Extremal aspects of representation theory
extremal rayflag varietyHermitian eigenvalue problemHorn inequalitiesrepresentation theorySchubert calculustensor product multiplicity
Geometric invariant theory (14L24) Grassmannians, Schubert varieties, flag manifolds (14M15) Classical problems, Schubert calculus (14N15) Eigenvalues, singular values, and eigenvectors (15A18) Inverse problems in linear algebra (15A29) Inequalities involving eigenvalues and eigenvectors (15A42) Hermitian, skew-Hermitian, and related matrices (15B57) Representation theory for linear algebraic groups (20G05)
The paper surveys the Hermitian eigenvalue problem, which asks for a complete description of the possible eigenvalues of the sum of two Hermitian matrices in terms of the eigenvalues of the summands. Given eigenvalue vectors \(\alpha=(\alpha_1\ge\cdots\ge\alpha_n)\) and \(\beta=(\beta_1\ge\cdots\ge\beta_n)\), and writing \(\gamma\) for the eigenvalues of the sum, the basic constraints consist of the trace identity \(\sum_i \alpha_i+\sum_j \beta_j=\sum_k \gamma_k\) together with the inequalities\N\[\N\sum_{i\in I}\alpha_i+\sum_{j\in J}\beta_j \ge \sum_{k\in K}\gamma_k,\N\]\Nwhere \(I,J,K\subset\{1,\dots,n\}\) have the same cardinality. These inequalities originate in Horn's 1962 conjecture (see [\textit{P. T. Bateman} and \textit{R. A. Horn}, Math. Comput. 16, 363--367 (1962; Zbl 0105.03302)]), whose correctness was later established after removing redundancies from the original list (see [\textit{A. Klyachko}, Sel. Math., New Ser. 4, No. 3, 419-445 (1998; Zbl 0915.14010); \textit{A. Knutson} and \textit{T. Tao}, J. Am. Math. Soc. 12, No. 4, 1055--1090 (1999; Zbl 0944.05097)]).\N\NThe exposition emphasizes the interpretation of these constraints through representation theory and geometry. In particular, the authors explain how Horn's inequalities are encoded by intersection numbers in the Schubert calculus on Grassmannians and how they correspond to nonvanishing tensor product multiplicities for irreducible representations of \(\mathrm{GL}_n(\mathbb{C})\). A central role is played by extremal triples of subsets, which give rise to extremal rays and facets of the Horn cone and lead to a minimal, irredundant system of inequalities.\N\NFurther connections with flag varieties, geometric invariant theory, and the saturation phenomenon for Littlewood-Richardson coefficients are discussed. Throughout the paper, worked examples are used to illustrate extremal configurations and to clarify their significance within both the eigenvalue problem and the representation-theoretic framework.
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