Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/paper-1/5/iv/solution

Multiplying the defining equation on the right by gives . Consequently the only possible answer is
The factors commute because they are rational functions of . Its conjugate transpose, using the unitarity , is
Thus is Skew-Hermitian. Moreover and , so substitution recovers and establishes existence as well as uniqueness. The unitary matrix is a counterexample to invertibility of ; more generally the obstruction is an eigenvalue .

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