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C-numerical ranges and C-numerical radii

Chi-Kwong Li a
a
Department of Mathematics, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va
Online Publication Date: 01 June 1994

To cite this Article Li, Chi-Kwong(1994)'C-numerical ranges and C-numerical radii',Linear and Multilinear Algebra,37:1,51 82
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Linear and Multllrnear Algehm, 1994, Val. 37, pp. 51 -82

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C-Numerical Ranges and C-Numerical Radii

CHI-KWONG LI*
Department of Mathematics, The College of Wiiliarn and Mary, WilliamsSurg, VA 23187

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(Received February 4, 1993)

In this paper, we give a brief survey o n C-numerical ranges and C-numerical radii. New results are
obtained and open problems are mentioned.

The purpme of this paper i: t o give a brief survey on the C-i~wiiei-icclr m g ~

and rhc C-niiniericii! mdiur i:f matrices, which are generaiizatims of the ciassicni
rlunzerical r a q e (also known as ihr @id ~ j v&iie:j
'
and the r!izrxica! numericg! mlii!a
of matrices, due to [Goldberg and Straus, 1977). There is no attempt to cover the
entire subject which has expandzd rapid!y ir. recent years. The tcpics covered are
mainly on those reiating to the author's work in the past few years.
While many results on C-numerical ranges and C-numerical radii have been obtained; there are still many interesting open problems that deserve investigztion. We
obtain some new results in our discussion, and mention a number of open problems
on the subject.
We only discuss the C-numericai range and radius of square matrices. It is worth
mentioning that many results in our discussion actually hold for linear operators on
infir~itedirncnsional Hilbert space.
This paper consists of the following sections.
5 1 Classical numerical range
52 C-Numerical range
53 Convexity and starshapedness
54 Direct sum
55 Lomtion of Wc(A)
56 C-Spectrum and special boundary points
$7 C-Convex matrices
58 Normality
59 Other symmetry properties
510 Unitary similarity
$1I Inclusion relations
3 12 Funciiona; prciperties
513 Linear preservers of the C-numerical range
9 14 Classical numerical radius
5 15 C-Numerical radius
*Research supported by NSF grant DMS 91 00344 and a Caculty research grant of The College of William
and Mary.

51

52

C-K. LI

'$16 C-Radial and C-spectral matrices

$17 Comparison of C-numerical radii and other norms
$18 Linear preservers of the C-numerical radius.
-~
I he following notations will be used in our discussion:
At.
LIK
- u~
- -~--t xspace
ir
of all n x m complex matrices,
M,: the algebra of all n x n complex matrices.
H
' ,: the real linear space of n x n hermitian matrices.
jAl: the positive semi-definite hermitian matrix satisfying j ~ i " A * A for A E M,q>
P ( A ) = ( X l ( A ),..., X,(A)): the spectrum of A t M,, and we always assume that
Xl(A) 2 . . . Xn(A)
if A is hermitian,
s l ( A ) 2 - . . 2 s,(A): the singular values of A E 121,,
11 Ail: the spectral norm of A E M,,
(Ell,E I 2 , . .,En,:: the standard basis of M n .
{ e l , .. ., e,): the standard basis nf Cnj
. . , , , r ,,,,,, -1. ..- - .. L- u"-. 7: .
t-~.': ; y * = ) ' :y~T
= 4
.-.-t: I
- k . +La ,.nll~>r.*:*..,\.
LllL c u l l L c L l u l
of~ compact s ~ ' t ? s t . in
;
GK: the bcjuniiary of K ,
C,
K = !Z : Z E K ) for K L C ,
KeK = { ( z + Z ) / 2 : z E K ) for K
6-,
c+={ptC:p+p>Oj,
M + = { P E R : p>O).
,

3.

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>

&<

. , , * % r %I !F
!

1.

CLASSICAL NUMERICAL RANGE

Let A E M,. The (classical) numerical range (or alternatively, field of values) of A
is defined and denoted by

This concept has been studied extensively in the last few decades. As pointed out
by many authors (e.g., see [Bonsall and Duncan, 1971 and 19731, [Halmos, 19671,
[Istratescu, 19811 [Horn and Johnson, 1991]), this concept is very useful for studying
matrices and operators, and has a lot of applications to other subjects. We summarize some basic properties of the classical numerical range that are relevant to
our discussion in the later sections. We shall sketch and comment on a few proofs.
Otherwise, proofs and references can be found in Chapter 1 of [Horn and Johnson,
19911 (see also [Goldberg, 19791). One may see other properties and generalizations
of the classical numerical range in the same reference.
(1.1) For any p, I / t C ctnd for any A E M,l, W ( } IA

(1.2)

+ vI) = p W ( A ) + v.

For any A: B c M,!: W ( A + B ) C W ( A )+ W ( R )

(1.4) Let A t M,. Suppose I 5 m 5 n and X t M,.,

W ( X *A X ) C W (A). The equuliry hold.\ iJ m = n.

satisfies X " X

I,.

Then

53

C-NUMERICAL RANGES, RADII

When m = n, (1.4) simply says that W(A) is invariant under unitary similarities.
If X is obtained from I by deleting n - m columns, then X * A X is a principal
submatrix of A. In other words, W(B) W ( A ) if B is a principal submatrix of A.
Statements (1.1)-(1.4) are not difficult to verify. Since W(A) can be viewed as
the range of the corltinuous function x x*Ax iron1 the compact set S to 6 , one
easily gets the following result.

(1.5) For any A E M,, W [A) is compact.

The first non-trivial result on W(A) is the following.

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(a) For any A E Mn,W(A) is convex.

(b) I f A E Mz has eigenvalues XI, A1, then W (A) is an elliptical disk with A1, A2 as

,foci, nnd , / t r ( ~ *A) - !A1 /"

lJXZ/2 GS the length of the minor axis.

Statement ( l,h.aj is the celrbratcd Toeplitz-Hausdorff Theorem. [Toeplitz. 19181

showed that the outer boundary of I+-(A)is a cimvex curve. and [Hausdorff. 19191
proved that the interior of this cure is tilled out with points o f W ( A ) . Statement
(1.6.b) is known as the Elliptical Range Theorem obtained in [Murnaghan, 19321
(see also [Donoghue, 19571). There are many proofs t'or the Toeplitz-Hausdorff
Theorem (see the references of [Goldberg, 19791 and [Horn and Johnson, 19911).
We sketch a proof of the convexity of W(A) in the following.
Suppose p i , p ~E W ( A ) are two distinct points. We need to show that the line
segment joining p1 and p2 lies within W(A). By (1.1), we may assume that pl = 0
and p2 = 1. Let x,y E S be such that x ' A x = 0 and yYAy= 1. Consider the func~
AX for t E [O,Z.rr]. Since g(r + T ) = -g(t) for t E [O,?r],
tion g(t) = e j ' x * ~ e-"y*
either (i) there is to E [U,a] such that g(ro) = 0, or (ii) g([0,2n]) contains a loop
enclosing the origin and hence there is t , E~ [0,27r] such that g(to) > 0. As a result,
there exists to E [0,2n] such that g(to) 2 0. Now replace y by j = ei'Oy. Notice that
x , j are linearly independent, otherwise x*Ax = E * A j = y'Ay. Let

z(t) =

(I - t)x + t j
ID - OX + tPll

and

f ( t ) = z(t)*Az(A) E W (A),

t E [O, 11.

One easily checks that f is a continuous real-valued function on [O,1] with f (0) = 0
and f (1) = 1. Thus [O,1] g f ([0, 11) C W(A) as asserted.
[Istratescu, 19811 and [Sun and Stewart, 19921 also gave proofs of the convexity of
W(A) using the above approach. In both cases, the authors assumed that x*Ax = O
and y*Ay = 1, and tried to construct the function f(t). [Istratescu, 19811 used the
condition that Re(x*Ay) = 0, and [Stewart and Sun, 19921 used the condition that
Re(x*y) = 0. Unfortunately, none of these conditions can guarantee f(t) to be a
real valued function.
As shown in the above proof, whether W(A) contains the line segment [O,l] depends solely on the behaviour of A on the two dimensional subspace spanned by x
and y. As a result, even if A is a linear operator on an infinite dimensional Hilbert
space, the proof of the convexity of W(A) can be reduced to the 2 x 2 case. In fact,

54

C-K.LI

reducing the general problems to the 2 x 2 case is a standard technique in proving

results on W(A). Thus (1.6.b) is very useful in the study of the subject.
For n 2 3, the shape of W(A) is not easy to determine in general unless A is
normal as shown in (1.8).
Open problem: For which compact convex subser I of C does there exist a matrix
A E M, such that W(A) = 'T?
The following result is useful for determining the shape of W(A) for a normal
A E Mn-

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(1.7) I f A E M, is unitarily similar lo Al tB A2, then

(1.8) Let A E M,.

(a) ij" A is normai, lhen 8 - ( A j = cunvP(A!.
(b) I f n 5 4 and if Ft7(A) = convP(A). then A is izormnl
A matrix A satisfying W ( A )= convP(A) is called a convex matrix or a convexoid.
There are examples of convex matrices that are not normal if n > 4 (e.g., see [Johnson, 1976al). A characterization of convex matrices will be given in (1.11). We first
consider the location of W(A) and some special boundary points of W(A).
\
1 = W / /4 + A * ) / 2 )= c o ~P
v\\/ / A + -4')11'7'- I - ,4s a
(I.?) Let ,4 E M,,. Tken Re W/,4\
result, if (A + A*)/2 has eigenvalues A1 > . .. > A,, then C1 = { z E C : Rez = A,)
and Lz = {z E C : R e z = A1 ) are the left and right vertical supporting lines of W (A).
Furthermore, we have
\\A

(a) W(A) C R if and only if -4E R,,.

