On the uniqueness of functions that maximize the Crouzeix ratio (Q2176127)

The {numerical range} of a \(n \times n\) complex matrix \(A\), \(W(A)\), is defined as \[ \{ q^*Aq: q\in \mathbb C^n, \mathrm{norm}\,{q}_2 = 1\}\subset \mathbb C, \] where \(\mathrm{norm}{\cdot}_2\) denotes the matrix norm induced by the vector \(2\)-norm. The celebrated Toeplitz-Hausdorff Theorem asserts that \(W(A)\) is a (compact) convex subset of \(\mathbb C\) which contains all the eigenvalues of \(A\). In [Integral Equations Oper. Theory 48, No. 4, 461--477 (2004; Zbl 1069.47004)], \textit{M. Crouzeix} introduced the ratio, \[ \sup_f \frac{\operatorname{norm}f(A)_2}{\max_{z\in W(A)} |f(z)|}, \] known as the {Crouzeix ratio}, where the supremum is taken over all functions \(f\) analytic in the interior of \(W(A)\) and continuous on the boundary. He conjectured that the ratio is bounded by \(2\). \textit{M. Crouzeix} proved in [J. Funct. Anal. 244, No. 2, 668--690 (2007; Zbl 1116.47004)] that it is bounded above by \(11.08\). Later this bound was reduced to \(1+\sqrt{2}\) by \textit{M. Crouzeix} and \textit{C. Palencia} [SIAM J. Matrix Anal. Appl. 38, No. 2, 649--655 (2017; Zbl 1368.47006)]. The conjecture was proved in a number of special cases such as normal matrices, \(2\times 2\) matrices, \(3\times 3\) nilpotent matrices, and matrices for which \(W(A)\) is a disk. Nevertheless, Crouzeix's conjecture is still an open question and plays an important role in matrix theory. For example, a workshop on Crouzeix's conjecture was held by Mark Embree, Anne Greenbaum, and Michael Overton, sponsored by the American Institute of Mathematics, in 2017. It is known that there are extremal functions \(\hat{f}\) that maximize \(\operatorname{norm}f(A)_2\) over all functions \(f\) which are analytic in the interior of \(W(A)\) and continuous on the boundary and satisfy \(\max_{z\in W(A)} |f(z)| < 1\) and that such functions are of the form \(B\circ \phi\), where \(B\) is a Blaschke product of degree at most \(n-1\) and \(\phi\) is a conformal mapping from the interior of \(W(A)\) to the unit disk, extended to be continuous on the boundary. Without loss of generality, we may assume that \(\hat{f}\) has \(\mathbb H^\infty\)-norm 1 on \(W(A)\) and \(\hat{f}\) is a function of the form \(B\circ \phi\) that satisfies \[ \hat{f} = \arg \max \{\operatorname{norm}f(A)_2 : f\in \mathbb H^\infty(W(A)), \operatorname{norm}f_\infty =1\}. \] However, it is not known whether \(\hat{f}\) that achieves this maximum is unique or not, up to multiplication by a scalar of modules one. In this paper, the author shows that when \(A\) is a \(2\times2\) non-normal matrix or an \(n\times n\) Jordan block, for a given conformal mapping \(\phi\), a Blaschke product such that \(\hat{f}\) achieves maximum is unique. He also gives examples of some \(3\times3\) matrices with elliptical numerical range for which two different functions \(\hat{f}\), involving the same conformal mapping but Blaschke products of different degrees, achieving the same maximal value of \(\operatorname{norm}f(A)_2\).