ .
Does there exixt a positive number $\delta$ such that $\|Ax\|\geq\delta\|x\|$, for all $x\in\mathbb{R}^n$ ?
Suppose $A$ is a $n\times n$ real matrix and $det(A)<0$ .
Does there exixt a positive number $\delta$ such that $\|Ax\|\geq\delta\|x\|$, for all $x\in\mathbb{R}^n$ ?
The question becomes easier if you square both sides (using nonnegativity) and divide by $x^Tx$ (which is again nonnegative, assuming $x \neq 0$): $$\frac{x^T A^TA x}{x^Tx} \geq \delta^2. $$ By the Rayleigh quotient: $$\frac{x^T A^TA x}{x^Tx} \geq \lambda_{\text{min}}(A^TA). $$ The matrix $A^T A$ ispositive definite as $x^T(A^TA)x = ||Ax||^2 > 0$ if $x \neq 0$. The smallest eigenvalue is therefore strictly positive. So, $\delta = \sqrt{\lambda_{\text{min}}(A^TA)}$ does the trick.