Ratio numerical ranges of operators (Q649056)

Let \(H\) be a Hilbert space and \(L(H)\) the algebra of bounded linear operators on \(H\). For \(A\in L(H)\), the numerical range of \(A\) is given by \(W(A)= \{\langle Ax,x\rangle:x\in H,\;\langle x,x\rangle=1\}\). For \(A,B\in L(H)\), \(B\neq 0\), define the ratio numerical range \[ W(A/B)=\left\{\frac{\langle Ax,x\rangle}{\langle Bx,x\rangle}:x\in H,\;\langle Bx,x\rangle\neq 0\right\}. \] The main results in this article are: {Theorem 2.1.} For \(A,B\in L(H)\), \(B\neq 0\), the set \(W(A/B)\) is pathwise connected if and only if one of the following three conditions holds: (1) \(A\) is a scalar multiple of \(B\); (2) \(B\) is not of the form \(\mu C\), where \(\mu\in{\mathbb C}\setminus \{0\}\) and \(C=C^*\) is indefinite; (3) there exist \(x_0\), \(y_0\in H\) such that \(\langle Bx_0,x_0\rangle=-\langle By_0,y_0\rangle\neq 0\) and \(\langle Ax_0,x_0\rangle=-\langle Ay_0,y_0\rangle\). Otherwise, \(W(A/B)\) has exactly two pathwise connected components and, moreover, \(W(A/B)\) is pseudoconvex, i.e., for any pair of distinct points \(x,y\in W(A/B)\), either \(W(A/B)\) contains the closed line segment \(tx+(1-t)y\), \(0\leq t\leq 1\), or \(W(A/B)\) contains the half lines \(tx+(1-t)y\), \(0\leq t\leq 1\), where \(t\leq 0\) or \(t\geq 1\). For \(A\in L(H)\), let \( \mathfrak{R}(A)=(A+A^*)/2\), \(\mathfrak{I}(A)(A-A^*)/(2i)\), and define \[ r(A,B):= \text{ dim (real linear space span of }\mathfrak{R}(A),\;\mathfrak{R}(B), \;\mathfrak{I}(A),\;\mathfrak{I}(B))\,. \] {Theorem 3.1.} Let \(A,B\in L(H)\), \(B\neq 0\). Then: (1) \(W(A/B) \) is contained in a circle or a straight line if and only if \(r(A,B)\leq 2\). Moreover: (2) \(W(A/B) \) is contained in a circle if and only if \(A\) is a linear combination (with complex coefficients) of \(B\) and \(B^*\). (3) \(W(A/B) \) is contained in a straight line not passing through the origin if and only if either \(W(A/B)\) is a nonzero singleton or \(B\) has the form \(B=aA+bA^*\) where \(a,b\) where \(a,b\in \mathbb{C}\). \(B\in L(H)\) is said to be sectorial if \[ W(B)\subset \{re^{i\theta}:r\geq 0,\;\theta_0\leq \theta\leq \theta_1 \} \] for some \(\theta_0\leq \theta_1\) such that \(\theta_1-\theta_0<\pi\). {Theorem 4.1.} If \(B\) is sectorial, then \(W(A/B)\) is simply connected for every \(A\in L(H)\).