Uniqueness of matrix square roots and an application (Q5929756)

The question of uniqueness of square roots is studied for matrices \(A \in M_n( {\mathbb{C}})\) with the set of eigenvalues \(\sigma(A)\) and the field of values defined as \(F(A)=[x^*Ax: x^*x=1, x \in {\mathbb{C}} ^n]\). There are given simplified proofs that if \(\sigma(A)\) is a part of the open right half of the complex plane (or more generally, \(\sigma(A) \cap (- \infty, 0] = \emptyset\)) then there is a square root of \(A\), \(A^{1/2}\), such that \(\sigma(A^{1/2})\) lies in the open right half of the complex plane. It is also shown, using Lyapunov's theorem, that if \(A \in M_n( {\mathbb{C}})\) and the Hermitian part of \(A\), \(H(A) = \frac {1}{2}(A + A^*)\), is positive definite (or more generally, \(F(A) \cap (-\infty,0] = \emptyset\)) then there is a square root of \(A\), \(A^{1/2}\), such that its Hermitian part \(H(A^{1/2})\) is positive definite. The open question mentioned by \textit{C. R. Johnson} and \textit{M. Neumann} [Linear Multilinear Algebra 8, 353-355 (1980; Zbl 0431.15011)] whether \(A \in M_n({\mathbb{R}})\), such that \(H(A)\) is positive definite, has a square root \(A^{1/2} \in M_n({\mathbb{R}})\), such that \(H(A^{1/2})\) is positive definite, is answered affirmatively.