(b) W(A) C + U iR (respectively, W(A) C +) if and only
semi-definite (respectively, positive definite).
(c) W(A) C R + U (0) (respectively, W(A) C R+) if and only
definite (respectively, positive definite).

if A + A* is positive

if

A is positive semi-

By (1.9), one can determine the left and right supporting lines of W ( A ) . We
can apply the same technique to find the supporting lines of ~ " w ( A )= w(eiQ)
for all t E [O,T]. Applying this process for sufficiently many values 2 and taking the
intersection of the vertical strips formed by the left and right supporting lines, one
gets an outer approximation of W(A). If we let x E S be an eigenvector of the
largest eigenvalue of (A + A*)/2, then x*Ax will be a boundary point of W(A)
lying on the right supporting line. Similarly, one can get boundary points lying on
ii,e iefi suppoi-iiligiiiizs. if we
iiiz jaliie pi-ijcljs
e i r ~ g (=
~ j~ g ( ~ i fiji.
r ~ j
sufficiently many t E [O,T] and take the convex hull of all these boundary points,
we get an inner approximation of W(A). Detailed discussion of these ideas can be
found in [Johnson, 19781 (see also [Horn and Johnson, 19911). Extension of this idea
will be discussed in 55.

C-NUMERICAL RANGES, RADII

Next we turn to some special

19861 and call a boundary point
sufficiently sma!! E > 0 such that
(7 E C : 17 - ji.1 i:E ) is contained

55

boundary points of W(A). We follow [Bebiano,

p of a subset K in C a corner if there exists a
the intersectior? of K and the circular disk D =
in a sector of 2, of degree less than T.

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(a) P(A) W(A).

(b) If p E BW(A) n P(A), then A is unifarilysimilar to p I @ B such that p 4 P ( B )
(c) If p is a corner of W(A), then p E P(A) and hence condition (b) hokfs.
Following [Horn and Johnson, 19911, we call an eigenvalue p of A a normal
eigenvalue if all the off-diagonal entries of the row(s) and column(s) with p as the
diagonal entry are zero for any triangular matrix unitarily similar to A. We are now
ready to give the promised characterization of convex matrices.
(1.1 1) Let A E M,. The .4 zs a convew matrix i[ und on& if ury ulie oJP iize ,[oiiuwiq
conditions holds.
(a) W ( A ) is a ccmwr polygonal disk.
+ e-lrA)/2) = Re W(el'A) = conv{Re P(ei' A)) for all t E [O,T].
(c) A is unitarily similar to B I%? C such thar B is normal and W(A) = W ( B ) .

( b ) conv P((eitA

Further equivalent conditions for a matrix to be convex will be given in $14 in

terns of the spectra! nmm, numerical radius and spectral radius of matrices. We
can say more if W(A) is a degenerate polygonal disk, i.e., a line segment or a single
point: as shown in the following.
(1.12)

Let A

E M,,.

The following are equivalent.

(a) W(A) hus empty interior i.e., W(A) = DW(A).

(b) W(A) is a line segment, possih& degenerate fo a poinl.
(c) t r A / n E aW(A).
(1.13)

Let A E M,. Then

(a) W (A) = { p } i f and only i f A = pI, and

(b) W(A) is a non-degenerate line segment if and only i f p,A + r/I is u non-scalar
hermitian matrix for some p,q E C with p # 0.
Next we discuss properties of the numerical range as a function from M, to K,
the collection of compact subsets in C.

Statement (1.14) can he viewed as a functional characterization of the numerical

range, and was proved in [Johnson, 1976b1 (see also [Horn and Johnson, 19911). We
shall generalize this result in Ij 12.

56

C-K. LI

(1.15) Consider any norm topology on M,, and the Hausdorf metric on K. The
numerical range W(.) is a continuous ,functionfrom M,, to K.
(1.16 ) A linear operator L on All, satisfies W ( L ( 4 ) )= W(.4) for all A E M, if and
on& $ L is of the form .4 LT'ALT or -4 LT* A'LT {or some fired unitary matriv
rr E M,,.
l mear operators satisfying the conditions in (1.16) are known as linearpreservers
of the numerical range. Statement (1.16) is a special case of a result of [Pellegrini,
19751 on Banach algebras.

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2. C-NUMERICAL RANGE
There are manv generalizations of numerical range motivated by theory or applications (e.g., see [Binding and Li, 1991j: [Horn and Johnson, 19911 and [Li and Rod1967j) introduced the notion nf k -numerical
man, 1893j). FTa!mop (e.g.; set. [Halmc~s~
range o f A E Mil f o r 1 5 k 5 iz. For our convenience, we follow [Marcus and Filippenko. 19781 and use the following modified definition of the k-numerical range:

where 6ii = 1 if i = j, and dij = 0 otherwise. Notice that p E Wk(A) if and only
if there exists X E M,y,kwith X * X = Ik such that p = tr(XtAX). Evidently, WI (A)
reduces to the classical numerical range, Wn(A) = {trA), and Wk(A) = trAWnPk(A).Tnus it is convenient to use the notation W o ( A )= (0).
If Ak(A) denotes the first derivation of A on the kth Grassmann space over 43"
(also known as the kth additive compound of the matrix A) given by the formula

(here Ck(X) denotes the kth compound matrix of X), then Wk(A) is the collection
) . may see
of all p = xtAk(A)x, x is a decomposable unit vector in ~ ~ ( 6 3 " One
[Marcus, 19731 for the definitions and properties of Ak(A).
[Westwick, 19751 further generalized the k-numerical range to c-numerical range
of A E Mn, c = ( ~ 1 .,.,
. Cn)' E Cn, defined by

Let C = Cy=,ciEii. One observes that p E W,(A) if and only if p = tr(CU* AU),
for some unitary matrix ii. Tnis motivates the definitiori of C-nurnericui rurig fur a
general C E M,, defined by

Wc(A)
= {tr(CU'AU)
introduced in [Goldberg and Straus, 19771.

:U

unitary),

C-NUMERICAL RANGES, RADII

The unitary similarity orbit of A E M,, is

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24(.4) = {Ti* ArJ : U unitary).

Evidently, U ( A ) can he viewed as the collection of all the matrix representations

of a linear operator acting on C" with respect to different orthonormal bases, and
is very useful in studying the linear operator. For example, the linear operator is
normaliself-adjoint!p~>sitive (semi-)definite if and only if U(A) contains a complex
diagonal/real diagonal/(non-negative) positive diagonal matrix; the linear operator is
a scalar multiple of the identity operator if and only if U(A) is a singleton. However,
the set Z.l(A) lies in M, and is difficult to visualize. One way to get around this is to
study the one dimensional projections of the set U(A), i.e., the range of U ( A ) under
there exists
a linear functional. It is known that for every linear functional F on
C E M , such that F ( X ) = tr(CX). Thus Wc(.4) can be viewed as a one dimensional
projection o f iht: unilary similarity ::rbit sf -4 r Mi,. Tn particular. if C = Ell, WC(,4)
W ( A )i:ilr:ies a lot of information concerning the
rcduccs to W'i.4). As shown in
matrix A. As one wc~uiirexpeii, siulijing !:', ( A ) fz-r other C ' E M:, will gve us more
information concernmg the matrix A.
xi;oiice ~ h z the
t ~ : i l eof~ (' and .A in ?he drfini!ion of M.; (A) are sym~nctrii~
i.?..
W<:(A) = W,(C). As a result, we can inxerchange C and A in every theorem on
WC(A) to obtain a statement that may look very different from the original one.
Furthermore, this observation is very useful in proving results on Wc(A).
From now on, we shall always assume C E M,. Let us first consider some basic
properties of Wc(A).
(2.1) For any p, 17 E C and any A E M,, Wc:(pA
(2.2j For any ,4, B E .M?,, Wc( A

+ qf) = p W c ( ~ +j qtr C.

+ B) C_ Wc (A) + Wc(B).

(2.3)
(a) Wc(A) = WC(At)for all A E M, r f m d on& if C' t 14'(C).
(b) Wc (-4) = ~ ~ (fir2 all) A E M, and only i f C E U (C).
(c) Wc(A) = WC(AX),for all A t M, Vand only if C* E U(C).

Proof (a) Notice that Wc(At) = Wcl(A). Thus WA(C) = Wc(A" for all A E M,
is equivalent to WA(C) = WA(Cf)for all A E M,, which in turns is equivalent to the
condition Ct E U(C) by (10.1).
The proof of (b) and (c) are similar.

rn

Statement (2.3) explains why we have statement (1.3j in the classical case. It also
- C E M, for which U(C) contains C" ,, or C*, i.e., C
characterizes those matrices
is unitarily similar to C" C, or C*. In $10, we have a general statement, namely
(10.1), telling us when two matrices are unitarily similar in terms of C-numerical
ranges.
(2.4) For any unitary U , Wc (U AU) = WC(A).
+

As mentioned before, the roles of C and A in Wc(A) are symmetric. Thus by

(2.4) we also have Wv*cv(A) = Wc(A) for any unitary V. As a result, if C is a

58

C-K. LI

normal matrix. we may assume that C = Crzly,E,,, where yi are the eigenvalues
of C. Hence L'c(A) = Wc(A) with c = (rl,.. .,%)'. In the following discussion, we
always interchange the notation of U'~(ii) and f',(A) if C is normal. Furthermore,
if C is a rank k orthogonal projection, we may assume that C = Cr_,Eii and use
the notation & ( A ) instead of &(A).
Statement (2.4) is a partial generalization of (1.4). We shall further discuss possible extension of (1.4) in F4.
Since the unitary group in M, is compact and the mapping from Mn to C defined
by X H tr(CX*AX) is continuous, we have the following result.

