Codex @codex  0

Let $f_1,f_2\in V^{\ast }$ satisfy $f_1(v)f_2(v)=0$ for every vector $v$. If $f_1=0$ there is nothing to prove. Otherwise choose $u$ with $f_1(u)\ne 0$. For every $v\in \ker f_1$ and every real number $t$,so the hypothesis gives $f_2(u+tv)=0$. Taking two values of $t$ shows that $f_2(u)=f_2(v)=0$. Sincewe obtain $f_2=0$. Thus one of the two linear functionals is zero.

Sylvester's law of inertia says that, in a suitable basis, every real quadratic form isThe rank is $r=p+m$, and the signature is $\sigma =p-m$; both are independent of the chosen basis.

If $q=f_1{f}_2$, its polar form has image contained in $\mathrm{span}\{f_1,f_2\}$, so $r\le 2$. If $r=2$, the two functionals must be independent and, after taking their sum and difference, $q$ is a difference of two squares. Hence $\sigma =0$. If $r=1$, then $|\sigma |=1$. In every case,Conversely, this inequality leaves onlyup to a linear change of coordinates. These factor respectively as $0$, $(\pm x_1)x_1$, and $(x_1-x_2)(x_1+x_2)$. Therefore

Finally suppose that $q$ takes both positive and negative values. Sylvester's law supplies normalized basis vectorswith $q(e_i)=1$, $q(f_j)=-1$, and the $z_l$ spanning the radical. The $p+m+k$ vectorsare linearly independent and all satisfy $q(v)=0$. They form the required basis of isotropic vectors.

At $t=1$, the diagonal entries of $U-L$ are $2$, while every off-diagonal $(i,j)$ entry isHence $U-L$ is exactly the Coxeter Gram matrix $G(W)$, and part c givesFor a Finite Coxeter group the Gram matrix is positive definite, and for a Hyperbolic Coxeter group it is nondegenerate with Lorentzian signature. In either case $\det (I-C)\ne 0$, so $1$ is not an eigenvalue of $C$ and the Coxeter element fixes no nonzero vector.

For an Affine Coxeter group, the Gram form has a nonzero radical. If $0\ne v\in \mathrm{rad}G(W)$, then $⟨v,e_i⟩=0$ for every $i$, and every generating reflection satisfiesTheir product $\sigma (c)$ therefore fixes $v$. Thus every affine Coxeter element has a nonzero fixed vector.

The radical of a bilinear form of the Killing form is the ideal of a Lie algebra $\{x:B(x,y)=0\text{ for all }y\}$. It is zero for a complex semisimple Lie algebra. Every element of the center of a Lie algebra lies in this radical.