The local invariant factors of a product of holomorphic matrix functions: The order 4 case (Q1804053)

Let \(\alpha=\{\alpha_ 1,\dots,\alpha_ n\}\) and \(\beta=\{\beta_ 1,\dots,\beta_ n\}\) be nondecreasing sequences of nonnegative integers (the number \(n\) is fixed). Denote by \(R\) the ring of germs of holomorphic functions in one complex variable \(\lambda\) in a neighborhood of zero. A nondecreasing sequence \(\gamma=\{\gamma_ 1,\dots,\gamma_ n\}\) of nonnegative integers is said to belong to the set \(\Delta_ n(\alpha,\beta)\) if there exist \(n\times n\) matrices \(A\) and \(B\) over \(R\) such that \(\text{det}(A(\lambda)B(\lambda))\neq 0\) for \(\lambda\neq 0\), and \(\{\lambda^{\alpha_ 1},\dots,\lambda^{\alpha_ n}\}\), \(\{\lambda^{\beta_ 1},\dots,\lambda^{\beta_ n}\}\) and \(\{\lambda^{\gamma_ 1},\dots,\lambda^{\gamma_ n}\}\) are the sets of invariant factors for \(A(\lambda)\), \(B(\lambda)\) and \(A(\lambda)B(\lambda)\), respectively. It is a long standing problem to describe \(\Delta_ n(\alpha,\beta)\) in terms of inequalities (called rules) of the form \[ \gamma_{r_ 1}+\gamma_{r_ 2}+\cdots+\gamma_{r_ k}\leq\alpha_{s_ 1}+\alpha_{s_ 2}+ \cdots+\alpha_{s_ k}+\beta_{t_ 1}+\beta_{t_ 2}+\cdots+\beta_{t_ k} \] for certain selections of the index sets \((r_ 1,\dots,r_ k)\), \((s_ 1,\dots,s_ k)\) and \((t_ 1,\dots,t_ k)\). In the full generality the problem is still open, although various particular cases are known. In the present paper the problem is solved explicitly for \(n\leq 4\). The proof is based on the investigation of rules and their properties. Also, new proofs for several previously known results are given.