Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2021 / Paper 1 / 18 / c / Solution

The expression assumes $Y$ is invertible. By the cyclic property of the trace,For a real or complex antisymmetric matrix, $X^T=-X$ forces every diagonal entry to satisfy $x_{ii}=-x_{ii}$, hence $x_{ii}=0$. ThereforeThis also demonstrates invariance of the matrix trace under matrix similarity. Antisymmetry of $Z$ itself is not needed.