If , the operator is invertible on . Indeed, there it equals
whose inverse is the finite geometric series
Now use induction on . If , apply . The term vanishes, while every transformed vector
is nonzero by the invertibility just proved and still lies in . The induction hypothesis rules out the resulting relation. Allowing scalar coefficients, and omitting zero terms, gives the same argument. Hence the generalized eigenspaces for distinct eigenvalues form a direct sum, so are linearly independent.