The least squares mean of positive Hilbert-Schmidt operators (Q2442972)

The authors give a detailed study of the link of the solutions of the Karcher equation \[ \sum_{i=1}^nw_i\log(X^{1/2}A_i^{-1}X^{-1/2})=0. \] Here, the operators \(A_i\) are in the Hilbert-Schmidt algebra and the coefficients \(w_i\) are in the \(n\)-simplex \(\Delta_n\). The existence and the uniqueness of the solutions is obtained through the geometry of spaces of Hilbert-Schmidt operators, viewed as Hilbert manifolds. In particular, a central tool is the least squares mean, which is the unique minimizer of the squares of the distances. In this context, from the author's summary: ``the least square mean (...) is the unique solution to the corresponding Karcher equation. (...) Conversely, the Karcher mean (...) is shown to be the unique monotonically strongly continuous extension of the least squares mean.''