Non-commutative harmonic and subharmonic polynomials

Positive matrices and their generalizations; cones of matrices (15B48) Several-variable operator theory (spectral, Fredholm, etc.) (47A13) Functions whose values are linear operators (operator- and matrix-valued functions, etc., including analytic and meromorphic ones) (47A56)

Abstract: The paper introduces a notion of the Laplace operator of a polynomial p in noncommutative variables x=(x_1,...,x_g). The Laplacian Lap[p,h] of p is a polynomial in x and in a noncommuting variable h. When all variables commute we have Lap[p,h]=h^2Delta_x p where Delta_x p is the usual Laplacian. A symmetric polynomial in symmetric variables will be called harmonic if Lap[p,h]=0 and subharmonic if the polynomial q(x,h):=Lap[p,h] takes positive semidefinite matrix values whenever matrices X_1,..., X_g, H are substituted for the variables x_1,...,x_g, h. In this paper we classify all homogeneous symmetric harmonic and subharmonic polynomials in two symmetric variables. We find there are not many of them: for example, the span of all such subharmonics of any degree higher than 4 has dimension 2 (if odd degree) and 3 (if even degree). Hopefully, the approach here will suggest ways of defining and analyzing other partial differential equations and inequalities.

Review text

Polynomials in noncommutative variables \(x = (x_{1},\dots, x_{g})\), primarily polynomials in symmetric variables, are considered. A symmetric polynomial \(q\) is said to be matrix-positive if \(q(X)\) is a positive semidefinite matrix for each tuple \(X = (X_{1},\dots, X_{g})\), where the \(X_{i}\) are real symmetric \(n \times n\) matrices (\(i = 1,\dots,g\)). Noncommutative differentiation is considered, taking directional derivatives, and a notion of the Laplace operator of a polynomial \(p\) in noncommutative variables \(x = (x_{1},\dots, x_{g})\) is introduced. The Laplacian \(\text{Lap}[p, h]\) of \(p\) is the polynomial in \(x\) and in a noncommuting variable \(h\) given by \[ \text{Lap}[p, h] = \sum_{i=1}^{g} \frac{d^2}{dt^2} \big[p(x_1,\dots,(x_i + th),\dots,x_g) \big]|_{t=0}. \] When all variables commute, we have \(\text{Lap}[p, h]= h^{2}\Delta_{x}p\), where \(\Delta_{x} p\) is the usual Laplacian. A noncommutative polynomial is called harmonic if its Laplacian is zero, and subharmonic if its Laplacian is matrix-positive. In this paper, the authors classify all homogeneous symmetric harmonic and subharmonic polynomials in two symmetric variables. They find there are not many of them: for example, the span of all such subharmonics of any degree higher than 4 has dimension 2 (if odd degree) and 3 (if even degree).

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