Inequality between unitary orbits (Q351378)

Let \(f\) be a real valued continuous function defined on an interval \(I\). Let \(A\) be a bounded self-adjoint operator on a Hilbert space whose spectrum is a subset of \(I\). Then \(f(A)\) denotes the ordinary functional calculus. We say that \(f\) is operator monotone on \(I\) if \(A \leq B\) implies that \(f(A) \leq f(B)\), where ``\(\leq \)'' denotes the Löwner partial order. For self-adjoint operators \(A\) and \(B\), we denote \(A \leq_u B\) to signify that there exists a unitary operator \(U\) such that \(A \leq U^*BU\). Now, let the interval \(I\) be of the form \((a,b)\) or \([a,b)\). Let \(h:I \rightarrow \mathbb{R} \cup \{\infty\}\) be an increasing and continuous operator monotone function such that \(\lim_{t \rightarrow a^+} h(t)=0\) and \(\lim_{t \rightarrow b^-} h(t)=\infty\). Further, suppose that both \(h(t) >0\) and \(\log h\) be operator monotone in the interior of \(I\). Finally, assume that the spectra of the operators \(A\) and \(B\) are subsets of \(I\). The authors prove that, if \(h(B)\) is invertible, then the implication \(A \leq_u B \Longrightarrow h(A)^{\alpha} \leq_u h(B)^{\alpha}\) holds for all \(\alpha >0\). This extends a result known for the exponential function.