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Take the real inner productThe stationary distribution is strictly positive for an irreducible Markov chain. Detailed balance gives $⟨Pf,g{⟩}_{\pi }=⟨f,Pg{⟩}_{\pi }$, so $P$ is a self-adjoint operator. Choose a real orthonormal eigenbasis $f_1,\dots ,f_m$, where $m=|S|$, $P{f}_j={\lambda }_j{f}_j$, $f_1\equiv 1$, ${\lambda }_1=1$, and $\pi (f_j)=0$ for $j\ge 2$.

For fixed $y$, apply the spectral decomposition to $g_y(z)=1_{\{y\}}(z)/\pi (y)$. Its coefficient against $f_j$ is $f_j(y)$, whereas $(P^t{g}_y)(x)=P^t(x,y)/\pi (y)$. Thus the spectral kernel expansion of a reversible chain isThis holds for all integers $t\ge 0$; at $t=0$ each multiplier is one, including when ${\lambda }_j=0$. Negative eigenvalues are allowed, and retain their signs for odd $t$.