Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2026/ib/paper-2/8e/a/solution

If and , then is divisible by both. Also , so ; hence . A single size-two nilpotent Jordan block with its invariant eigenline makes the lcm too small; a diagonal operator with the same eigenvalue on and makes the product too large. Square-free implies both induced minimal polynomials square-free, so diagonalizability descends. The nilpotent-block example disproves the converse.

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