Optimally conditioned block matrices (Q5956239)

The author deals with the problem of characterizing optimally Hermitian positive-definite block matrices \(A=(A_{i,j})^m_{i,j=1} \in\mathbb{C}^{n \times n}\), \(n\geq m\geq 2\), \(A_{i,i}\in \mathbb{C}^{n_i\times n_i}\). Sufficient conditions were described by \textit{F. L. Bauer} [Numer. Math. 5, 73-87 (1963; Zbl 0107.10501)], and the particular cases \(m=n\) and \(m=2\) have been analyzed by \textit{G. E. Forsythe} and \textit{E. G. Straus} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 6, 340-345 (1955; Zbl 0064.37501)] and by \textit{L. Yu. Kolotilina} [Optimally conditioned block \(2\times 2\) matrices, Zap. Nauchn. Sem. POMI 268, 72-85 (2000; Zbl 1029.65047)], respectively. In this paper, these results are extended and a general characterization is given. Nevertheless, the results presented are theoretical and not algorithmic in the sense of determining the optimal scaling numerically.