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Homework Statement
Show that if ##A^2## is the zero matrix, then the only eigenvalue of ##A## is 0.
Homework Equations
##Ax=λx##.
The Attempt at a Solution
For ##A^2## to be the zero matrix it looks like: ##A^2 = AA=A[A_1, A_2, A_3, ...] = [a_{11}a_{11}+a_{12}a_{21}+a_{13}a_{31} + ... = 0, a_{11}a_{12}+a_{12}a_{22}+a_{13}a_{32} + ... = 0] = [0, 0, 0, ...]##
(Rinse and repeat for the next row)
The eigenvalue of a matrix is a scalar ##λ## such that ##Ax=λx##.
So here we have ##AA=λA##
It looks to me like ##A## could be an infinite number of matrices, and that ##AA## would only rarely, if ever, equal ##λA## for any nonzero ##λ##. But I'm not sure how to prove it.