A fixed point theorem and a norm inequality for operator means (Q1300901)

An operator connection \(\sigma\) is a binary operation defined on the cone of positive operators on \(\mathbb C^n\) which is monotone and continuous from above, and satisfies a certain transformer inequality. One can define certain functions of connections, such as a dual that satisfies \(\sigma^\bot(A,B) =\sigma(B^{-1},A^{-1})^{-1}\). Here the author proves that the geometric mean of the operators \(A,B\) is the unique fixed point of the mapping that sends an operator \(X\) to the operator \(\sigma^\bot((\sigma(A,X),\sigma(B,X))\) whenever \(\sigma\) is symmetric. As an application the author proves a norm inequality that applies to any unitarily invariant operator norm, such as a Schatten \(p\)-norm or a generalized spectral norm.