Pairs of mutually annihilating operators

Pairs (A,B) of mutually annihilating operators AB=BA=0 on a finite dimensional vector space over an algebraically closed field were classified by Gelfand and Ponomarev [Russian Math. Surveys 23 (1968) 1–58] by method of linear relations. The classification of (A,B) over any field was derived by Nazarova, Roiter, Sergeichuk, and Bondarenko [J. Soviet Math. 3 (1975) 636–654] from the classification of finitely generated modules over a dyad of two local Dedekind rings. We give canonical matrices of (A,B) over any field in an explicit form and our proof is constructive: the matrices of (A,B) are sequentially reduced to their canonical form by similarity transformations (A,B)↦(S-1AS,S-1BS).