Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/prelims/mathematics-i/4/c/iii/solution

Yes. Consider the following matrices:
Each has only row nonzero and has th diagonal entry , so part (c)(ii) proves that it is a diagonalisable matrix. The collection is a spanning set, because it contains every and
Thus it spans the matrix unit basis. A spanning set of vectors in an -dimensional vector space is a basis. Alternatively, in a vanishing linear combination of , each off-diagonal entry first forces its own coefficient to be zero, and then each diagonal entry forces the remaining coefficient to be zero.

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