Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/ia/paper-3/8b/b/solution

The characteristic polynomial has only the eigenvalue . If is diagonalizable, there is an invertible matrix and a diagonal matrix with . Every diagonal entry of is an eigenvalue, hence equals . Thus and . Conversely, is already diagonal in every basis. Hence
This argument uses the existence of an eigenvector basis rather than merely the repeated root of the polynomial; repeated eigenvalues alone do not imply diagonalizability.

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