Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/ia/paper-1/7b/b/solution

A real skew-symmetric matrix satisfies , so it is a skew-Hermitian matrix. If , then
Taking the complex conjugate and using shows that this scalar is the negative of its conjugate. Hence
so every eigenvalue is purely imaginary or zero.
If and , then
Since , this becomes . Distinct eigenvalues therefore have orthogonal eigenvectors:

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