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(2.5) For any A E Mn, Wc (A) is compact.

3. CONVEXITY AND STARSHAPEDNESS

One of the most beautiful properties nf !+'(A) IS thr convexity. As n rrsult, whrn
ever a new gencraii7ation OF W ( A ) arises, it is uf interest to know whether it 1s
convex. Besldes giving a deeper insight to the classical result. the study of convexity
for geiieralizei: zumericaj raiigev are
iii fi2;jr;Xer &i;ejqmeiit of ;he ;henrj;
and are sometimes useful in applications (e.g., see [Horn and Johnson, 19911 and
[Fan, 19921).
The problem of convexity of Wk(A) was proposed by Halmos (e.g., see [Halmos,
1967]), settled by [Thompson, 19631 for the normal case and by [Berger, 19631 for
the general case. The convexity result was then generalized to Wc(A) for c E Rn by
j
[Westwick, i 975j (see aiso [Poon, i 980]j. Moreover, Wesrwick showed rhar W C ( A
may fail to be convex if n > 2
We summarize the existing convexity results on Wc(,4) in the following statement.
(3.1 ) Let C E M,. Then Wc(A) is convex .for all A
holds.

E M,

if one

of

the ,following

(a) There exist p , E~C with p # 0 such that p C + VIis hermitian, i.e., C is normal
and the eigenvalues are collinear on the complex plane.
(b) There exists p E C such that C - p I is unitarily similar to (Cij)lli,jlm in block
form, where Cii are square matrices and Cij = 0 if i # j + 1.
(c) There exists p E 63 such that C - p I has rank one.
Statement (3.1.a) is a slight extension of the result in [Westwick, 19751 using (2.1).
The original proof of Westwiek relies on Morse theory. Later, [Poon, 19801 gave an
elementary proof for Westwick's result. We outline Poon's proof in the following.
Suppose C t M, is hermitian. To prove Wc(A) = conv Wc(A), consider
r
P

ti tr(CU,'~u,) = tr

p=
r=l

f A. 1 t
- AtiuiCU;))
.. \\

\ li=,

E conv wc ( A ) ,

where U, are unitary, t, i 0 and Ci=,t, = 1. It is known that if D = XI=,t,UICU,.',

then (e.g., see [Marshall and Olkin, 19791 and $11) the vector of eigenvalues of D

59

C-NUMERICAL RANGES. RADII

is majorized by that of C. By a result of [Goldberg and Straus, 19771 (see also $1I),
p E WD(A) G Wc(A). Thus convWk(A) g Wc(A) and the equality holds.
Statement (3.1.b) is due to [Li and Tsing, 1991aJ. A block matrix (Cij),51,j5m
satisfying the correspclnding condition in (3.1.b) is said to be in block-.rhqi form.
Evidently, if all blocks are 1 x 1. then we get the matrix of a weighted shift c~perator.

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In fact, if C satisfies condition (3.l.h), then Wc(A) is always a circular disk. We shall
return to this topic in 59.
Statement (3.l.c) is due to [Tsing, 19841. As a result of this statement, if n = 2,
Wc(A) is always convex (see also [Goldberg and Straus, 19771).
In some cases, WC(A) can be determined by the classical numerical range of a
matrix in M: as shown in the following result.

(b) S U P ~ ~CFE C
Mn is unituriiv similar to pEll qE12 P I . If A is hermi~lun
with I Y : f i d r;, ar t!ze !~.yzs.tmcl mallc! eigenvalues, then

+ w ~ ( A )= p t r A + tr,trC + (al - a , ) ~ ( e ) ,
+ q~12,;1= alEII+ Q,,E:~E M2.

Wc(A)= p t r A

where

& = pEll

By the fact that Wc(A) = WA(C), which is just a one dimensional orthogonal
projection of U(C), one can rephrase (3.i) as:
(3.3) Let C E M,. Every one dimension orthogonal prujection of LijC'j is coiii;eX if
one of the conditions (3. La)-(3. 1.c) holds.
Notice that U(C) C ( X E M, : tr(X*X) = tr(C*C)). If C is not a scalar matrix,
then U(C) is highly non-convex in the sense that no three distinct points in U(C)
are collinear (e.g., see [Thompson, 19871). However, it is somewhat surprising that
all one dimensional projections of U(C) can be convex.

Open problem: Is there any other type of C E M, for which Wc(A) is always convex?
Open problem: Give a necessary and sufficient condition on C and A in M, such
rhar Wc ( A )is convex.
The following result shows that there is no hope to get other types of normal
matrices C such that Wc(A) is always convex besides those mentioned in (3.l.aj. It
also provides us with examples of non-convex Wc(A).
(3.4) Suppose C E M, is normal. Let 7 be a subset of M,, containing C*. Then
Wc (A) is convex for all A E 7 if and only the eigenvalues of C are collinear on the
complex plane.
Statement (3.4) was conjectured by [Marcus, 19791 conjectured with I equal to
the set of all normal matrices in M,. [Au-Yeung and Tsing, 19831 (see also [AuYeung and Ng, 19831) confirmed and improved Marcus' statement by proving (3.4).

60

C-K. LI

While Wc(A) may fail to be convex even for normal matrices in M3, one may
look for other geometrical properties that Wc(A) enjoys. The following statement
was conjectured by Straus (e.g., see [Goldberg, 19791) and proved by ['I'sing, 19811.

( 3 . 5 ) Suppose C E M,, is normol. Theu for nry A E M,,, Wc(A) is slorshuped with
a-'(lr C)(LIA) LZJ ~ l u t - ~ e n l e r ;
In [Tsing. 19811 thr author :~ct~mlly
provrd thr follnwrng strnngrr result.

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(3.6) Let %(A) C Cn be the collecfion of x = (xl,. ..,x,)' such that XI,...,xn
are the diagonal entries of some X E U(A). Then ).Vn(A) is starshaped with
(tr A/n)(l, ..., 1)' as a star-center:
Since for a normal matrix C with eigenvalues
.. .;I,,, p '.E Wc(A) if and unly
if p = (71, ...,yn)x for some x E Wn(A), one easily deduces (3.5) from the above
statement.
If K 5 C is starshaped. then it is clearly simply conne~,ted.Howrvel. the fc~llowing
quchiii)~~
& o u i ;$>,(A) is siiij tji)Lii.

4.

DIRECT SUM

We try to extend statement (1.7) to W,,-(A) in this section. It seems that such a
generalization is not available even for Wk(A). Our discussion is based on [Li and
Poon, 19901. IJsing the fact that Wc(A) = W21(C)j one can deduce the fnllnwing
result.
(4.1) Suppose A is urziturib similar fo Al 8 A2. Then

Suppose C satisfies condition (3.l.a). Then Wc.(A) reduces to Wc(A) for some c
whose entries are collinear in 43, and we have the following result.
(4.2) Suppose c E Cn, whose entries are collinear in 43. If A is unitarily similar to
A , CPA2, then
Wc(A) = conv U { W,, (A1) + We, (A2) : (c:,c;) = c' P , P a permutation matrix}.

Proof By (4. I), if (c',,c ; ) = ct P for some permutation matrix P , then Wc,( A , ) +
Wc,(A2) C Wc(A). By the convexity of Wc(A) (see (3.1)), we get the inclusion "2."
For the reverse inclusion, suppose c = (yl,...,yn)' and C = C:=,yi Eii. For simpliciiy, we assume c E Rn, otherwise consider aC + P I fur s0iiie siiiiabk L ~ , PE C. Lei
11. = tr(CU* AU) = tr(AUCU*) = tr(Cll Al) + tr(CZ2A2) = tr(D A) E Wc(A), where

T - W l JMERICAL RANGES. RADII

61

and D = Cll 6 C22.Let V, be unitary such that D,= V,*CiiV, is a diagonal matrix for
= 1,2. Then p = tr(DIV:A1 Vl) + tr(U2V; A2V2 j. Since the vector of diagonal entries of D = Dl D2 is rnajorized by c, therc cxist permutation matrices Pi, say 1 5
i < r, such that b =
tiP,'CPi, where t; 0 satisfy
= 1. Consequently,
p = t r ( b , > ) = Cr=lt, t r ( ~ , ' ~ ~ ,where
~ 2 ) , ,4= I;;'A; 6 5 VpA2C72.Since ~ ~ [ P ~ C P , ~ )
E W,, ( A l )+ Wc,(A2)with (ci, c;) = c' P,, the inclusion "C"holds.

x:_,

xr=lr;

Applying (4.2j to the k-numerical range, wc have :he following statement.

(4.3) If A is unitarily similar ro A l

rf, Az

with A1 E M,, then

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W ~ ( A=) conv U { W p ( ~+ ~Wk-p(AZ)

)
:0 5 p

I r, O 5 k - p 5 n - r ) .

By the fact that Wk(A)= LZ',(C) and (4.1), we can generalize (1.4) to the following statemznt.
(4.4) S!~,ninovrr is uttrtarrh' similar to D .:: Z , whew L) e ILI, und L c Mn ,,, x i t isfies 0 t C+2( B )fur art): R L A,,- ., Then WL;[X'A X ) c u',; ( A ) f i r any X E M,,,,,
sarz.ijyir2g Ar' X = I,.

Examples of Z such that 0 E WZ(B)for any 5 include: Z = 0, Z is normal with

zero trace (see (3.5)), Z is nilpotent (see (6.1)). In particular, statement (4.4) is
most useful when C is a normal matrix with many eigenvalues equal to zero.
5.

