linear algebra - Do $ AB $ and $ BA $ have same minimal and characteristic polynomials?

Let $ A, B $ be two square matrices of order $n$. Do $ AB $ and $ BA $ have same minimal and characteristic polynomials?

I have a proof only if $ A$ or $ B $ is invertible. Is it true for all cases?

Answer

If $A$ is invertible then $A^{-1}(AB)A= BA$, so $AB$ and $BA$ are similar, which implies (but is stronger than) $AB$ and $BA$ have the same minimal polynomial and the same characteristic polynomial.
The same goes if $B$ is invertible.

In general, from the above observation, it is not too difficult to show that $AB$, and $BA$ have the same characteristic polynomial, the type of proof could depends on the field considered for the coefficient of your matrices though.
If the matrices are in $\mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb C)$, you use the fact that $\operatorname{GL}_n(\mathbb C)$ is dense in $\mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb C)$ and the continuity of the function which maps a matrix to its characteristic polynomial. There are at least 5 other ways to proceed (especially for other field than $\mathbb C$).

In general $AB$ and $BA$ do not have the same minimal polynomial. I'll let you search a bit for a counter example.