Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2014 / ib / Paper 2 / 10G / ii / Solution

For the determinant of a complex block representation, putThe change-of-basis matrix $T$ is invertible, and direct block multiplication givesThus $T^{-1}MT$ is block diagonal. Using multiplicativity of the determinant and the preceding block formula,The identity follows from this constant change of basis for arbitrary complex $A,B$.