LOCATION OF wc(A)

0 : uf~ the ~ l l ~ interesting

st
aspects of the study of W r ( A ) is the interplay between its geon~etricalproperties and the algebraic properties of -4.Thus it is useful
to be able to locate Wc(A). If W c ( A ) is convex: it suffices to determine the supporting lines of Wc(A). So we start with those C that satisfy the condition in (3.1).
We first deal with those W,(A) with c k Wn. These results can then be exte~idedto
W c ( A ) for those C satisfying pC + v 1 t 'H, for some p,v E C with p f 0.

(5.1) Ler c = (71,...,7,)' E Rn with 71 > ... > y,,. Suppose A E M, and ( A +A*)/2
has eigenvalues XI >_ . . . 2 A,. If a = C;=,yiX,-i+l and /3 = C:=17iAi, then
As a result, the lines CI= { z E 43 : Rez = a ) and Cz = { z E C : R e z = P ) are the
lefi and right vertical supporting lines of W,(A). Furthermore, we huve
(a) W,(A) C W if und only i[ A E H
' ,.
( b ) W c ( A )C C+ U iR (respectively, W,(A)

C+) if and only iJ' a is non-negative

(respectively,positive).
i~
i c j WC(A)c R + u {Oj (i.especiiiie+, t c ( A ) 5 R + ) &f cand on& $' A E K, and
non-negative (respective&,positive).

One can use the arguments on W ( A ) after (1.9) to get an outer and inner approximations of W c ( A ) for c E R". An program written by this author to plot an

62

C-K.1.1

outer approximation of W,(A) can be found in [Li, Sung and Tsing, 19891. Next we
consider those C that are in block-shift form.

(5.2j Suppwe C E M,, is iiz block-dtqi f o m . T:ten for ary A E M,,, U.;7 (A) is a
circular disk centered at the origin.
How to compute the radius is still an open problem. By (5.1) and the fact that
Wc(.4) = WA(C),if -4 is hermitian with eiger?va!ues n; 1- - 1 n,i and (C + C*),!?
has eigenvalues p1 ... p,, then the radius is I:=,
aipi. (Note that as t r C = 0,
we have p1 > 0 > pn and Cy=,pi = 0. Hence I:=,
aipi > 0 if A f 0.)
Next we turn to those C satisfying (3.1.b). It is difficult to compute the exact
shape or the supporting lines of Wc(A) in this case. We only have the information
when A is hcrmitian (see (3.2)).
For general C E Mn, one can use randomly generated unitary matrices U to cornpute u, = tr(CLJ*dLJ)f Wc(.4), and approximate !1/;-(-4) with sufficiently many such
points.
ALL
viiici
..I
:rL
fur pii-itting -i?liiii icricaf raiigcs rcfy on tiic gciieraiioii of su'ii-

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> >

sets in W r ( A ) . For example. W(,4) 2 W(X*AX). where X F ;1/1,,? with X + S = I?.

and W(X*AX) are ellipt~caldisks. One can then approximate W(A) with sufficiently many such elliptical disks (e.g., see [Marcus and Pesce, 19871). Suppose
c = (.yl,...,y,,)' E Cn. Then for any X E M,.z with X*X = I2 and for any permu. ..
(X'AX) is an eltation (il,. ..,in), (Cy=,yij)(trA - tr(XXAX))/(n- 2) W(,,i.,,)r
liptical disk in W,(A). One can approximate Wc(A) with sufficiently many such
elliptical disks. (e.g., see [Heckman and Li, 19901).
For non-normal C and A, if C and A are iinitarily- similar to (q,j aiid (aii)

lower triangular forms, then Wc(.4) 7 ~

'-I'

~ (+ Cr=3ciinii,
~ 2 ) where

If there is an efficient way to generate w ~ ( A )for f?,A E M2, then one may approximate Wc(A) with sufficiently many ~ ~ ( 2Unfortunately,
) .
there is no easy
algorithm to generate ~ ~ ( for2 general
)
e , A E Mz.

Open problem: Design an eficient algorithm or computer program to generate

Wc(A) for general C and A.
We end this section with the following result that gives an inclusion region for
Wc(A).
(5.3) Let C = Cl + iC2 and A = A1 + iAz with Cl, C2,A1, A2 E 'Hn. Then for any
p E WC(A), R e p E [a,@] where a = C ~ = l { X i ( ~ l ) X n - i + l (-~Xi(C2)Xi(A2)),
l)
and
P = Cy=l{Xi(Cl)Xi(~l)- Xi(C2)Xn-i+l(A2)). By the same argument, we can find
..-..+:--I

.+..:..,

VGILLLUL 3LI 6

--..+-:A.~-

- ~ ~ T T I . I A\

. L V I L L U L I L L I L ~G

**C

\A)

TZI /.,if A\
F,,
F'VC\G
A) J V I

-11

ULL

rn

t LU,

-1
II

TI,.. +, :

these strips gives an inclusion region for Wc (A).

Proof

Suppose C and A satisfy the hypotheses. If U is unitary, and

p

tr(CU*AU),

,
,
,
,
,,
, :+

I ILG LILLGII)GL.LLVIL

,F

VJ

C-NUMERICAL RANGES. RADII

then
R e p = tr(C,U*AlU) - tr(CzU+A2U).

By the fact (e.g., see [Marshall and Oikin, 19791) that

for j = 1,2, we get the conclusion.

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6.

C-SPECTRUM AND SPECIAL BOUNDARY POINTS

Let C E Mn have eigenvalues

uzs a,,.. .,a,,is :he set

71,.

..,y,,. The C-spectrum of A E M, with eigenval-

?lu,, : (il, ..,i,,) a permutation

Notice that Pc(A) = PAJC). Wt: use the notation P,(A) (respectively, P k ( A ) )with
c = (AI(C), ...,h,,(C))' if C is normal (respectively, C is a rank k orthogonal projection).
The concept of C-spectrum is very useful in the study of Wc(A). For the classical
case, see (1.9)-(1.11). We consider the general case in this section.

(6.1 ) For any A E Mn, Pc(A)

C Wc(A).

(6.2) Le[ A E Mn. Suppose C = (c,:,) and A = (aij) are in lower triangular form
such that ji = tr(CA) E dWc(A).
(a) If ci, # cjj, lhen ilij = 0; i f in addition that ai, = uji then only aii can he nonzero in the ith row and the ith column of A.
(b) If C = (Cl)lli,ilm is in block form such that Gi E Mni having all the eigenvalues equal to yi, where 71,...,ym are distinct, then A = A1 @ - . . @ A, such that
Ai E M,,, satisfying
(i) Ai is a scalar matrix i f Cii is not a scalar matrix,
(ii) a is a normal eigenvalue of A if a E P(Ai) (-I P(Aj) for some distinct i
and j,
(iii) W(Ai) n W(A,) = aW(A,) n dW(Aj) for any distinct i and j i f C is
normal.
(6.3) Suppose A E M,, and Wc(A) has a corner p. Then p E Pc(A). As a result,
after app!ying rr~itahleunitary similaritv tran@rms to C and A, we may assume that
C and A are in lower triangular form such that p = tr(CA), and the conclusion in
(6.2) follows.
Statements (6.1)-(6.3) generalize (1.9). If C is normal, then (6.2.b.iiij implies
(6.2.b.ii). In fact, for the k-numerical range, [Marcus and Filippenko, 19781 proved

64

C-K. LI

these statements without (6.2.b.ii) and (6.2.b.iii); [Li, lc)Xhb] obtained these statements for normal C without mentioning the fact that (6.2.b.iil) follows from the
proofs in the paper; the results for non-normal C were obtained in [Li, 1987bI and
[Man, 19921.

7.

C-CONVEX MATRICES

A matrix A t M , is C-convex i f Wc(A) = convPc(A). The notation and terminology of c-convex and k-convex will be used i f C is normal or C is a rank k
orthogonal projection. By (6.1) and (6.3), one easily deduces the following result.
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(7.1) A matrix A E Mn is C-convex and on& i f W(-( A ) is a convex po&gonal disk.

Wc call say ~ i l u ~
i f cthe l ~ i ~ l y g i disk
~ ~ ~ isa idcgc~~clak,
i.c., R;:(A) is a li~lcs c g ~ l ~ e ~ l l
or a po~nt.
. . has eiizpt): inferior, i.e.,
,A .
)
(~7.2) Lef A r MI1.Thei~Gc(A)
on&- If- H ; ( AJ is a line .scgmenz?po.x,ssihb dege~wriir~ lr p o i r z r .

LIRL.(A
. .,j (i-iit~ri'

(7.3) Let A t M,,.

(a) W c ( A ) is a non-degenerate line segment i f and only if each 01-C and A is u
non-scalar normal matrix having collineur eigenvulues in C.
(b) Wc ( A )is a singleton and only C or A is a scalar matrix. As a result, W> ( A )
is a singleton [f and on& [f WC( A ) = {(trC)(trA ) / n ) .
i'he speclaicase

j7.j.aj wiieii WciAj (- ~ -was c"nsidered

iii

ji%"Iarciis

Sail-

d y , 19851 (see also [Li, 1987~1).

