Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2001 / Paper 1 / 5 / Solution

Commuting inverse. Assume $I-M$ is invertible, as required by the displayed inverse. Multiplication givesMultiply on both sides by $(I-M{)}^{-1}$ to obtainMore generally, a matrix commuting with an invertible matrix also commutes with its inverse.

Orthogonality. For a real skew-symmetric matrix $A$, $x^{T}Ax=0$. If $(I-A)x=0$ for a real vector $x$, multiply by $x^T$ to obtain $\Vert x{\Vert }^2=0$. Thus $I-A$ is invertible; the same argument applies to $I+A$. For the Cayley transform of a real skew-symmetric matrix,The factors commute by the first result, soTherefore $\boxed{N\text{ is an orthogonal matrix}.}$

Eigenvector mapping. If $Av=av$, then $(I-A{)}^{-1}v=(1-a{)}^{-1}v$. ConsequentlyThe denominator cannot vanish. In fact the eigenvalues of a real skew-symmetric matrix are purely imaginary: $v^{†}Av$ is the negative of its complex conjugate, so $a=-\overline{a}$. For $a=i\beta$ the corresponding eigenvalue of $N$ is $(1+i\beta )/(1-i\beta )=e^{2i\arctan \beta }$, consistent with orthogonality.

Spectrum in three dimensions. Let $Q$ be any real three-by-three orthogonal matrix. For a complex eigenvector $v$, $\Vert Qv\Vert =\Vert v\Vert$ implies $|\lambda |=1$. A real cubic characteristic polynomial has a real root, necessarily $+1$ or $-1$. Any nonreal roots form a complex-conjugate pair of unit modulus. If all three roots are real, two of the three signs agree and can be grouped as a pair with angle zero or $\pi$. Thus in every case the eigenvalues can be writtenTheir product is $\epsilon =\det Q$.

Determinant and fixed axis for the Cayley transform. Since $A^T=-A$,so $\boxed{\det N=1}$. This determinant argument works in every dimension. In dimension three the preceding spectrum result then guarantees an eigenvector with $Nx=x$. Set $z=(I-A{)}^{-1}x$. The fixed-vector equation says $(I+A)z=(I-A)z$, so $Az=0$ and $x=(I-A)z=z$. HenceThis is the axis fixed by the three-dimensional rotation. Equivalently, a real odd-dimensional skew-symmetric matrix has zero determinant, because $\det A=\det A^T=\det (-A)=-\det A$.