Best approximation by diagonal compact operators (Q2435512)

Let \(H\) be a Hilbert space, \(K(H)^h\) the algebra of Hermitian compact operators on \(H\) and \(\mathcal D(K(H)^h)\) the subalgebra of operators from \(K(H)^h\) that are diagonal with respect to a fixed orthonormal basis. The authors study the existence and properties of minimal Hermitian compact operators \(C \in K(H)^h\) for which \(\| C\| = \min_{D \in \mathcal D(K(H)^h)} \| C + D\|\), that is, \(C\) has a best approximant in \(\mathcal D(K(H)^h)\). They exhibit \(C \in K(H)^h\) without such a best compact diagonal approximant, so that this case differs from that of a von Neumann algebra \(A\) and a~von~Neumann subalgebra \(B \subset A\), see \textit{C. E. Durán} et al. [Adv. Math. 184, No. 2, 342--366 (2004; Zbl 1060.53076)]. Furthermore, the authors characterize the operators \(C \in K(H)^h\) and \(D_1 \in \mathcal D(K(H)^h)\) such that \(\| C + D_1\| \leq \| C + D\|\) holds for all \(D \in \mathcal D(K(H)^h)\), analogously to the case of Hermitian matrices by \textit{E. Andruchow} et al. [Linear Algebra Appl. 436, No. 7, 2366--2374 (2012; Zbl 1236.15014)].