Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2025 / Paper 1 / 17 / e / Solution

The matrix issoHere $\Vert \mathbf{p}{\Vert }^2=2$, so $P=I-2\hat{\mathbf{p}}{\hat{\mathbf{p}}}^T$ with $\hat{\mathbf{p}}=\mathbf{p}/\sqrt{2}$. This is a Householder transformation: reflection in the plane $x_1+x_2=0$. The component parallel to the normal vector $\mathbf{p}$ changes sign, while the perpendicular component is fixed.