Linear mappings which are rank-k nonincreasing, II

We prove the following result. Let F be an infinite field of characteristic other than two. Let k be a positive integer. Let S_n(F) denote the space of all n × n symmetric matrices with entries in F, and let T:S_n(F)→S_n(F) be a linear operator. Suppose that T is rank-k nonincreasing and its image contains a matrix with rank higher than K. Then, there exist λεF and PεF^n,n such that T(A)=λPAP^t for all AεS_n(F). λ can be chosen to be 1 if F is algebraically closed and ±1 if F=R, the real field.     

Large spaces of symmetric matrices of bounded rank are decomposable

Let k and n be positive integers such that k≤n. Let S_n(F) denote the space of all n×n symmetric matrices over the field F with char F≠2. A subspace L of S_n(F) is said to be a k-subspace if rank A≤k for every AεL.

Now suppose that k is even, and write k=2r. We say a k∥-subspace of S_n(F) is decomposable if there exists in Fⁿ a subspace W of dimension n-r such that x^tAx=0 for every xεWAεL.

We show here, under some mild assumptions on kn and F, that every k∥-subspace of S_n(F) of sufficiently large dimension must be decomposable. This is an analogue of a result obtained by Atkinson and Lloyd for corresponding subspaces of F^m,n.     

Multiplicative properties of generalized matrix functions

We consider scalar-valued matrix functions for n×n matrices A=(a_ij) defined by Where G is a subgroup of S_n the group of permutations on n letters, and χ is a linear character of G. Two such functions are the permanent and the determinant. A function (1) is multiplicative on a semigroup S of n×n matrices if d(AB)=d(A)d(B) AB∈S.

With mild restrictions on the underlying scalar ring we show that every element of a semigroup containing the diagonal matrices on which (1) is multiplicative can have at most one nonzero diagonal(i.e., diagonal with all nonzero entries)and conversely, provided that χ is the principal character(χ≡1).     

The minimal polynomial of a matrix

Let Rbe a finite dimensional central simple algebra over a field FA be any n× n matrix over R. By using the method of matrix representation, this paper obtains the structure formula of the minimal polynomial q_A(λ) of A over F. By using q_A(λ), this paper discusses the structure of right (left) eigenvalues set of A, and obtains the necessary and sufficient condition that a matrix over a finite dimensional central division algebra is similar to a diagonal matrix.     

Flat portions on the boundary of the numerical ranges of certain Toeplitz matrices

We give criterions for a flat portion to exist on the boundary of the numerical range of a matrix. A special type of Teoplitz matrices with flat portions on the boundary of its numerical range are constructed. We show that there exist 2 × 2 nilpotent matrices A₁,A₂, an n  × n nilpotent Toeplitz matrix N_n, and an n  × n cyclic permutation matrix S_n(s) such that the numbers of flat portions on the boundaries of W(A₁⊕N_n) and W(A₂⊕S_n(s)) are, respectively, 2(n - 2) and 2n.     

Extendible elements of the alternating groups

An element σ of A_n, the Alternating group of degree n, is extendible in S_n, the Symmetric group of degree n, if there exists a subgroup H of S_n but not A_n whose intersection with A_n is the cyclic group generated by σ. A simple number-theoretic criterion, in terms of the cycle-decomposition, for an element of A_n to be extendible in S_n is given here.     

Inertially arbitrary patterns

An n×n sign pattern matrix A is an inertially arbitrary pattern (IAP) if each non-negative triple (rst) with r+s+t=n is the inertia of a matrix with sign pattern A. This paper considers the n×n(n≥2) skew-symmetric sign pattern S_n with each upper off-diagonal entry positive, the (1,1) entry negative, the (nn) entry positive, and every other diagonal entry zero. We prove that S_n is an IAP.     

A result about determinantal divisors

Let Rbe a principal ideal ringR_n the ring of n× nmatrices over R, and d_k(A) the kth determinantal divisor of Afor 1 ≤ k≤ n, where Ais any element of R_n, It is shown that if A,BεR_n, det(A) det(B:) ≠ 0, then d_k(AB) ≡ 0 mod d_k(A) d_k(B). If in addition (det(A), det(B)) = 1, then it is also shown that d_k(AB) = d_k(A) d_k(B). This provides a new proof of the multiplicativity of the Smith normal form for matrices with relatively prime determinants.     

Equality of higher numerical ranges of matrices and a conjecture of Kippenhahn on Hermitian pencils

Let M_n be the algebra of all n × n complex matrices. For 1 k n, the kth numerical range of A M_n is defined by W_k(A) = (1/k)∑_j^k=1x_j^*Ax_j : x₁, …, x_k is an orthonormal set in ⁿ]. It is known that tr A/n = W_n(A) W_n−1(A) W₁(A). We study the condition on A under which W_m(A) = W_k(A) for some given 1 m < k n. It turns out that this study is closely related to a conjecture of Kippenhahn on Hermitian pencils. A new class of counterexamples to the conjecture is constructed, based on the theory of the numerical range.     

