A lower bound for the minimum eigenvalue of the Hadamard product of matrices (Q1826722)

Let \(A\) and \(B\) be \(M\)-matrices of the same size \(n\times n\). That is, they are invertible, their off-diagonal entries are non-positive, and the inverses have all entries nonnegative. A number of other equivalent characterizations indicates the significance of this class. For instance, it is remarkable that the Hadamard (entrywise) product \(A\circ B^{-1}\) is again an \(M\)-matrix, and it is natural to relate its properties to those of \(A\) and \(B\). The author obtains a lower estimate of the smallest modulus of an eigenvalue of \(A\circ B^{-1}\). The bound is expressed in terms of the smallest eigenvalues of \(A\), \(B\), and the diagonal entries of \(A\), \(B\), and \(B^{-1}\). Additional estimates are giver in the case when \(B\) is irreducible. If \(A= B\), the lower bounds reduce to the value \(2/n\) conjectured by \textit{M. Fiedler} and \textit{T. L. Markham} [ibid. 101, 1--8 (1988; Zbl 0648.15009)] and proved independently by several authors around 2000. The present approach represents a more general setting towards understanding the Fiedler-Markham conjecture and its various verifications.