$A$ is said to be similar to $B$ when there exists an invertible matrix $P$ such that $B = P^{-1}AP$.
My question is, is $P$ unique?
Will there only ever be one possible $P$ that makes this statement true?
$A$ is said to be similar to $B$ when there exists an invertible matrix $P$ such that $B = P^{-1}AP$.
My question is, is $P$ unique?
Will there only ever be one possible $P$ that makes this statement true?
If you find an invertible matrix $C$ which commutes with $A$, i.e. $AC=CA$, then instead of $P$ you can also take $P'=CP$:
\begin{align} P'^{-1}AP' &= (CP)^{-1}A(CP) \\&=P^{-1}C^{-1}ACP\\ &=P^{-1}C^{-1}CAP\\ &=P^{-1}AP=B. \end{align}
As multiples $\lambda I$ of the identity matrix $I$ always commute with $A$, all $\lambda IP=\lambda P$ for any real value $\lambda\not=0$ will do it too.
$A=I$ is similar to $B=I$; take any invertible matrix $P$ and $B=P^{-1}AP$.