On the quaternionic quadratic equation \(xax+bx+xc+d=0\) (Q2274764)

Let \(H\) be the skew field of real quaternions. The paper under review deals with the quadratic equation \(xax + bx + xc + d = 0\), where \(a,b,c,d\in H\). The matrix \(A = \left[ \begin{array}{cc} -b & -d \\ a & c \end{array}\right]\) is associated to the previous equation. A quaternion \(a\in H\) is an eigenvalue of \(A\) if there exists some \(v\in H^2\setminus \{0\}\), such that \(Av = va\). The vector \(v\) is called an eigenvector associated to the eigenvalue \(a\). An eigenvalue \(b\) such that the last coordinate of some of its eigenvectors equals to 1 is called a privileged eigenvalue. In this paper, it is proved that the roots of the above equation are exactly the quaternions of the form \(x = a^{-1}(\beta-c)\), where \(\beta\) is a privileged eigenvalue of \(A\). An interesting consequence of this result is a complete classification of the equations in terms of its number of solutions, that is, one, two or an infinite number, which is based in the Jordan form of the matrix \(A\). Furthermore, a discussion of two Geršgorin type theorems for the eigenvalues of a quaternionic matrix is given.