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

There is no such universal constant. For a real parameter $M$, consider the real matrixIts characteristic polynomial is $(t-1{)}^2$, so both eigenvalues are real and ${\lambda }_{\max }(B_M)=1$. ButFor any proposed finite $C$, choosing $M>2(C-1)$ violates the proposed bound. This is an explicit illustration that nonnormal eigenvalues do not bound a quadratic quotient.