Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2009 / ia / Paper 1 / 7A / a / Solution

Take eigenvectors $v_i,v_j$ for distinct eigenvalues ${\lambda }_i,{\lambda }_j$. Since the eigenvalues are real and $A$ is a Hermitian matrix,Hence $({\lambda }_j-{\lambda }_i)v_i^{†}{v}_j=0$, so eigenvectors for distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal vectors. They are therefore linearly independent; after normalization the given $n$ eigenvectors form an orthonormal basis of ${\mathbb{C}}^n$.