Invariance of simultaneous similarity and equivalence of matrices under extension of the ground field (Q977480)

Let \(\mathbb L/\mathbb K\) be a field extension. The following two results are known: 1) Let \((A_i)_{i\in I}\), \((B_i)_{i\in I}\) be families of \(n\!\times\! n\)-matrices. If there exists a matrix \(P\in\text{GL}_n(\mathbb L)\) such that \(B_i=PA_iP^{-1}\) for all \(i\in I\), then \(P\) can be chosen in \(\text{GL}_n(\mathbb K)\) (simultaneous similarity). 2) Let \((A_i)_{i\in I}\), \((B_i)_{i\in I}\) be families of \(n\!\times\! p\)-matrices. If there exist matrices \(P\in\text{GL}_n(\mathbb L)\) and \(Q\in\text{GL}_p(\mathbb L)\) such that \(B_i=PA_iQ\) for all \(i\in I\), then \(P\) and \(Q\) can be chosen in \(\text{GL}_n(\mathbb K)\) respectively \(\text{GL}_p(\mathbb K)\) (simultaneous equivalence). The author gives a new proof for the first result, using Kronecker's classification of pairs of matrices under simultaneous equivalence, and shows that the second result can be derived from the first. The paper also contains an appendix on Kronecker's classification theorem. It may be pointed out that if \(\mathbb L/\mathbb K\) is an algebraic extension, then the first result follows from a lemma by Noether: if \(M\) and \(N\) are finite-dimensional modules of a \(\mathbb K\)-algebra \(A\), and \(\mathbb L\otimes M \simeq \mathbb L\otimes N\) as \(\mathbb L\otimes A\)-modules, then \(M\simeq N\) as \(A\)-modules [see \textit{E. Darpö} and \textit{M. Herschend}, ``On the representation ring of the polynomial algebra over a perfect field'', Math. Z. 265, No. 3, 601--615 (2010; Zbl 1202.13006)]). Actually, the generalisation of Noether's lemma to arbitrary field extensions \(\mathbb L/\mathbb K\) follows from the result on simultaneous similarity, and vice versa.