Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/ia/paper-1/2d/solution

The two diagonal blocks allow the characteristic polynomial to factor immediately:
Thus the characteristic equation is
Solving the two block eigenvalue equations gives the following nonzero eigenvectors and corresponding eigenvalues:
For example, the lower block maps to , and maps to zero. The four eigenvalues are distinct. Alternatively, the determinant of the matrix with columns is . Hence they form a basis and span the complex vector space . Their nonzero scalar multiples are all the corresponding eigenvectors.
For any eigenvector with eigenvalue , its one-dimensional vector subspace satisfies . If , every has preimage , so the restricted linear map is onto that same subspace. Consequently
The last line is the kernel of a linear map direction: multiplication by collapses that line to the zero-dimensional subspace.

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