W e believe that the point (trC)(trA);n is very special in the study of % ( A ) . It

would be nice to solve the following problems.
Open problem: Is the point (tr C)(trA)/ n always in Wc (A)?
Open problem: Is the point (tr C ) ( t r A ) / n always an interior point of W c ( A ) if
Wc(A) has non-empty interior?
Open problem: Is the point (tr C)(trA ) / n always a star-center of W c ( A ) if W c ( A )
is starshaped'?
For W c ( A ) with C E X,,,
equivalently, W,(A) with c E W n , we have some better
results as shown in the following (see [Li, Sung and Tsing, 19891 for proofs). We
first start with k-convex matrices.
(7.4) Let 1 < k < n, a d let I = min{k,n - k ) . Then A t Mn is k-convex if and only
i f one of the following conditions holds.
) all t E
(a) c o n v p k ( ( e i ' +
~ ePit~ * ) / 2=) Re w k ( e i ' ~=) c o n v { ~pe k ( e i t ~ )for
[O, TI.
(b) A is unitarily similar to Al w A2 such that A1 t M, with m 2 t is normal and
W , ( A ) = &(All.

65

C-NUMERICAL RANGES. RADII

Moreover, if A is k-convex, then A is r-convex for all r

ular, i f A1 satisfies condition (b), then
W , ( A ) = W r ( A 1 )= conv P , ( A l )

for all 1

(7.5) Suppose c = (71,. ..,yn)' E Rn with 'yl L . .

< t and r >_ n - r. In partic-

< r < r,

and

2 yn- Lel

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Then A E Mn is c-convex i f and only if any one of following conditions holds.

(a) A is mc-convex.
( b ) ronvPC((e1'A+ e lrA'),'3) - Re WC(cltA)- conv{Re P,(el'A)) for all t E
(cj

[O, TI.
-4satisfies condition (7.4.h) with k = m,.

Moreover, if A is c-convex, and

if d

E Rn

salisfies md

< m , then A is d-convex.

Extensions of results (7.4) and (7.5) to c-convex matrices with c 6 Cn are not
available. However, if A is also normal, then there are some interesting results
as shown in (7.7). We first state a general result in (7.6). To do that we need the
following notations.
L e t a, a be permutations of (1,. . . ,n}. Denote by C,,, the line segment joining
Za = C:=l.~iag(i), ZT = C:=l~;ar(ij
E Pc(A).
(7.6) If
Wc(A).

IT

and

ure permutations such that an-l is a transposition, then L,, C_

We remark that if an-I is not a transposition, then Wc(A) may not contain L,,.
In fact, in [Au-Yeung and Tsing, 19831 (see also [Au-Yeung and Ng, 1983]), it was
shown that there exists La, not lying in Wc(C*) for a normal C with non-collinear
eigenvalues, and hence the set is not convex.
(7.7)

Let c E Cn. Suppose A E Mn is normal.

(a) Then Wc(A)

conv P,(A).

(b) The equality in (a) holds if and only i f A is c-convex.

(c) If 3convPc(A) C_ u{L,, : an-' is a transposition), then WC(A) is convex.

[Man, 19871 has verified the converse of (7.7.c) up to n 5 6, and claimed that the
same conclusion holds for n = 7.
,'

Open problem: Prove or disprove the converse of (7.7.c).

66
8.

C-K. LI

NORMALITY

While the classical numerical range cannot be used to characterize normal matrices (see (1.10)): the C-numerical range can he used f m this purpose. In this
section, wc concentrate on this subject. References for the discussion are [Marcus.
Moyls and Filippenko, 19781, [Bebiano, 19863, [Li, 1986b & 1987~1,[Li, Tam and
Tsing, 19841, [Li, Sung and Tsing, 19891.
(8.1) Le, C t Mn have eigenvalues 71,. ...y, und characteristic yo&nonzial
det(X1- C ) =
- yi)"i, where 71,.
..,7, ure distinct. Suppose A E Mn has
eigenvalues a,, ...,a,. Then A is normal i f the number of permutations (i,,. ..,in)
with CY=, y,q, E d Wc(A) exceeds

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ny=l(A

ni(ni - 1)
( n - 2)!C,"=,
N (C) = -n,!...n,,,!
Conr.cqicent~i f i)W( (-4) ha5 mow than N(Cj cornerx fhen A is nor-mu/.

(8.2)
.
. Suppose C and A .wfisjj ihe Iypotheses of (6.2.b) Then A is normai if.[or any
I 5 i 5 rn ur 1em1 one of rite ~ollowingC O ~ ~ I ~ Ohvldi
I W

(a) Cii is not u sculur matrix.

( b ) The set of distinct eigenvalues of A, urc contained in

U i f P ( A , ).

By (8.1) or (8.2), we have the following consequence.

(8.3j Siiypme C E 1% has n distinct eigenvalues. Then
the following conditions hnld,~.

is normai

if^ any one of

In the following we present some more characterizations of normal matrices in

terms of C-convexity.
(8.4) Let J (1,. ..,n ) be such that J contains an integer t satisjying n / 2 - 1 5 t 5
n / 2 + 1. Then A E Mn is k-convex for all k E J i f and only i f A is normal.
Statement (8.4) is due to [Marcus, Moyls and Filippenko, 19781 when J = (1,. .. ,
1212).In [Li, Sung and Tsing, 19891, it was shown that the set J can be as small as
:k 5 n / 2 + 1. They also obtained the following result
a singleton { k ) with n / 2 - 1 I
in the paper.
(8.5) Let c E Rn. Suppose m , is defined as in (7.5) and satisfies n / 2 - 1 5 m , 5
n / 2 + 1. Then A E Mn is c-convex i f and only jf A is normal.
By (8.5), we have the following improvement of condition (8.3.b).
(8.6) Suppose c t W" has at leasf n - 1 disfirtct entries. Then A E Mn is c-convex if
and only i f A is normal.

67

c'-NUMERICAL RANGES. RADII

9.

OTHER SYMMETRY PROPERTIES

In 37? wc studied the conditions on C and A such that H<.(.A)is a polygonal

disk. in the fdlowing, we consider these W { . ( A )having other speciai geometricai
properties.

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(9.1) IAetA F M,. The following conditions are equivalent.

(a) Wc-(A) is a circular disk centered ut origin for all C E 7, where 'T is a subset
of M , containing A*.
(b) Wc(A) = pWc(A) for all fi E 7, where 7 is a subset of {e" : t E [0,27r)) containing a fi such that fik # 1 for all k = 1,. ..,n.
jcj A is unitarib similar ICJ (Aii)! ji,j5,
such that A;; are square matrices and
.4,, = O i f i f j - 1.
(d) 13'' cat? be (ircnmpowd i n f o a direct sum of mutual& orthogonal subspaces
" n = l . ' ! . : .:;V,sucl!rlzarA(V:j=I)and.4(Vk)CV~.1 f o r a l l k = 2 , .... m.
jr j p./i ;
;I; ,<) jbr a! p < 1, .;!!~?-p'T i.c 0 FT/~.FPI (4 { p i ' : f E [O,2a ) } cv)nminrng ~i
@ such that fi"
! for all k = 1: ...,ti.
Y_

Kecall that a matrix in block limn (A,!) descr~bedin jY. 1.c) is caiirci
matrix (see 53).

hiock-.rh$

(9.2) Let A E h4, and let .m he a positive integer with m 5 n. The ,following conditions are equivalent.
(a) ,?.v a,zy m?h root of unity p. Wc['A) = Wc(A) for all C E 'T, where -I is a
subser of M,, containing A*.
[b) For any mth root of unity p, p.A E &(A).
(c) A is unitarily similar to (Aij)lli,j5M such that Aii are squure matrices and
Ai, = O i f i f (1,2) ,..., ( m - l , m ) , ( m , l ) .
(d) E n can he drcompsed info a direct sun: qf m~itual&orthogonal subspaces

such that A(V1) = V, and A(Vk) G V k - I ,for all k = 2,. . .,m.

A matrix in block form ( A i j )described in (9.2.c) is called a block-cyclic matrix.

Open problem: If A - pI is of the block-shift form for some p E C,then @%(A)is a
circular disk for all C. Does the converse hold?
Open problem: Characterize those A E M, for which Wc(A) is a circular disk for all
normallhermi~ian(I.
We suspect that if Wc(A) is a circular disk for all normal C , then A is in blockshift form. By (5.1): it is not hard to derive the following result.
(9.3) Let A = H + iK E M,, with H , K E 31,. Then Wc(A) is a circular disk ,for all
C EH
' , if and only if cost H + sintK has the same spectrum for all t E [0,TI.

The circular symmetry of W(A) has been studied by [Chien and Tam, 19931 recently.

68

C-K.LI

The following result is due to [Marcus and Sandy, 19851.

(9.4) A normal matrix A E M, is unitarily similar to a real normal matrix if and

on& i f fVk(A)is symmetric ahour tlze real mis for all k 5 n / 2
The following result relates (9.1)and (9.4).

(9.5) Let A E M,. Then W ( A )is symmetric abouf tlze real axis (or ally axis passing
through the origin)for all C and only if A is unitarily similar to a matrix in blockshifi form.

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It is of interest to study other symmetry properties of Wc(A).

10.

UNITARY SIMILARITY

If A and li arc unitariiy simiiar. then f i r ( A ) = M',-(B) tor all

of this section i s on t h e converqe of rhis statement

C E

M,. The tocus

(10.1) Let A, B E M,. Suppose 7 is a subset 01 M, conraining A*,B'. Then Wc(A)

= Wc(B)fir all C E 7 qand only if A are B are unitarily similar, i.e., a(A) = U(B)
[Goldberg and Straus, 19771 obtained statement (10.1)for 7 = M,. [Li and Tsing,
19891 showed that it suffices to let 7 = {A*,B*).
It would be nice if we can let 7
be a small set independent of A and B and get the conclusion (10.1).However,
even if 7 is the collection of a!! normal matrices, we do not have (10.1) as s h e w
in the following example due to M. D. Choi.

