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Re: Optimization problem

Subject: Re: Optimization problem
From: "Robert Israel"
Date: 31 Oct 2006 08:14:07 -0800
Newsgroups: sci.math
Daniel Mayost wrote:
> I don't know if this helps, but there exist unitary matrices Q,R,S,T,U
> such that:
>
> Tr(AQ)=Tr(BR)=Tr(CS)=Tr(DT)=Tr(EU)=0
>
> Take A as an example.  Note that both I and -I are unitary.  Since
> the space of unitary matrices is connected, there exists a continuous
> path from I to -I in this space.  Since Tr(AI)=Tr(A) and Tr(-AI)=-Tr(A),
> by the Intermediate Value Theorem there exists a unitary matrix U along
> this path such that Tr(AU)=0.

There do exist such unitary matrices (for n x n matrices if n > 1, as I

remarked in my other posting in this thread), but the Intermediate
Value Theorem does not prove it, because it doesn't apply
to complex-valued functions.  Note that the result would not be true
for n=1, even though U(1) is connected.

Robert Israel                                israel@xxxxxxxxxxx
Department of Mathematics        http://www.math.ubc.ca/~israel
University of British Columbia            Vancouver, BC, Canada


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