Rank-one solutions for homogeneous linear matrix equations over the positive semidefinite cone (Q2434862)

The authors consider rank-one solutions of homogenous systems of linear matrix equations over the positive semidefinite cone. To obtain sufficient conditions for the existence of rank-one solutions they prove that an existence condition can be established by a homotopy invariance theorem, where such a condition is related with the \(P_{\emptyset}\) property of a function defined by quadratic transformations. Furthermore, they also prove that the existence condition can be established by the maximum rank of a linear combination of positive definite matrices. In addition, a sufficient condition for the nonexistence of a rank-one solution for homogenous linear matrix equations is also obtained.