Flat portions of the numerical range of a \(6 \times 6\) companion matrix (Q6135052)

Assume that \(A\in\mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C})\) is an \(n \times n\) matrix with complex entries. The numerical range of \(A\) is \[ W(A)=\{x^*AX~:~x\in\mathbb{C}^n\,,~x^*x=1\}\,. \] According to the Toeplitz-Hausdorff theorem, \(W(A)\) is a convex and compact subset of \(\mathbb{C}\) such that \(\sigma(A)\subseteq W(A)\). An \(n \times n\) companion matrix \(A\) is of the form \[ \left( \begin{array}{cccccc} 0 & 1 & & & & \\ & 0 & 1 & & & \\ & & \cdot & \cdot & & \\ & & & \cdot & \cdot & \\ & & & & 0 & 1 \\ -a_0 & & \cdot & 0 & -a_{n-2} & -a_{n-1} \end{array} \right), \] where \(a_j\in\mathbb{C}~(j=1,\dots, n-1)\). The characteristic polynomial of this matrix is given by \[ \det(A-zI)=z^n+a_{n-1}z^{n-1}+\cdots +a_0\,. \] A particular case of a companion matrix is a Jordan block nilpotent matrix \(J_n\) where \(a_0=0\) for all \(j=0,1,\cdots, n-1\). \textit{J. Eldred} et al. [Linear Multilinear Algebra 60, No. 11--12, 1295--1311 (2012; Zbl 1262.15025)] proposed a conjecture on the number of flat portions \(f(A)\) on \(\partial W(A)\) for a companion matrix \(A\): Conjecture. The equality \(f(A)=n-1\) for an \(n \times n\) companion matrix \(A\) implies that \(n\) is odd and \(A\) is unitarily reducible. In this paper the authors prove this conjecture for \(n=6\).