Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2025 / Paper 1 / 5 / b / v / Solution

For the unitary matrix $C$, $C^{-1}=C^{†}$. Therefore $D=C^{-1}AC$ is a Hermitian matrix:Every positive integer power remains a Hermitian matrix, since $(D^p{)}^{†}=(D^{†}{)}^p=D^p$. Its eigenvalues are real by the finite-dimensional spectral theorem. Equivalently, matrix similarity giveswhose eigenvalues are $\boxed{{\lambda }_j^p\in \mathbb{R}}$, where the ${\lambda }_j$ are the real eigenvalues of $A$.