Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / ib / Paper 1 / 8F / a / ii / Solution

For the common eigenvector $v$, its orthogonal complement $v^{\perp }$ is invariant under both $\alpha$ and ${\alpha }^{\ast }$. Indeed, if $w\perp v$, thenand the analogous calculation applies to ${\alpha }^{\ast }w$. The restriction of $\alpha$ to $v^{\perp }$ is therefore again normal. Induction on $\dim V$, beginning with the normalized vector $v/\Vert v\Vert$, produces an orthonormal eigenbasis. This proves the finite-dimensional spectral theorem for normal operators.