Adjacency preserving mappings of \(2 \times 2\) Hermitian matrices (Q2481693)

This is close to the ultimate version of the fundamental theorem of geometry of \(2\)-by-\(2\) Hermitian matrices over division rings, subject to some modest restrictions. To be more precise, call two matrices \(A,B\) adjacent if \(d(A,B):=\)rk\((A-B)=1\). Furthermore, let \(\mathcal D\) be a division ring of characteristic different from two, possessing an involution \(\overline{\phantom{A} }\) and such that the set of fixed elements \({\mathcal F}:=\{\lambda\in{\mathcal D};\;\;\lambda=\overline{\lambda}\}\) is a subfield contained in the center of \({\mathcal D}\). The case of \({\mathcal F}={\mathcal D}\), i.e., of identical involution, is not excluded. Let \({\mathcal H}_n({\mathcal D}):=\{A\in M_n({\mathcal D});\;\overline{A}^t=A\}\) be the \({\mathcal F}\)-space of all Hermitian matrices. It is a classical theorem that a bijection \(\Phi:{\mathcal H}_n({\mathcal D})\to{\mathcal H}_n({\mathcal D})\) satisfies \(d(A,B)=1\Longleftrightarrow d(\Phi(A),\Phi(B))=1\) precisely when it takes the form \(\Phi(A)=\alpha \overline{P}^tA^\sigma P+H_0\) [see \textit{Z. Wan}, Geometry of matrices. (World Scientific, Singapore) (1996; Zbl 0866.15008) for more details]. In this important article, the author removes bijectivity assumptions and considers maps \(\Phi:{\mathcal H}_2({\mathcal D})\to {\mathcal H}_2({\mathcal D})\), which preserve adjacency on \(2\)-by-\(2\) Hermitian matrices in one direction only. The only additional assumption is that \(| {\mathcal F}| >5\). It is shown that either the image of \(\Phi\) contains only pairwise adjacent matrices, or else \(\Phi\) is of rational type \[ \Phi(X)=(A+X^\sigma C)^{-1} (B+X^\sigma D) \] or of rational type \[ \Phi(X)=(A+\overline{X}^\sigma C)^{-1} (B+\overline{X}^\sigma D), \] respectively, where \(2\)-by-\(2\) matrices \(A,B,C,D\) are subject to certain conditions. This result also covers the symmetric \(2\)-by-\(2\) matrices, since involution is not assumed to be proper.