Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/paper-1/18/a/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2019 Paper 1 18 a i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Since , the matrix inverse is . The orthogonal matrix condition also gives , so . Thus is skew-symmetric, forcing and . Its columns must be unit vectors, giving . Therefore the two possibilities areBoth satisfy the original conditions by direct multiplication. They are the two orthogonal skew-symmetric matrices in two dimensions, representing opposite quarter-turn rotations.
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