Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2022 / Digital systems, linear algebra, introduction to formal proof resit / 6 / c / ii

Write $B=QD{Q}^{-1}$ with $D$ a diagonal matrix. Then $0=B^k=Q{D}^k{Q}^{-1}$, so each diagonal entry ${\lambda }_i$ satisfies ${\lambda }_i^k=0$ and therefore ${\lambda }_i=0$. Hence $D=0$ and $B=0$. Conversely the zero matrix is diagonalizable and nilpotent. This proves the existing result that a diagonalizable nilpotent matrix is zero; nilpotence alone does not imply a zero matrix, because nonzero nilpotent Jordan blocks exist.