Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford / 2017 / Prelims / Mathematics IV resit / 1 / b

A real square matrix $A$ is an orthogonal matrix whenHere $A^T$ is the transpose and $I$ the identity matrix; equivalently, its columns form an orthonormal basis. If this holds, the squared Euclidean norm obeysso the linear transformation preserves length.

Conversely, suppose $|A\mathbf{v}|=|\mathbf{v}|$ for every vector $\mathbf{v}$. Put $B=A^{T}A-I$, a symmetric matrix. Then ${\mathbf{v}}^{T}B\mathbf{v}=0$ for every vector. Taking $\mathbf{v}={\mathbf{e}}_i$, the standard basis vectors, gives $B_{ii}=0$. Taking $\mathbf{v}={\mathbf{e}}_i+{\mathbf{e}}_j$ for $i\ne j$ gives $2B_{ij}=0$. Thus $B=0$, proving that the linear transformation preserves length if and only if $A$ is an orthogonal matrix.