Theorems of the alternative over indefinite inner product spaces (Q927237)

An indefinite inner product in \(\mathbb C^n\) is a conjugate sesquilinear form \([x,y]\) such that \([x,y]=0\) for all \(y\in \mathbb C^n\) implies \(x=0.\) The relation \([x,y]=\langle x,P_ny\rangle\), \(x,y\in \mathbb C^n,\) establishes a bijection between indefinite inner products \([\cdot,\cdot ]\) and invertible Hermitian matrices \(P_n\) with complex entries. Without restricting the generality, one can suppose further that \(P_n=P_n^*=P_n^{-1}.\) The indefinite product (relative to \(P_n\)) of two matrices \(A, B\) of type \(m\times n, n\times \ell, \) respectively, is defined by \(A\circ B:=AP_nB\) and the adjoint of \(A\) with respect to \(P_n,P_m\) is defined by \(A^{[*]}:=P_nA^*P_m.\) A~detailed discussion on the advantages of this product is given in the paper by \textit{K.\,Kamaraj, K.\,Ramanathan} and \textit{K.\,C.\thinspace Sivakumar} [J.~Anal.\ 12, 135--142 (2004; Zbl 1097.47002)]. The authors extend the Farkas alternative to this context: Theorem. For any \(m\times n\) matrix \(A\) and \(b\in \mathbb C^n,\) either (a) \(A\circ x = b\) has a solution \(x\geq 0,\) or (exclusive) (b) \((I\circ A)^{[*]}\circ y\geq 0, \,[b,y]<0\) has a solution \(y.\) This result is applied to prove a Fredholm alternative in these terms, which in turn is applied to prove the formula \(R(I\circ A) =N(A^{[*]})^\perp, \) where \(R(B)\) stands for the range and \(N(B)\) for the null-space of a matrix \(B,\) both defined in terms of the generalized product \(\circ\).