The Schur-Horn theorem for operators with three point spectrum (Q2436870): Difference between revisions

The celebrated Schur-Horn theorem can be seen, from an operator algebras angle, as a characterization of the possible diagonals of a selfadjoint operator acting on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. This point of view was championed by \textit{W. Arveson} and \textit{R. V. Kadison} in [Contemp. Math. 414, 247--263 (2006; Zbl 1113.46064)]. In his influential paper [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99, No. 8, 5217--5222 (2002; Zbl 1013.46050)], \textit{R. V. Kadison} found an unexpected characterization of the diagonals of a projection acting on an infinite-dimensional separable Hilbert space. The unexpected part came in the form of an integrality trace condition. Up to a scalar multiple and translation, projections are precisely those selfadjoint operators with two-point spectrum. The paper under review addresses the characterization of the diagonals of selfadjoint operators with three-point spectrum. A detailed classification is given in terms of all possible multiplicities of each of the three eigenvalues. The paper ends with a very interesting section dedicated to the application of the author's results to concrete examples.