(10.2) Let A = ElZ+ 2E23 and B = A'. Then Wc(A)= Wc(B)for all normal C.
but A and B are nor unitarily similar.
The above discussion motivates the following questions.

Open problem: Is it true that Wc(A)= Wc(B)for all normal C if and only i f B E

U(A) or B' E U(A)?

Open problem: Determine the conditions on A and B so that Wc(A)= Wc(B)for
all C E 7 , where 7 is the set of all hermitian, unitary or normal matrices.
Related to the above problems, we have the following result.

(10.3) Suppose A,B E M, and at least one of them is normal. Then Wk(A)= Wk(B)
for aii k 5 nj2 i f and only if A and B are unitariiy simiiar:
Proof Suppose A or B is normal. The condition that Wk(A)= Wk(B)for all
k 5 n / 2 is equivalent to the condition that both A and B are normal and have the
same eigenvalues. The result follows.

69

C-NUMERICAL RANGES, RADII

11.

INCLUSION RELATIONS

One interesting topic in the study of Wc(,4) is the inclusion relations for T.V( (A).
We have the following general result.

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jWUjA)& conv T.1/; (,4)

(11.1) Suppose C. D E M,. Then D t convZi(Cj Ifiltzd o n l ~z
for all A E M,,.
Recall that if c,d E IWn, we say that c majorizes d if the sum of the m largest
entries of c is not less than that of d for m = 1,...,n, and the equality holds when
m = n. If c, d E C , we say that d is obtained from c by a pinching if d is obtained by
replacing two entries p, v of c by and D, where Q, and 0 both lie in the line segment
joining p and v and p + u = /I
+ 0. For the definitior, and properties of majorizatinn
and pinching, see [Marshall and Olkin, 19791 and [Goldberg and Straus, 19771.
By (11.1) and some properties zf m@orizatinn, we can deduce the following results of [Goldberg and Straus. 19771.
1 . 2 ) Suppose c. d E R". The following condiiiom are eyuivalent:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

d = Qc for come douh$ r:ochastic matrh Q.

d is obtained from c by a finite number o/ pinchzngs.
d is mnjorized by c.
ljTd(A)C WC(,4)for .4 = I and for all A =
E,, with k 5 n/2.
Wd(A) c WC(A)for all A E M,,.

c:=~

IS c,d E C n , then

( b ) implies (e), nnd ( a ) is equivalent to:

(f) W d ( A ) con\ U7,(A) for aN A c 7, ~,vhereI is

diagonal matrices.

(i

subset

of

M,: containing all

Other inclusion relations that can be derived from (11.2) are contained in [Coldberg and Straus, 19771.
12.

FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES

(12.1) Let c E Rn. Then the c-numerical range is the unique function from M,, to K,
the collection of compact subsets in C,satisfiing (2.1), (2.5) (3.1) and (5.1.b).
Statement (12.1) can be viewed as a functional characterization of the c-numerical range. The proof can be obtained by a simple modification of that in [Horn and
Johnson, 19911. The Key idea is:
If F : A[, i K satisfies (2.1), (2.5), (3.1) and (5.l.b), then (2.5) and (3.1) guarantees that F(A) is a compact convex set and hence can be determined by the left
) all t t [ 0 , 2 ~ ]and
, such lines are uniquely determined
supporting lines of ~ " F [ Afor
a
by condition (2.1) and (5.1.b).

Open problem: Give (I functional characterization for W c ( A ),fi)r nun-hermitian C.

(12.2) Consider the product topology on M , x M, induced by the usual norm topology on M,, and the Hausdorff metric on K. The function from M, x M, i K: defined

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by ( C ,A) H Wc(A) is continuous. More precisely, we have

13.

LINEAR PRESERVERS OF THE C-NUMERICAL RANGE

In this section. we focus on those linear operators on M , leaving the C-numerical

turrlr
!ha! suchlinear map; art. c-ust.lj. rel~tt.:! t u t f . , ~ s e!inear
eL ;tw:.rial?!.
operators mapping a unitary similarity orbit onto itself. We !ist the resu!ts in the
foilowlng. Their pruofs can be found in !LI and Tsing, 1Y88a & iYt(t(b]7 !Li and
Tsing, 1991h], [Man, 1991j, [Li, Mehta and Rodman, 19941 and [Pierce and Watkins,
19781.

r -L Lt inA r r r

ih-

.dL

(13.1) Suppose C E M,, is normal or satisfies rank(C - 71) = 1 for some 7 E C. Let
L be a linear operator on M,,. The following conditions are equivalent.
(a) L satisfies
wc(i(A)j = WC(Aj J'or aii A t M,,.

...

(b)

i satisfies
convW,(L(A)) = conv Wc(A)

(c) L is

for all A E M,,

of the firm

for some unitary matrix U, p r C and a linear functional f on Mn satisjjing

(i) p t E U ( t ) with t = C - (trC)I/n, and
(ii) f (A) = (1- p)tr C l n if tr C f 0.

(13.2) Suppose C satisfies the hypothesis of (13.1). Let L be a linear operator on

M,. The following conditions are equivalent.
(a) L(U(C)) = U(C)
(b) L(convU(C)) = convU(C).

(c) L is of the form

for some unitary matrix U , p t C and a matrix D satisjjing

(e)

(i) p? E u
with = C - (tr C)I/tt, and
(ii) D = (trC)I/n if t r C # 0.

C-NUMERICAL RANGES, RADII

(13.3) Let C E M,. A linear operator L on M , satisfies

U',(L(A)) = 1%.(,4)

for aN -4 E M,,

~ f a n don[y ifrhe dual linear operator L* sati~:fie.~

L*(U(C))= M(C).
[Li and Tsing, 1988a & 1988bl also obtained results on linear preservers of the
C-numerical range on H
' , for C E En.
Open problem: Determine the structure of linear preservers of W c ( A )for general C .
14.

CLASSICAL NUMERICAL RADIUS

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The classical numerical radius of A is defined by

As in $1; we list some basic properties of the classical numerical radius that are
relevam ri; cur discu~sic\r!in !ater sections. For the proofs, one may see [Horn and
Johnson. 19911, [Goldberg, 19793, and their references.
jl5.I j

i h c numericai rudi~iiisis a iioim on Mn s~ris&ingthe fh!!+ving properties.

(a) r ( A m )5 r m ( A )for all A t M,,, and all k = 1,2,. .. .

(b) v r is sub-multiplicative i f and only i f v 4.
( c ) r ( X * A X )5 r ( A ) for all A E M,,) and all X E M,,,, satisfying X * X = I,, the

>

equality holds i f rn = n.
(d) r( A ) = m a x { r ( A),~r f A z ) ) if A is unitarily similar to A1
(e) r ( A ) = p(A) i f A is normal.

$ A2.

Suppose f ( A ) = fAt, f3 or fA*. Thc.n r ( A ) = r V (Ajj for

(14.2) Let A E .Mn,
all A E M,,. As a result, we have r ( ( f ( A ) + A ) / 2 ) < r ( A )for all A E M,.
(14.3) For any A E Mia

(Cy=isi(A)),/n5 r ( A ) und p(A) 5 r ( A ) < I(A((< 2r(A).

(14.4) A non-zero matrix A

E M,,

satisfies

it is unitarily similar to the direct sum of a unitary matrix and unit multiples of 2 x 2
matrices of the form

(14.5) A matrix A E M, satisfies ( ( A (=( 2 r ( A ) i f and on& iJ A is unitarily similar to

with r ( B ) <.

4.

(14.6) A matrix A
conditions holds.

M, sarisfies r ( A ) = 11 All if and only i f any one of the following

72

C-K.LI

(a) p 2 ( ~ -) A*
~ A is positive semi-definite.
( b ) I I AmI ( = I I A1 l m for all m E 7, where 7 is a subset of positive integers containing
an integer exceeding the degree of the minimal polvnomial of A.
( c ) A is urzitarih similar to 11 A/I(C' .> B ) where U is unitary and B is a contraction.

(14.7) A matrix A
conditions holds.

F M,

satisfies p(A) = r ( A ) if and only if any orze of the following

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( a ) r ( A ) = l l All.
( b ) r ( A m )= r m ( A )for all m E I , where 7 is a subset of positive integers containing an integer exceeding the degree of the minimal poIynomial of A.
(c) A is unitarily similar to r(A)(U m B ) where U is unitary and r ( B ) < 1 is a
contraction.
A matrix A is spectral if p(A) = r ( A ) , is radial if ,@(A)
= !/All.In view of (14.7), a
! i l l i s n n f npcpSS,rv
, e -r l\ A- \
One may characterize convex matrices using the spectral radius and spectral norm.

=n
..*=.n n i p
%

f p r t h n c ~,4 c,ficfx~jnn

- j

IW, is convex if uizd oii& blone of the following zorzditwns holds.

(14.8) A millrk A

'

(a) [ ( ( A- p l ) ' 1 1 5 dist(p7convP(A))- for all 11, @ convP(A).

( b ) r ( A - P I ) = p(A - P I )for all p E C.
It is of interest to compare the numerical radius with other type of norms. For
the comparisori of the iiiiiiierical rabi-iis with the row wm riorm or the coltiiiiii
sum norm. see [Horn and Johnson. 19911. For the comparison of the numerical
radius with other unitarily invariant norms N on ME, i.e., those norms N satisfying N ( U A V ) = N ( A ) for any A EM, and for any unitary U and V , we have the
following result (see [Johnson and Li, 19881).

