Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/paper-1/18/b/solution

The matrix is symmetric under interchange of the first and third coordinates. For an antisymmetric vector , direct multiplication gives . For a symmetric vector , the linear transformation reduces to
The reduced characteristic polynomial is . At , its equations give ; at , they give . Normalizing the three eigenvectors gives
Their norms are one. Their unnormalized pairwise dot products are , and , proving mutual orthogonality. The eigenvalues sum to six and have product zero, agreeing with the matrix trace and determinant from part (a).

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