Rank equalities for idempotent and involutory matrices (Q5947461)

Let \(P,Q\) be \(m\times m\) complex idempotent matrices and \(I\) the \(m\times m\) unit matrix. The authors derive various formulae involving the ranks of such combinations as \(P\pm Q\), \(PQ\pm QP\), \(I-PQ,\dots\). The primary results are proved by applying Gaussian elimination to suitably chosen block matrices. Here are 3 sample results out of very many. (Theorem 2.4) \(r(P+Q)= r(P-PQ- QP+QPQ) +r(Q)\). (Corollary 2.9) \(I-P-Q\) is nonsingular if, and only if, \(r(PQ)= r(QP)=r(P)= r(Q)\). (Theorem 2.16) \(r(I-PQ)= r(2I-P-Q)\). The paper ends with some applications to involutory matrices and remarks about generalized inverses.