(14.9) Suppose N is a unitarily invariant norm on M,. Then

N ( D ) - ' N ( A ) 5 r ( A ) 5 N ( E I ~ ) -N
' (A)

for all A

E M,,

Some special cases of N have been discussed in detail, and the conditions for
equalities have been studied in [Johnson and Li, 19881.
Denote by r* the dual norm of r. By (14.3) and the fact that the dual norm of
11 . ( 1 is the trace norm, which is the sum of all singular values, we have

Notice (e.g. see [Johnson and Li, 19881) that if r ( X ) 5 1 then

k

xsi(~)<min{2k,n)
i=l

for k = l , ..., n.

73

C-NUMERICAL RANGES. RADII

It follows that itr(AX)l 5

sl(A)sl(X5
) C I C ( n + I ) , 2 ~ ,+( A
~)i ~ n , z ~ and
l(A),
+i),,fl,(A)+ ~ , < , , , 2 ~ I (~urthermore,
A).
i f the equality holds,
hence r ' ( A ) 5
the11 there exists

x,i(,l

i f n = 2m is even,
E

m+E l

if n

= 2m

+ 1 is odd,

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and a unitary matrix U such that t r ( A U X U * )= t r ( U * A U X )= C,,(,,+,,,,si(A)

Ci<
n 1 2 s l ( A )It. will then follow that
-

where ( I L I = ! and A: = dlag(s:!A).. . . ,.!,,i!il!!,

A2 E M,. One e a d y verlheh that
such an A satisfies the equality. Together w ~ t hthe results of [Okuho, 19931, we have
the following statement.
(14.10) Let A E M,. Then
( A )

s i ( A ) 5 2 x s i ( ~5)?r*(.4) 2 2 n ! l A ! .

, ( A )t
i <n / 2

i<(n+l)/2

i =l

( a ) r * ( A )= C i 5 ( n + l ) 1 2 ~ i+
( A~) i -< , l Z ~ ,$( and
~ j only i f there exists a unifary
matrix U such that

U'AU =

c3

:(

$ (p)

if

n = 2m is even,

if

n = 2m + 1 is odd,

where p E 67 satisfies ( p = S , + I (A),and A I = diag(sl(A),. . . ,s,(A)), Az E Mm.

s, (-4) i f and only i f A is unitarily similar to

( b ) r* ( A )= 2

x:=,

~ j, l n 1 2 ~ l ( A2C:_,.\,(,l)
)
$'ad or:!;, I;f: ; ( A )= !!fi!r a!!
(cj ~ I s ( n + l ) , 2 ~ i-i( A
i ( n + 1)/2.
(d) C i < ( n + l , 1 2 s i ( +
A )~ i < n 1 2 ~ ,=( 2Ar)* ( A ) if :rnd only i f A is a normal mutrix
with rank not larger than n/2.
(e) C:=ls i ( A ) = r * ( A )i f rznd only i f A is normal.

>

74

C-K. LI

(f) Cr=,si(A) = nllAll if and only i f p A is unitary for some p.

(g) r*(A) = rill All if and only if A is unitariEy similar to

where A1,A2 E Mm, A3 E MnPZm,A], A3 are unitary.

Next we turn to the unit norm ball B of Mn with respect to the numerical radius.
[Ando,1973] has the following characterizations for the matrices in B.

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(14.11) A matrix A E Mn satisfies r(A) 5 1 if and only if one of the following conditions holds.
(aj There exists Z E 'Ft, such that

i-Z/
is piisirive semi-definite.
(b) There exisz Z E ' H , such that W ( Z )& [ - I, 11 and a contraction B suctz thut

z)'/~.
A = ( I - z)'/'B(I
(cj There exists X, Y E M,,, such that X X * + YY* = In and A = 2XY'.
(14.12) A matrix is an extreme point of the unit norm ball of r* if and on& if if is
of the form ei'xx* with x E S and t E [0,27rI.

The determination of the extreme points of B is highly non-trivial even if n = 2

(e.g., see [Hopenwasser, Moore and ~aulsen,19811). For n 2 3, some results along
this line can be found in [Choi and Li, 19931. Other inequalities involving the numerical radius can be found in [Gottlieb, Johnson and Spitkovsky, 19941. We end
this section with the following linear preserver result proved in [Li, 1987bl.
(14.13) A linear operator L on Mn satisfies
r(L(A)) = r(A)
if and only
A EM,,.

if

there exists p E a3 with

for all A E M,,

= 1 such that W(L(A)) = pW(A) for all

Results on 7 i n analogous to (14.13) are available in the same reference.

15. C-NUMERICAL RADIUS

Analogous to the classical numerical radius, we can define the C-numerical radius
of A E Mn by
rc(A) = max{lzl : z E Wc(A)).
In the next few sections, we shall present results on C-numerical radii. Notice that
since Wc(A) = WA(C), we have rc(A) = rA(C). We start with some basic properties of the C-numerical radius in the following statement. Proofs can be found in

75

C-NUIMERICAL RANGES. RADII

[Goldberg and Straus, 19791 and [Li and Tsing, 19891 (see also [?/larcus and Sandy,
19821 and [Tam, 19861).
(15.1)

The C-nrrrnerical radius is rt semi-rtorw on 14, ihii siiilsfles the f ~ l b w k g

(a) rc u ulways a norm on M,',. i

k ciillecizor~of all matrzces with zerv rrcrcc.
(b) rr is a norm on M , and only if tr C # 0 and C is not a rcalar matrix.
( c) ry(U * AU j = rc (A) for atzy A E M , n ~ l d
for m y unitury l i

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A (semi-)norm N on M, is unitary similarity invarianr if N ( U ' A U ) = N ( A ) for

any A E M , and any unitary U. The following result due to [Mathias, 19891 (see also
[Li and Tsing, 1991bl) shows that C-numerical radii can be viewed as the building
blocks of ~tnitarysimilarity invariant (semi-)norms.
(15.2) For any unitary similarity invarianl (semi-)nurrn 1%' on M,,, there exists a (not
necessari&) compact subset t of M,, such rhar

Then r r ! A ) = max{jtr(AX)l : X E V(C)). Furthermore, we have the foiiowing result.

(15.3) A matrix A E M, is an extreme poiiit of the unit norm ball of r;

if and onlv

if A E V(C). Consequently, lhe unzt norm baii eqnais conv L'(Cj.

There are many interesting consequences of the siiiip!e ubservatior! (15.3) as
shown in the following.

ix

or kX*.Then r c ( A ) = rc(f ( A ) )
(15.4j For atzy X E M,, let f ( X ) = i X 1 ,
for all '4 E
if and' on@ if f j C j E Y(L.'j. Ii indeed, f ( C ) E i/(Cj, then r c ( ( J ' ( A )
+ A ) / 2 )5 r c ( A ) f o r all A E M,.
Proof

Similar to that of (2.3).

(15.5) Let A, B E M,. Then Y(A) = V(B) i f and only

I , where 7 is a subset of M,, containing A* and B*.

if rc(A)

= r c ( B ) for all C E

(15.6) Let C,D t M,. Then

r u ( A ) < r[.!A)

for all A E Mn

if and only i f D E convV(C)

As mentioned in $14, it is difficult to determine the extreme points of the unit
ball of rc in M, even for the classical case. The problem is easier if we consider r,
on 3-1, with c E Rn (see [Lj and Tsing, i'iiiilajj. Notice that if c = (ci, . . . ,c,)' E Rn
with cl 2 . . . 2 c,, and if A t R, has eigenvalues XI 2 . . . 2 A,?. then

76

C-K. LI

Suppose r, is a norm, i.e., Err,ci # 0 and c is not a scalar multiple of C:,, ei. Let
E; = {(Cr=l
ci)-'I), &,C = -&;,
and let Ef, 1 5 k < n, be the collection of matrices
A in 3-1, with eigenvalues A1 = . . - = A, \, At + I = ... = A, satisfying 1
c,Xr =
- C:ll c,Xn _,+ 1. Using these notations, we are ready to state the following result.

XI'=,

(15.7) Let c = ( c l ,...,c n j ' ~ W with

n cl 2 - - - c ,he such that r, is n norm. . Y u p
pose rn = minip, q}, where cl = . . - = c, > cp7l and c, = . . . = c , - ~ + 1 < c,,. +. Then
the set of' extreme points of the unit ball of rc zrz H,, equals

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16. C-SPECTRAL AND C-RADIAL MATRICES

The C-spectral radius of A is defined by

and the C-syectrul norm of A is defined by

!]Allc - mm{ltr(CUAl')i : U . V are unitary).

It is known (e.g., see [Li, Tam and Tsing. 19841) that lIAl!c = C:=,si(,C)si(,A).
Evidently, when C = Ell, pc(A) and llAllc reduce to the spectral radius and the spectral norm of A. One easily checks that 1 1 .
is a unitarily invariant norm. Furthermore, analogous to (15.2), one can show that corresponding to every unitarily
iwariant narm "V on M, there is a ccmpact subset E C M, such that

N ( A ) = max{iiAilc : C e E )

fiii

all

A t ,%fn.

Relating to the C-numerical radius, we have the following result.

(16.1) For any ,4 E M,, pc(.4) I

rc(A) L [I Allc.
A matrix A E M, is C-spectral if pc(A) = rc(A), and is C-radial if pc(A) = 11 Allc.
We have the following characterization for C-spectral matrices.
(16.2) A matrix A E M, satisfies pc(A) = rc(A) i f and on& i f there exists a unitary
matrix U such that
(a) U*CU = (Cij)lli,jlmis in triangularform with Cii E M,, having all eigenvalues equal to yi, where 71,. ..,y, are distinct,
(b) U *AU = A1 $ . . . @ Am with Ai E M,,, and rc(A) = EE,yi(trAi).
Notice that if A is C-spectral, then P<:(A)fl dWc(A) # 4. Thus the results in 56
are applicable. In particular, the normality of A t M, can be determined by Cspectrality (see $8). Furthermore, we have the following generalization of (14.8).
( 1 6.3) Suppose A E M,. Then Wc( A) conv PC(A) i f and only i f there exists ? =
C + 71 with TI # -tr C / n such that pP(A P I ) = rc(A + p l ) for all p E C. In particular, if W c ( A ) is convex, then the above conditions are equivalent to the C-convexity
oJ-A.

