Solution
= Solution
Positive definiteness of $K$ makes the vectors $\phi(x_1),\ldots,\phi(x_n)$ linearly independent. In particular $\Sigma\ne0$, so the maximum Rayleigh quotient is positive and $\lambda>0$. The eigenvector equation gives
$$
v=\frac1{n\lambda}\sum_{i=1}^n
\langle\phi(x_i),v\rangle\phi(x_i),
$$
which lies in their span. Hence $v=\sum_i\alpha_i\phi(x_i)$ for some $\alpha\in\mathbb R^n$.
Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.