Finding Eigenvalues to Prove trace P is Nonnegative Integer

dyanmcc
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I'm having trouble with this: Prove that if P is a linear map from V to V and satisfies P^2 = P, then trace P is a nonnegative integer.

I know if I find the eignevalues , their sum equals trace P. But how do I find them here?

any thoughts?

Thanks
 
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dyanmcc said:
I know if I find the eignevalues , their sum equals trace P. But how do I find them here?
Start with a definition.
 
P satisfies the equation X^2-X=0...
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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