Algebraic properties of generalized inverses (Q2399898)

This book gives a presentation of some current topics in theory of generalized inverses. It gives an exposition of the so-called ``reverse-order law'' problem, considers problems on completions of operator matrices and then proceeds to present a particular approach to solving the problem of the reverse-order law for \(\{1\}\)-generalized inverses. Special emphasis is put on the existence of Drazin invertible completions of an upper triangular operator matrix and that of the invertibility and different types of generalized invertibility of a linear combination of operators on Hilbert spaces and Banach algebra elements. Also, some related results are presented on the problem of finding representations of the Drazin inverse of a \(2 \times 2\) block matrix and some additive results for the Drazin inverse. One prominent feature of the book is the clarity of exposition with which all the items discussed in it are systematically presented and thoroughly explained. For each of the topics considered, an account of the well-known results obtained earlier is given, which is then followed by an exposition of the most recent ones in the field. Also, a discussion of the open problems relevant to each particular topic is given. Thus, any interested researcher will find it an invaluable source of the must-know facts of the field and at the same time be offered both a starting point in their future study as well as possible directions in which to proceed. No similar coverage of the particular selection of topics and in the way it is done here is anywhere to be found. In the second chapter, the authors discuss the reverse-order laws for \(K\)-inverses when \(K\in \{ \{1\},\{1,2\}, \{1,3\}, \{1,2,3\}, \{1,3,4\} \}\) and present all recently published results on this subject as well as some simple examples and open problems. The reverse-order law problem for each of the above mentioned types of generalized inverses receive in this book a special attention, and the authors describe necessary and sufficient conditions for it to hold in various settings such as that of matrices, algebras of bounded linear operators, \(C^*\)-algebras and, when possible, in general rings. Besides presenting to the reader some results that have large application, primarily in solving different types of matrix and operator equations, they familiarize them with the techniques that are used to generalize results obtained in the case of matrices to more general settings such as those of algebras of bounded linear operators, \(C^*\)-algebras or rings. In the third chapter, various problems of completions of operator matrices are discussed and an application of such results to some problems concerning generalized inverses and to that of invertibility of linear combinations of operators are presented. It is worth mentioning that this very intensively studied topic of operator theory finds large application in the theory of generalized inverses. Although the reverse-order law for \(\{1\}\)-generalized inverses of matrices was completely resolved already by 1998, the corresponding problem for the operators on separable Hilbert spaces was only solved in 2015. Namely, the reverse-order law for \(\{1\}\)-generalized inverses for the operators on separable Hilbert spaces was completely solved. The approach taken in resolving the reverse-order law for \(\{1\}\)-generalized inverses for the operators on separable Hilbert spaces which involves some of the previous research on completions of operator matrices to left and right invertibility was presented in the third chapter. In the recent years, a number of researchers have focused their attention to questions concerning ordinary invertibility of differences, sums and linear combinations of idempotents as well as Drazin invertibility of differences and sums of linear combinations of idempotents. In the fourth chapter, related results on Drazin invertibility of the product and difference of two idempotent operators, Drazin and generalized Drazin invertibility of linear combinations of idempotents, commutators and anticommutators in Banach algebras as well as on the Moore-Penrose inverse of a linear combination of commuting generalized and hypergeneralized projectors were presented. The problem of finding explicit representations for the Drazin inverse of a \(2 \times 2\) block matrix is of great significance due to its applications in solving singular linear differential equations, singular linear difference equations, and perturbation theory for the Drazin inverse. It was posed by S. L. Campbell in 1983, and it is still unsolved. In the fifth chapter, the authors present the results on this subject that have been obtained so far as well as the different methods and approaches used in obtaining them. In the last chapter, they present some additive results for the Drazin inverse. Although it was already well known in 1958 that M. P. Drazin pointed out that computing the Drazin inverse of a sum of two elements in a ring was not likely to be easy, this problem remains open to this day even for matrices. It is precisely on this problem when considered in rings of matrices and Banach algebras that the authors focus our attention here; i.e., under various conditions, they will compute \((P+Q)^D\) as a function of \(P, Q, P^D\), and \(Q^D\). This book is well written and quite useful for the matrix theory. This reviewer will recommend it as the textbook for the under-graduate, graduate students and PhD students but also for all the researchers interested in this topic.