Linear maps transforming the higher numerical ranges (Q1779268)

Linear preservers of the numerical range of a matrix are studied, as well as linear preservers of the numerical radii. The algebra of \(n\times n\) complex matrices is denoted by \(M_n\). For \(1\leq k\leq n\), the \(k\)-numerical range of \(A\in M_n\) is defined by \[ W_k(A)=\{(\operatorname {tr}X^*AX)/k: X \text{ is }n\times k,\;X^*X=I_k\} \] and the \(k\)-numerical radius of \(A\) is the number \[ w_k(A)=\max\{| z|: z\in W_k(A)\}. \] Some appropriate conditions are imposed on \(n\), \(n'\), \(k\), \(k'\) to obtain nice characterizations of linear maps \(\phi:M_n:\rightarrow M_{n'}\) satisfying \(W_k(A)=W_{k'}(\phi(A))\), \(\forall A\in M_n\). The main result shows that for \(2\leq k\leq n-1\), \(1\leq k'\leq n'\), \(n'<C(n,k)\min\{k',n'-k'\}\), there exists a linear map \(\phi:M_n\rightarrow M_{n'}\) such that \(W_k(A)=W_{k'}(\phi(A))\), \(\forall A\in M_n\) if and only if there exist nonnegative integers \(p,q\) with \(p+q=n'/n\) and a unitary matrix \(U\in M_{n'}\) such that one of the following conditions holds: (1) \(n'/n=k'/k\) and \(\phi\) has the form \[ A\mapsto U^{*}[\underbrace{A\oplus\cdots\oplus A}_{p}\oplus\underbrace{A^t\oplus\cdots A^t}_{q}]U \] or (2) \(n'/n=k'/(n-k)\) and \(\phi\) has the form \[ A\mapsto U^{*}[\underbrace{\psi(A)\oplus\cdots\oplus\psi(A)}_{p}\oplus \underbrace{\psi(A)^t\oplus\cdots\psi(A)^t}_{q}]U \] where \(\psi:M_n\rightarrow M_n\) is the mapping \(A\mapsto[(\operatorname {tr}A)I_n-(n-k)A]/k\). It is shown that this theorem is true for linear maps \(\phi:H_n\rightarrow H_{n'}\) where \(H_n\) denotes the real linear space of all \(n\times n\) complex Hermitian matrices. This result is extended to triangular matrices. In these three cases, it is shown that a linear operator \(\widetilde{\phi}\) preserves the \(k\)-numerical radius of a matrix \(A\) and \(\widetilde{\phi}(X)=I_n\) for some matrix \(X\) if and only if there exists a complex unit \(\mu\) such that \(\phi=\mu\widetilde{\phi}\) is a preserver of the \(k\)-numerical range of \(A\). Some open problems are emphasized.