Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2001 / iii / Paper 1 / 2 / b / ii / Solution

Put $U=\varphi (A(t))$. Applying the group homomorphism $\varphi$ to the identity just proved shows that $U$ is conjugate to $U^{m^2}$ for every positive integer $m$. Thus the multiset of its eigenvalues is unchanged by taking their $m^2$th powers.

Take $m=2$. The fourth-power operation permutes this finite multiset. For each eigenvalue $z$, iterating its permutation cycle gives $z^{4^r}=z$ for some positive integer $r$. Since $U$ is unitary, $z\ne 0$, so $z^{4^r-1}=1$: every eigenvalue is a root of unity. Choose a positive integer $d$ divisible by all their orders. Every eigenvalue of $U^{d^2}$ is then one. Because its eigenvalue multiset is also the original one, we obtainThis is square-power rigidity of a finite nonzero spectrum. Finiteness of the dimension is essential to the permutation-cycle argument.