Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/iii/paper-103/4/c/i/solution

Let be the averaging linear map
For a unitary representation of a finite group, is the orthogonal projection onto the invariant subspace , and . Applying this to gives . Since , . The vector is a cyclic vector for a group representation, so its translates span , and every translate also has projection zero. Thus and
This is the cyclic eigenvector obstruction to invariant vectors. Unitarity also gives a direct proof by pairing with an invariant vector and then pairing every translate; the averaging proof makes the role of cyclicity especially transparent.

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