--- branches/development/src/math/SquareMatrix.hpp	2012/06/12 13:20:28	1753
+++ branches/development/src/math/SquareMatrix.hpp	2012/08/29 18:13:11	1787
@@ -154,7 +154,6 @@ namespace OpenMD {
       return tmp;
     }
 
-
     /** Tests if this matrix is symmetrix. */            
     bool isSymmetric() const {
       for (unsigned int i = 0; i < Dim - 1; i++)
@@ -182,6 +181,19 @@ namespace OpenMD {
 	    return false;
                         
       return true;
+    }
+
+    /** 
+     * Returns a column vector that contains the elements from the
+     * diagonal of m in the order R(0) = m(0,0), R(1) = m(1,1), and so
+     * on.
+     */
+    Vector<Real, Dim> diagonals() const {
+      Vector<Real, Dim> result;
+      for (unsigned int i = 0; i < Dim; i++) {
+        result(i) = this->data_[i][i];
+      }
+      return result;
     }
 
     /** Tests if this matrix is the unit matrix. */