A note on the level sets of a matrix polynomial and its numerical range (Q4801288)

Let \(P(\lambda)\) be an \(n\)-by-\(n\) matrix polynomial \(A_m \lambda^m +\cdots+ A_1\lambda+ A_0\), where the \(A_j\)'s are \(n\)-by-\(n\) matrices with \(A_m\neq 0\) and \(\lambda\) is a complex variable. The numerical range \(W(P)\) of \(P(\lambda)\) is defined as the set \(\{\lambda \in\mathbb{C}: x^*P (\lambda) x=0\) for some \(x\neq 0\) in \(\mathbb{C}^n\}\). It is known that \(W(P)\) is bounded if and only if \(0\) is not in the numerical range \(F(A_m) (=\{x^*A_mx: x\in \mathbb{C}^n, x^* x=1\})\) of \(A_m\). In this paper, it is shown that if \(n>2\), \(W(P)\) is bounded and \(\Omega\) is a connected subset of \(W(P)\), then the union of the level sets \(\{x\in \mathbb{C}^n: x^*P(\omega) x=0\), \(x^*x=1\}\) for \(\omega\) in \(\Omega\) is also connected. As a consequence, if, in addition, \(P(\lambda)\) is self-adjoint, that is, if the \(A_j\)'s are all Hermitian matrices, then for every \(\omega\) in \(\overline{W(P) \setminus\mathbb{R}} \cap\mathbb{R}\), there exists a vector \(x\) in \(\mathbb{C}^n\) with \(x^*x=1\) such that \(\omega\) is a multiple root of the equation \(x^*P(\lambda) x=0\). This is a generalization of some previous results. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1005.00035].