Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2011/ii/paper-1/24h/iii/solution

Each entry of is a polynomial in the entries of , so their simultaneous zero set is Zariski closed. A matrix in has distinct eigenvalues and is diagonalizable. If , then
Thus . Affine space is irreducible because its coordinate ring is an integral domain; by part (i), its nonempty open subset is dense. The closed set containing it must be all of affine space. This proves the Cayley-Hamilton theorem:

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