Paper 3, Section II, F

Linear Algebra
Part IB, 2010

Suppose that VV is a finite-dimensional vector space over C\mathbb{C}, and that α:VV\alpha: V \rightarrow V is a C\mathbb{C}-linear map such that αn=1\alpha^{n}=1 for some n>1n>1. Show that if V1V_{1} is a subspace of VV such that α(V1)V1\alpha\left(V_{1}\right) \subset V_{1}, then there is a subspace V2V_{2} of VV such that V=V1V2V=V_{1} \oplus V_{2} and α(V2)V2\alpha\left(V_{2}\right) \subset V_{2}.

[Hint: Show, for example by picking bases, that there is a linear map π:VV1\pi: V \rightarrow V_{1} with π(x)=x\pi(x)=x for all xV1x \in V_{1}. Then consider ρ:VV1\rho: V \rightarrow V_{1} with ρ(y)=1ni=0n1αiπαi(y).]\left.\rho(y)=\frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=0}^{n-1} \alpha^{i} \pi \alpha^{-i}(y) .\right]