Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2018/5/b/solution

Let with . A vanishing commutator gives , so belongs to the eigenspace . This is eigenspace invariance for commuting linear maps. A nondegenerate eigenvalue has a one-dimensional eigenspace, so for a scalar ; is allowed. Therefore is also an eigenvector of . Without the simple-eigenvalue condition, can mix vectors inside a larger eigenspace, and an arbitrarily chosen eigenvector of need not be an eigenvector of .

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