Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/ia/paper-3/1d/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ia Paper 3 1D i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
True. All three eigenvalues are distinct in , so their nonzero eigenvectors are linearly independent. Here is a direct proof of that assertion. If , apply to obtainDistinctness makes both scalar factors nonzero, hence . Applying the analogous products gives . The three eigenvectors therefore form a basis of . Taking them as the columns of givesThis proves that every such matrix is a diagonalizable matrix over , rather than merely showing it for the example.
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