On A Conjecture Of Kippenhahn About The Characteristic Polynomial Of A Pencil Generated By Two Hermitian Matrices. I
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-1982
Published In
Linear Algebra And Its Applications
Abstract
Let A be an n × n complex matrix, and write A = H + iK, where i² = −1 and H and K are Hermitian matrices. The characteristic polynomial of the pencil xH + yK is f(x, y, z) = det(zI − xH − yK). Suppose f(x, y, z) is factored into a product of irreducible polynomials. Kippenhahn [5, p. 212] conjectured that if there is a repeated factor, then there is a unitary matrix U such that U⁻¹AU is block diagonal. We prove that if f(x, y, z) has a linear factor of multiplicity greater than n/3, then H and K have a common eigenvector. This may be viewed as a special case of Kippenhahn’s conjecture.
Recommended Citation
Helene Shapiro.
(1982).
"On A Conjecture Of Kippenhahn About The Characteristic Polynomial Of A Pencil Generated By Two Hermitian Matrices. I".
Linear Algebra And Its Applications.
Volume 43,
201-221.
DOI: 10.1016/0024-3795(82)90254-3
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-math-stat/227