From positive to accretive matrices (Q2055406)

The study of operator means began with the work of \textit{W. N. Anderson jun.} and \textit{R. J. Duffin} [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 26, 576--594 (1969; Zbl 0177.04904)]. They studied the arithmetic and harmonic means of positive operators on a Hilbert space and proved the arithmetic-harmonic mean inequality. The geometric mean was introduced by \textit{W. Pusz} and \textit{S. L. Woronowicz} [Rep. Math. Phys. 8, 159--170 (1975; Zbl 0327.46032)]. Then \textit{T. Ando} [Topics on operator inequalities. Sapporo: Hokkaido University (1978; Zbl 0388.47024)] proved the arithmetic-geometric mean inequality. The axiomatic theory for connections and means for pairs of positive operators has been developed by \textit{K. Nishio} and \textit{T. Ando} [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 53, 539--549 (1976; Zbl 0332.94010)] and \textit{F. Kubo} and \textit{T. Ando} [Math. Ann. 246, 205--224 (1980; Zbl 0412.47013)]. In the finite-dimensional case we call it matrix mean. Thus a matrix mean is a binary operation on the set of positive definite matrices. This operation of matrix mean can be extended to the set of positive semidefinite matrices by continuity. The arithmetic mean, geometric mean and harmonic mean are standard examples of matrix means. The theory of matrix means has been extensively studied by a large number of authors after Kubo and Ando [loc. cit.] introduced the notion of mean defined on the set of positive operators. Every square matrix \(A\) over the field of complex numbers has its unique Cartesian decomposition \(A=\mathrm{Re}(A)+ i \mathrm{Im}(A).\) Here, \(\mathrm{Re}(A)\) is called the real part of \(A\) and \(\mathrm{Im}(A)\) is called the imaginary part of \(A.\) The matrix \(A\) is called accretive if its real part is positive definite. Thus, the set of positive definite matrices is a subset of the set of accretive matrices. \textit{S. Drury} [Linear Multilinear Algebra 63, No. 2, 296--301 (2015; Zbl 1310.15032)] extended the definition of matrix geometric mean from the setting of positive definite matrices to the set of accretive matrices for the geometric mean. In this paper, the authors extend the definition of all the means considered by Kubo and Ando to the set of accretive matrices. This definition coincides with the original one in the case of positive definite matrices. The authors generalize several matrix inequalities already known for positive definite matrices to the set of accretive matrices. The Dunford integral is used to define \(f(A)\) for a matrix \(A\) and a function \(f.\) This paper can also be considered a very useful survey article for further research in this direction. I hope this will open a pandora's box for research on matrix inequalities.