Paper 2, Section II, G

Linear Algebra
Part IB, 2009

Let VV be a finite-dimensional vector space and let T:VVT: V \rightarrow V be an endomorphism of VV. Show that there is a positive integer ll such that V=ker(Tl)im(Tl)V=\operatorname{ker}\left(T^{l}\right) \oplus \operatorname{im}\left(T^{l}\right). Hence, or otherwise, show that if TT has zero determinant there is some non-zero endomorphism SS with TS=0=STT S=0=S T.

Suppose T1T_{1} and T2T_{2} are endomorphisms of VV for which Ti2=Ti,i=1,2T_{i}^{2}=T_{i}, i=1,2. Show that T1T_{1} is similar to T2T_{2} if and only if they have the same rank.