77

C-NUMERICAL RANGES. RADII

Next we turn to C-radial matrices. Unlike the classical case, rc(A) = ((Al(cmay
not imply pc(A) = IIAllc. For example, rc(C*) = IIC*llc for any C E M,, but pc(C*)
= IIC*JJcif and only if C is normal,
(16.4) A matrix A E M nsatisfies pc(A) = j j A j jc $and on& C is unitari& similar
lo Cl @ C2 and A is unitarily similar to Al cg A2 such that Cl, A, E Mm are diagonal
rnatriccs xdi+f,ing C.'1.41 = I / ( ~ ~ ~ l . ~ i ( ~ ) . T i ( ~ ) ~ jEi 'M,,,
)
with ( p (= 1 and at least one
u j C2 or A2 is the zero matrix.

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By (16.4), we can concentrate on the characterization of C-radial matrix for normal C. In some cases, we have the analogy of the classical result as shown in the
following.

(16.5) Let C E M, he normal with distinct eigenvulues 71,. ..,rmsuch that lyl (
. . > ( 7 m 1. 77zen A E M, is C-radzai 0-and only if rc(A) = jlAijc.

>

Notice thal the hypothesis on C is necessary for the cmc!usim ir, (165). Fnr
example if C = Ell - Ez. A = EII+ Ek, - E2, - E22 E MZ,then pc(A) = 0 < 2 =
r c . j A )= Ailc,.
(16.6) A matrix A E Mnsatisfies rc(A) = 11 Allc if and only if there exist unitary matrices U, V, X such that U*CU =
and V*AV =
where t =
si (c)E~,
and = y Cy=,.T,(A)E,~with Jy1 = 1.

x*A

xr=l

Proof The if part is dear. !?nr the only if part, suppose rc(A) = ((Allc. By ap,
Y
plying a suitable unitary transform to C, we may assume that C = e ~ where
is unitary and c =
si(C)Eii. Then there exists a unitary Z siidi thzt \[Allc =
(tr(CZ"AZ)I = J ~ ~ ( ~ Y z * A zSuppose
)J.
YZ*AZ = (pij). Then C:=l~i(C)~i(A)=
llA(lc = I Cy-l.~i(C)pi;l.If ? = r l I n l C D . . . @ ~ ~with
I ~ 7,1 > ... > ym, then YZ'AZ
= A1 @ . . . $ A m with Ai r M,,, and there exists Y such that vA; is positive semidefinite for all I = 1,. .., rn. Moreover, every eigenvalue of vA; is larger that the
eigenvalues of vAi +l for all i = I,. ..rn - I. Let UiE M,, be a unitary matrix such
that vU;AiU, is a diagonal matrix with diagonal entries arranged in descending
order. Let U =. Ul $ . . . $ U r n . Then U*CU = &(u*Yu), and U*YZ*AZU = A =
D C ~ = , S ~ ( A )Set
E ~X~ .-. U*YU and V = ZU. Then V*AV = x*A. The result follows.

z;",!

The discussion of this section is based nn [Li, Tam and Tsing, 19841, [Li, 1987bl
and [Man, 19921.

17. CQMP.4RISON OF C-NUMERICAL RADII WITH OTHER NORMS

Given two norms Nl and N2 on a finite dimensional vector spaces, it is of interest to find the largest and smallest positive numbers a and P such that aNl(x) <
N2(x) < /3Nl(x) for all x. In this section, we consider the results relating the Cnumerical radius and other norms. Our discussion base mainly on the results in [Li,

78

C-K.LI

19911. Earlier results on this topic can be found in [Goldberg and Straus, 1977, 1979,
1982 & 19831.
The diameter o f a convex set 7 F K: is the maximum distance between two parallel supporting lines o f 'I.
(17.1) Let C E Mn be a non-scalar matrix. Suppose
diameter 6. n e n
a r ( A ) L rc(A) 5 Pr(A)

.i =

j tr Ci > 0 and W ( Cj has

for all A E Mn,

where
i f t r C ~W(C);
(b) a = 67 / 12tr C - (yl + yn) 1 i f tr C 4 W ( C )and pC is hermitian with eigenvalues
712 . . . 2 m for some non-zero p E C.
( c ) CY = 67j(2jl- 1j n ) ~
+ 6 ) i f tr C 6 W [ C )and pC is not hermitian lor any nunzero !I. 63.
(.d) p = ~ ~ r l s Ifi C
( ~
is normal.
)
,i.Z
~
~
i
+
C
Elj j n i .F, (C) jf C ix not normal
i e j r3 =
- ,,*

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(a) a

=T

(17.2) Let C t Mn be a non-scalar matrix. Suppose

diameter 6. Then

T=

ltrCl> 0 and W ( C ) has

where
= , ~2 j tirC E W (Cj;
( b ) CY = 6 7 1 14tr C - 2(yl + .yn)l i f tr C 4 W ( C )and pC is hermitian with eigenvalues yl . . . 2 7 , for some nun-zero p E C.
(c) CY = 6 ~ / ( 4 ( 1 l- / n ) +~6) i f trC $! W ( C )and pC is not hermitian for any nonzero p E 63.
(d) P = Cy=,si (C).

>

<

.
one can compare the CNotice that IIAIIsl(A) 5 llAllc IIAII C ; = l ~ i ( C )Thus
spectral norm and the C-numerical radius using (17.2).
(17.3) Let a , p satisfi the conditions in (17.2). Then vrc is multiplicative

if

>

Pb2.
Open problem: Find the largest a in (17.1), and the smallest v in (17.3).
Next we consider inequalities relating the C-numerical radius and the C-spectral
norm. It is known (see $16) that rc(A) 5 llAllc for all A E Mn, and it is not easy
to determine the smallest ,8 > 6 siidi iiiai iiir(ic 5 ,Grc(A) for all A E Mn. With the
help o f (15.7), we have the following result for r, i f c E W n .
(17.4) Suppose c satisfy the hypotheses of (15.7). Let A" = (ELlc,)-'I, and for
k 5 ( n + 1)/2 let Ak = p ( ~ : =
~ i~i +) ~ ( x y = ~ + ~with
E i ip)> V and 1 = ~ ( Ck ~ = ~ c i ) +

C-NUMERICAL RANGES, RADII

v ( C L ~ci)+=~- v ( ~ y i Fci) + P ( C ~cn-i+1)

= ~ Then

'{
,

''A''c

2,0rC(A)

forall

A'&,

for all

A t M,,

where ,O = max{rc(Ak): 0 5 k I
( k + 1)/2).

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Proof Notice that on E n , /3 can be chosen as the maximum of 11A ( ( ,among all A
lying in the set of extreme points of the unit ball of r, in Rn.The result then follows
from (15.7). For general matrices in M,, notice that for any A = H + i G E Mn with
H,G EH
' , we have r,(H), r,(G) 5 rc(A) and hence

I n [Li, 1986a1, the best constant P relating rk and /[ . !Ik has been studied in detail.
Moreover, inequalitjes relating rk for different ir werc ubiaiiieb. One car, use (!=7)
to compare rc and rd for different c.d E Rn.
18.

LINEAR PRESERVERS OF THE C-NUMERICAL RADIUS

We present the known results on linear preservers of the C-numerical radius in

this section, and the related results on linear operators mapping a circular unitary
similarity orbit onto itself. References of the discussion are [Li and Tsing, 1988a,
1988b & 1991h1, [Man, 19911 and [Li, Mehta and Rodman, 19931.

(18.1) Suppose C E M, satisfies any one of the following conditions. (i) C E 7-1,. (ii)
rank(C) = 1. (iii) C is normal with non-zero trace. A linear operator L on Mn satisfies
r c ( L ( A ) )= rc(A)

for all A E M n

i f and only i f there exists p E 47 with Ip(= 1 such that W c ( L ( A ) )= p W c ( A ) for all
A E Mn.

(18.2) Suppose C E Mn satisfies the hypotheses of (18.1). A linear operator L on

M, satisfies L(V(C)) = V ( C ) and only i f there exists p E C with )pi= 1 such that
L(U(C)) = W('3
(18.3) A linear operator L on M, satisfies
r c ( L ( A ) )= r c ( A )
ijf m

for all A E Mn

d on& (f tthe d ~ linear

d
operator L* satisfies L"(V(C))= V(C).

The inner C-spectrul radius is fic(A) = min{lzl : z E Pc(A)), the inner C-nurnerical radius is Pc(A) = min{(zl : z E Wr.(A)).The following result was proved for
rank one C with non-zero trace in [Li, Mehta and Rodman, 19941. One can use
the same technique to prove the result for normal C with non-zero trace.

80

C-K. LI

(18.4) Suppose C E Mn satisfies the hypotheses of (18.1) and trC # O. A linear operator preserves the inner C-numerical radius if and only if it preserves the C-numerical
radius.

Open problem: Determine the structure of linear preservers of the (inner) C-numerical radius for general C .
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author wishes to thank Professors I? Binding, D. Farenick, B. S. Tam, R.

Westwick and the referee for some helpful comments.

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