Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/ib/paper-4/1e/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ib Paper 4 1E Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A Jordan normal form of a complex matrix is a similarity transformation in which is a direct sum of Jordan blocksFor each eigenvalue, the multiset of block sizes is uniquely determined by ; only the order of the blocks is arbitrary. The change-of-basis matrix is generally not unique.
For the given matrix, expansion of the characteristic polynomial givesThe upper-left minor of is , so its rank is and the eigenspace for has dimension . Thus the two occurrences of the eigenvalue belong to a single size- Jordan block. More explicitly, the Jordan chain and the remaining eigenvector can be chosen asConsequently, with , for which , the answer is
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