Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / ib / Paper 1 / 1F / b / Solution

Write $J_r(\lambda )$ for a size-$r$ Jordan block. The characteristic polynomial fixes the total dimensions at $2$ and $-7$, while the minimal polynomial fixes the largest Jordan block at each eigenvalue. Consequently, the blocks for $2$ have total size four, largest size two, and at least one size-two block. The blocks for $-7$ both have size one. The complete list, up to similarity, isThese Jordan normal forms are inequivalent because their $2$-eigenspaces have different dimensions, two and three.