The rank of a difference of matrices and associated generalized inverses

Various representations are given to characterize the rank of A-S in terms of rank A+k where A and S are arbitrary complex matrices and k is a function of A and S. It is shown that if S=AMA for some matrix M, and if G is any matrix satisfying A=AGA, then

$\text{rank(A-S) = rankA-nullity (I-SG)}$

. Several alternative forms of this result are established, as are many equivalent conditions to have

$\text{rank(A-S) = rankA-rankS}$

. General forms for the Moore-Penrose inverse of matrices A-S are developed which include as special cases various results by Penrose, Wedin, Hartwig and others.