Positive solutions to operator equations \(AXB=C\) (Q989060)

The authors of the paper under review consider the problem of the existence of a solution for the equation \(AXB = C\) for operators \(A,B\) and \(C\) over Hilbert spaces. Previous works were concerned with solutions of this equation when the ranges of the operators \(A,B\) and \(C\) are closed. In the present work, this restriction is removed. For Hilbert spaces \(H\) and \(K\), let \(\mathcal{B}(H,K)\) denote the space of all bounded linear operators from \(H\) into \(K\). Let \(L\) and \(M\) also be Hilbert spaces. Let \(A \in \mathcal{B}(H,K),~B \in \mathcal{B}(L,M)\) and \(C \in \mathcal{B}(L,K)\). An inner inverse of \(A\) is a (not necessarily bounded) operator \(R:K \rightarrow H\) such that \(ARA=A\). Equation \(AXB = C\) is said to be solvable if there exists \(T \in \mathcal{B}(M,H)\) such that \(ATB =C\). One of the main results of the authors is the following: If one of the subspaces \(R(A),R(B)\) or \(R(C)\) is closed, then \(AXB = C\) is solvable if and only if \(R(C) \subseteq R(A)\) and \(R(C^*) \subseteq R(B^*)\) if and only if \(ARCSB = C\) for all inner inverses \(R,S\) of \(A,B\), respectively. The authors also study the existence of positive solutions of the considered equation.