Hyponormal \(2\times{}2\) matrices are subnormal (Q1200550)

Let \(n\times n\) \(A\) and \(k\times n\) \(B\) be complex matrices. The pair \((A,B)\) is called subnormal if there exist \(X\), \(Y\) such that \({{A\;X} \brack {B\;Y}}\) is normal, and called hyponormal if \(A^*A- AA^*+B^*B\) is positive semidefinite. It is easy to see that subnormality implies hyponormality. The authors show that the converse is true when \(k=n=2\) but not when \(k=n>2\). This answers a question of P. R. Halmos.