On the geometry of numerical ranges in spaces with an indefinite inner product (Q1772718): Difference between revisions

Geometric properties of the numerical ranges of operators on an indefinite inner product space are investigated. For a Hermitian matrix \(H\) and \(A\in M_n\) consider \( V_H(A)=\{\frac {x^*Ax}{x^*Hx} : x\in {\mathbb C}^n,\;x^*Hx\neq 0\}, \) and the \textit{\(H\)-numerical range} of \(A\) is denoted and defined as \(W_H(A)=V_H(HA)\). In the paper \(W_J(A)\) is described for \(A\) a \(J\)-normal matrix and \(A\) a \(J\)-unitary matrix with simple eigenvalues, answering affirmatively questions posed by \textit{C.-K.~Li, N.-K. Tsing} and \textit{F.Uhlig} [Electron. J. Linear Algebra 1, 1--17 (1996; Zbl 0851.15018)]. It is also proved that if \(A\) is a \(J\)-normal matrix and \(JH_1\) has simple eigenvalues, then \({\mathcal G}^+_J(A)\) is a polyhedron, proving, in a particular case, a~conjecture formulated by \textit{V.~Bolotnikov} et al. [Electron. J. Linear Algebra 9, 67--92 (2002; Zbl 1003.15026)]; here \({\mathcal G}^\pm _J(A) =\{(x^*\text{Re}(HA)x\), \(x^*\text{Im}(HA)x\), \(x^*A^*HAx): x\in {\mathbb C}^n\), \(x^*Hx=\pm 1\}\). Further, a formula for the curvature of \(W_J(A)\) at a boundary point is obtained, and the connection between the curvature of the boundary of \(W_J(A)\) at \(\lambda_{\max} (H_1)\) and the local \(J\)-generalized Levinger curve at \(1/2\) is investigated. These results generalize results of Fiedler on the classical numerical range.