Nonchordal positive semidefinite stochastic matrices

Let K_nbe the convex set of n×npositive semidefinite doubly stochastic matrices. If Aε k_n, the graph of A,G(A), is the graph on n vertices with (i,j) an edge if a_ij ≠ 0i≠ j. We are concerned with the extreme points in K_n. In many cases, the rank of Aand G(A) are enough to determine whether A is extreme in K_n. This is true, in particular, if G(A)is a special kind of nonchordal graph, i.e., if no two cycles in G(A)have a common edge.     

Polynomials in a matrix

Let A be a matrixp(x) a polynomial. Put B=p(A). It is shown that necessary and sufficient conditions for A to be a polynomial in B are (i) if λ is any eigenvalue of A, and if some elementary divisor of A corresponding to λ is nonlinear, thenp^'(λ)≠0;and (ii) if λ,μ are distinct eigenvalues of A, then p(λ)p(μ) are also distinct. Here all computations are over some algebraically closed field.     

On a conjecture of C. Johnson

Given a pair of n×n matricesA and B, one may form a polynomial P(A,B,λ) which generalizes the characteristic polynomial of BP(B,λ). In particular, when A=I (identity), P(A, B,λ) = P(B,λ), the characteristic polynomial of B. C. Johnson has conjectured [1] (among other things) that when A and B are hermitian and A is positive definite, then P(A,B,λ) has real roots. The case n=2 can be done by hand. In this paper we verify the conjecture for n=3.     

Additive Maps Preserving Moore-Penrose Inverses of Matrices on Symmetric Matrix Spaces

Suppose F is a field of characteristic not 2. Let M_nF and S_nF be the n × n full matrix space and symmetric matrix space over F, respectively. All additive maps from S_nF to S_nF (respectively, M_nF) preserving Moore-Penrose inverses of matrices are characterized. We first characterize all additive Moore-Penrose inverse preserving maps from S_nF to M_nF, and thereby, all additive Moore-Penrose inverse preserving maps from S_nF to itself are characterized by restricting the range of these additive maps into the symmetric matrix space.     

Linear operators preserving unitarily invariant norms of matrices

Let F_{m × n} be the set of all m × n matrices over the field F = C or R Denote by U_n(F) the group of all n × n unitary or orthogonal matrices according as F = C or F-R. A norm N() on Fm ×n, is unitarily invariant if N(UAV) = N(A): for all A ∈ F _m×n U ∈ U_m(F). and V ∈ U_n(F). We characterize those linear operators TF_{m × n} → F_{m × n}which satisfy N (T(A)) = N(A)for all A ∈ F_{m × n}

for a given unitarily invariant norm N(). It is shown that the problem is equivalent to characterizing those operators which preserve certain subsets in F_{m × n} To develop the theory we prove some results concerning unitary operators on F_{m × n} which are of independent interest.     

The robertson-taussky inequality revisited

Let a positive definite Hermitian matrix HεMⁿ(C) be decomposed as H=A + iB, with A, B ε M_nm(R). We give two new proofs of the inequality det H ≤ det A (with equality iff B = 0. each of which vields something futher. One exhibits majorization between the eigenvalues of A and H the other allows proof of the permanental analog per H≥per A.     

Large eigenvalues of the laplacian

Let G be a simple graph on n vertices and let L=L(G) be the Laplacian matrix of G corresponding to some ordering of the vertices. It is known that λ≤n for any eigenvalue λ of L. In this note we characterize when n is an eigenvalue of L with multiplicity m.     

An Extension of an Inequality Involving Symmetric Products with an Application to Permanents

Let A be an nk × nk positive semi-definite symmetric matrix partitioned into blocks A^ij each of which is an n × n matrix. In [2] Mine states a conjecture of Marcus that per(A) ≥ per(G) where G is the k × k matrix [per(A^ij)]. In this paper we prove a weaker inequality namely that per(A) ≥ (k!)^-1per(G).     

Irreducible matrices with reducible principal submatrices

Let A be a (0, 1)-matrix of order n 3 and let s_i⁰(A), i = 1, …, n, be the number of the off diagonal 0's in row and column i of A. We prove that if A is irreducible, and if all its principal submatrices of order (n − 1) are reducible, then s_i⁰(A) n − 1; i = 1, …, n. This establishes the validity of a conjecture by B. Schwarz concerning strongly connected graphs and their primal subgraphs.     

The location of zeros of polynomials

Let A be a complex n×n matrix. p an equilibrated vectonal norm and x(A) the spectrial abscissa of A. Then, it is known [5] x(A)≤x(γ_p(A)) where γp is the matricial logarithmic derivative induced by p. We will make use of the above inequality to obtain regions in the plane which contain the zeros of complex polynomials.     

On isometries of matrix spaces

Let A_kbe the group of isometries of the space of n-by-n matrices over reals (resp. complexes, quaternions) with respect to the Ky Fan k-norm (see the Introduction for the definitions). Let Γ⁰ be the group of transformations of this space consisting of all products of left and right multiplications by the elements of SO(n)(resp. U(n), Sp(n)). It is shown that, except for three particular casesA_k coincides with the normalizer of Γ in Δ group of isometries of the above matrix space with respect to the standard inner product. We also give an alternative treatment of the case D = Rn = 4k = 2 which was studied in detail by Johnson, Laffey, and Li [4].