Unique involution in SL2 over an odd field
ID: unique-involution-in-sl2-over-an-odd-field
Over a field of odd characteristic, an involutory matrix has minimal polynomial dividing , so it is diagonalizable with eigenvalues in . In dimension two, determinant one requires either both eigenvalues one or both minus one. Hence the only element of order two in is ; the identity has order one.
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