On an analog of Specht criterion of unitary equivalence for the case of arbitrary field (Q677715)

Two \(n\times n\) matrices \(A\) and \(B\) over a field \(k\) are orthogonally equivalent if and only if \(B=QAQ^{T}\) for some \(n\times n\) matrix \(Q\) over \(k\) whose transpose \(Q^{T}\) is also its inverse. Given non-negative integers \(i\), \(j\), and \(n\times n\) matrices \(S_{1}\), \(S_{2}\) over \(k\), put \(A(i,j)=S_{1}(A^{T})^{i}A^{j}\) and \(B(i,j)=S_{2}(B^{T})^{i}B^{j}\). The authors prove the following statement. Suppose the characteristic polynomial of \(A\) is irreducible over \(k\). (a) The matrices \(A\) and \(B\) are orthogonally equivalent if and only if there exist matrices \(S_{1},\;S_{2}\), each of the form \(xx^{T}\) for some unit vector \(x\) over \(k\), such that \(A(i,j)\) and \(B(i,j)\) have the same trace for all \(i,j\) satisfying \(0\leq i\leq j\leq n\) and \(1\leq i+j\leq 2n-1\). (b) If the characteristic of \(k\) is not 2, then \(A\) and \(B\) are orthogonally equivalent over some extension field of \(k\) if and only if there exist matrices \(S_{1},\;S_{2}\) over \(k\) of rank 1 such that \(A(i,j)\) and \(B(i,j)\) have the same trace for all \(i,j=0,1,\dots,n\) satisfying \(1\leq i+j\leq 2n-1\).