Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/iii/paper-65/2/b/solution

The characteristic polynomial of a real matrix is . Thus vanishes exactly when , and vanishes exactly when . These are the required eigenvalue conditions.
For and , the discriminant is negative, and
Their moduli equal one. Taking with gives . The strict trace inequalities exclude and hence exclude the repeated real multipliers .

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