Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2024 / ia / Paper 3 / 2D / i / Solution

The special orthogonal group isIfits first column is a unit vector, say $(\cos \theta ,\sin \theta {)}^T$. The second column is the unique unit vector perpendicular to it that gives positive determinant, namely $(-\sin \theta ,\cos \theta {)}^T$. Thusso $A$ is rotation through $\theta$ about the origin.

For $A\in SO(3)$, its real characteristic polynomial of odd degree has a real eigenvalue. Every eigenvalue of an orthogonal matrix has modulus one, so every real eigenvalue is $\pm 1$. Nonreal eigenvalues occur in conjugate pairs whose product is one, while $\det A=1$; if all eigenvalues are real, their product likewise forces at least one to be $+1$. Hence $A$ fixes a nonzero vector $u$. The plane $u^{\perp }$ is $A$-invariant, and the restriction to it is an orientation-preserving orthogonal map. By the $SO(2)$ result it is a planar rotation. Therefore $A$ is a rotation about the axis $\mathbb{R}u$.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.