Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2008 / ia / Paper 1 / 2A / Solution

Taking the conjugate transpose of $U=A+iB$ and using that both parts are Hermitian matrices gives $U^{†}=A-iB$. Addition and subtraction recover the Hermitian parts of a unitary matrix:These depend only on $U$, so any such decomposition has the same $A,B$ and is unique. Conversely the displayed expressions are Hermitian matrices and sum to $U$ in the form $A+iB$, establishing existence as well as uniqueness. Their commutation and quadratic relation are proved in the two labelled parts.