Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2007 / ia / Paper 3 / 7D / iii / Solution

UseIt has independent complex eigenvectors $(1,-i{)}^T$ and $(1,i{)}^T$, with eigenvalues $i$ and $-i$. Taking these as columns gives an invertible complex matrix $P$ with $P^{-1}DP=\mathrm{diag}(i,-i)$, so $D$ is a diagonalizable matrix over $\mathbb{C}$. It cannot be diagonalized over $\mathbb{R}$, since a real diagonal matrix would have real eigenvalues, whereas similarity preserves the characteristic polynomial.