On weak orbits of operators

Let T be a completely nonunitary contraction on a Hilbert space H with r(T)=1. Let an>0, an→0. Then there exists x∈H with |〈Tnx,x〉|?an for all n. We construct a unitary operator without this property. This gives a negative answer to a problem of van Neerven.     

On closures of joint similarity orbits

For an n-tuple T=(T₁,..., T_n) of operators on a Hilbert spacexxHx, the joint similarity orbit of T isxxSx(T)={VTV^–1 =(VT₁V^–1,...,VT_nV^–1): V is invertible onxxHx}. We study the structure of the norm closure ofxxSx, both in the case when T is commutative and when it is not. We first develop a Rota-model for the Taylor spectrum and use it to study n-tuples with totally disconnected Taylor spectrum, in particular quasinilpotent ones. We then consider limits of nilpotent n-tuples, and of normal n-tuples. For noncommuting n-tuples, we present a number of surprising facts relating the closure ofxxSx(T) to the Harte spectrum of T and the lack of commutativity of T. We show that a continuous function which is constant onxxSx(T) for all T must be constant. We conclude the paper with a detailed study of closed similarity orbits.Research partially supported by grants from the National Science Foundation.     

On two-sided interpolation for upper triangular Hilbert-Schmidt operators

Motivated by the theory of nonstationary linear systems a number of problems in the theory of analytic functions have analogues in the setting of upper-triangular operators, where the complex variable is replaced by a diagonal operator. In this paper we focus on the analogue of interpolation in the Hardy space H₂ and study a two-sided Nudelman type interpolation problem in the framework of upper-triangular Hilbert-Schmidt operators.     

A complete unitary similarity invariant for unicellular matrices

We present necessary and sufficient conditions for an n×n complex matrix B to be unitarily similar to a fixed unicellular (i.e., indecomposable by similarity) n×n complex matrix A.     

Positivity Preserving Hadamard Matrix Functions

For every positive real number p that lies between even integers 2(m − 2) and 2(m − 1) we demonstrate a matrix A = [a_ij] of order 2m such that A is positive definite but the matrix with entries |a_ij|^p is not.     

The normed finiteness property of compact contraction operators

We study the joint spectral radius given by a finite set of compact operators on a Hilbert space. It is shown that the normed finiteness property holds in this case, that is, if all the compact operators are contractions and the joint spectral radius is equal to 1 then there exists a finite product that has a spectral radius equal to 1. We prove an additional statement in that the requirement that the joint spectral radius be equal to 1 can be relaxed to the asking that the maximum norm of finite products of a length norm is equal to 1. The length of this product is related to the dimension of the subspace on which the set of operators is norm preserving.     

Generalized hermitian operators

In this paper, the concept of generalized hermitian operators defined on a complex Hilbert space is introduced. It is shown that the spectrums and the Fredholm fields of generalized hermitian operators are both symmetric with respect to the real axis. Some other results on generalized hermitian operators are obtained.     

Weakly compact operators and interpolation

The class of weakly compact operators is, as well as the class of compact operators, a fundamental operator ideal. They were investigated strongly in the last twenty years. In this survey, we have collected and ordered some of this (partly very new) knowledge. We have also included some comments, remarks and examples.     

The spectral picture and the closure of the similarity orbit of strongly irreducible operators

An operator on a complex, separable, infinite dimensional Hilbert space is strongly irreducible if it does not commute with any nontrivial idempotent. This article answers the following questions of D. A. Herrero: (i) Given an operatorT with connected spectrum, can we find a strongly irreducible operatorL such that they have same spectral picture? (ii) When we use a sequence of irreducible operators to approximateT, can the approximation be the “most economic”? i.e., does there exist a strongly irreducible operatorL such thatT ∈S(L) ^? (the closure of the similarity orbit ofL)? It is shown that the answer for the two questions is yes.     

Extensions of normal operators

We prove that every one dimensional extension of a separably acting normal operator has a cyclic commutant, and that every non-algebraic normal operator has a two-dimensional extension which fails to have a cyclic commutant. Contrasting this, we prove that ifT is an extension of a normal operator by an algebraic operator then the weakly closed algebraW(T) has a separating vector.Partially supported by NSF Grant DMS-9107137     

Aluthge transforms of operators

Associated with every operatorT on Hilbert space is its Aluthge transform (defined below). In this note we study various connections betweenT and , including relations between various spectra, numerical ranges, and lattices of invariant subspaces. In particular, we show that if has a nontrivial invariant subspace, then so doesT, and we give various applications of our results.     

The matrix geometric mean of parameterized, weighted arithmetic and harmonic means

We define a new family of matrix means {L_μ(ω;A)}_μ∈R where ω and A vary over all positive probability vectors in R^m and m-tuples of positive definite matrices resp. Each of these means interpolates between the weighted harmonic mean (μ=-∞) and the arithmetic mean of the same weight (μ=∞) with L_μ≤L_ν for μ≤ν. Each has a variational characterization as the unique minimizer of the weighted sum for the symmetrized, parameterized Kullback-Leibler divergence. Furthermore, each can be realized as the common limit of the mean iteration by arithmetic and harmonic means (in the unparameterized case), or, more generally, the arithmetic and resolvent means. Other basic typical properties for a multivariable mean are derived.     

w-hyponormal operators II

A continuation of the study of thew-hyponormal operators is presented. It is shown thatw-hyponormal operators are paranormal. Sufficient conditions which implyw-hyponormal operators are normal are given. The nonzero points of the approximate and joint approximate point spectra are shown to be identical forw-hyponormal operators. The square of an invertiblew-hyponormal operator is shown to bew-hyponormal.     

Factorizations of EP operators

In this paper we characterize EP operators through the existence of different types of factorizations. Our results extend to EP operators existing characterizations for EP matrices and give new characterizations both for EP matrices and EP operators.     

Spectral pictures of Aluthge transforms of operators

In this paper we continue our study, begun in [12], of the relationships between an arbitrary operatorT on Hilbert space and its Aluthge transform . In particular, we show that in most cases the spectral picture ofT coincides with that of , and we obtain some interesting connections betweenT and as a consequence.     

Applications of Hilbert’s projective metric to a class of positive nonlinear operators

The purpose of this paper is to study the eigenvalue problems for a class of positive nonlinear operators. Using projective metric techniques and the contraction mapping principle, we establish existence, uniqueness and continuity results for positive eigensolutions of a particular type of positive nonlinear operator. In addition, we prove the existence of a unique fixed point of the operator with explicit norm-estimates. Applications to nonlinear systems of equations and to matrix equations are considered.     

The limit of the spectral radius of block Toeplitz matrices with nonnegative entries

A bi-infinite sequence ...,t _–2,t _–1,t ₀,t ₁,t ₂,... of nonnegativep×p matrices defines a sequence of block Toeplitz matricesT _n =(t _ik ),n=1,2,...,, wheret _ik =t _k–i ,i,k=1,...,n. Under certain irreducibility assumptions, we show that the limit of the spectral radius ofT _n , asn tends to infinity, is given by inf{()[0,]}, where () is the spectral radius of _jz t _j ^j .Supported by SFB 343 Diskrete Strukturen in der Mathematik, Universität Bielefeld