On self-adjoint matrix polynomials with constant signature (Q1362628)

The paper mainly concerns the class of selfadjoint matrix polynomials with constant signature. The authors define the order of neutrality for a regular selfadjoint matrix polynomial \(L(\ell)\). Suppose that the leading coefficient of \(L(\ell)\) is nonsingular; then it is proved that \(L(\ell)\) is of constant signature if and only if \(n\ell\) is even and the order of neutrality of \(L(\ell)\) is equal to \(n\ell/2\), where \(n\) is the degree and \(\ell\) is the size of the polynomial \(L(\ell)\). A similar result is obtained for regular selfadjoint matrix polynomials. The paper also gives an answer to an open problem concerning symmetric factorizations of selfadjoint matrix polynomials of constant signature.