JULIUS, HAYDEN, August 2021 PURE MATHEMATICS NONSTANDARD SOLUTIONS of LINEAR PRESERVER PROBLEMS (111 Pages) Dissertation Advisor
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JULIUS, HAYDEN, August 2021 PURE MATHEMATICS NONSTANDARD SOLUTIONS OF LINEAR PRESERVER PROBLEMS (111 pages) Dissertation Advisor: Mikhail Chebotar Linear preserver problems concern the characterization of linear operators on matrix spaces that leave invariant certain functions, subsets, relations, etc. We present several linear preserver prob- lems whose solutions may be considered nonstandard since they differ significantly from classical results. In addition, we also discuss several related linear preserver problems with standard solu- tions to highlight the phenomena observed. NONSTANDARD SOLUTIONS OF LINEAR PRESERVER PROBLEMS A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Hayden Julius August 2021 c Copyright All rights reserved Except for previously published materials Dissertation written by Hayden Julius B.S., Cleveland State University, 2016 M.S., Kent State University, 2019 Ph.D. Kent State University, 2021 Approved by Mikhail Chebotar , Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Joanne Caniglia , Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Feodor Dragan Mark L. Lewis Dmitry Ryabogin Accepted by Andrew M. Tonge , Chair, Department of Mathematical Sciences Mandy Munro-Stasiuk , Interim Dean, College of Arts and Sciences TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................. iv PREFACE........................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................. ix 1 An introduction to linear preserver problems.................... 1 1.1 Types of linear preserver problems............................1 1.1.1 Subset preservers..................................1 1.1.2 Function preservers.................................5 1.1.3 Relation preservers.................................7 1.1.4 Transformation preservers............................. 10 1.2 Generalizations....................................... 12 1.3 Nonstandard solutions of linear preserver problems................... 13 2 Maps preserving certain elements of a subset.................... 17 2.1 On maps sending rank-k square-zeros to square-zeros.................. 20 2.2 On maps sending rank-t idempotents to idempotents.................. 24 2.3 Related problems and conjectures............................. 31 3 Maps preserving nonzero Lie products........................ 37 3.1 Commutativity preservers and Herstein's Lie isomorphism problem.......... 42 3.2 On maps preserving Lie products equal to e12 ...................... 45 3.2.1 Some results on triangularization......................... 45 iv 3.2.2 The main result................................... 47 3.3 On maps preserving Lie products equal to e11 − e22 ................... 57 3.4 Related problems and conjectures............................. 61 4 Maps preserving nonzero ordinary products..................... 64 4.1 Maps preserving products equal to fixed invertible matrices.............. 65 4.2 Maps preserving products equal to a diagonalizable matrix............... 69 4.3 Related problems and conjectures............................. 77 5 Maps preserving roots of nonhomogeneous polynomials.............. 84 5.1 Maps preserving the square roots of an idempotent matrix............... 89 5.2 Maps preserving the square roots of a rank-one nilpotent................ 92 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................... 98 v PREFACE The main goal of this dissertation is to illustrate the general framework of linear preserver problems (LPPs) and introduce new results that complement, generalize, or stand in contrast to existing theorems in the literature. However, LPPs form an extremely active research topic that incorporates objects and techniques from matrix theory, operator theory, noncommutative algebra, projective and algebraic geometry, functional analysis, etc., and in what follows, we will have need to discuss many preserver problems that touch on many of these areas. Consequently, I have decided in many places to state a known result in a simplified form and not in its full, optimal form. For instance, there are plenty of results below that hold for matrices over an arbitrary field or even on rectangular spaces of matrices, but it will be convenient to simply think of complex square matrices. Hence the theorems being represented here (more than likely) appear differently in their actual papers. There are close to 70 individual preserver problems mentioned in what follows, and thus it would be a significant task for the reader to keep track of each problem's minor differences. I will explicitly mention the full, optimal form if relevant to the matter at hand. I have also used uniform notation throughout. Hence the reader can usually expect the LPPs mentioned below to be stated on complex square matrices. The Greek letter φ is always reserved for the mapping between matrix spaces being discussed (unless a specific example has been defined). The hypotheses on φ might change from paragraph to paragraph and theorem to theorem. I have tried to make this as clear as possible. A list of fixed notations that I use throughout the document without reference is provided on page viii. Now I will also list the conventions used. Each vector in a finite-dimensional vector space over a field is represented as a column vector, and matrix multiplication is on the left. Furthermore, vi if T~ and S~ are two linear transformations with T and S their matrices relative to some ordered basis, then the matrix multiplication TS represents the composition T~S~, so that S~ \acts first” on the vector space. The full algebra of n × n matrices over a field F is denoted Mn(F ). I stipulate that whenever Mn(F ) is written, it is inherently assumed that n ≥ 2. All rings considered here are associative but do not necessarily have a multiplicative identity. A map that fixes the multiplicative identity is called a unital map. I have assumed a level of familiarity with linear algebra up to Jordan canonical forms and a basic understanding of groups, rings, and fields. vii Frequently used notation: C field of complex numbers Fp finite field of order p char(R) the characteristic of a ring R Mn(R) set of all n × n matrices over a ring R (shortened to Mn if R = C) sln(F ) set of trace-zero matrices over a field F (shortened to sln if F = C) dimF V dimension of a vector space V over a field F (shortened to dim V if F = C) (aij) a matrix with entries aij, where i indexes rows and j indexes columns eij matrix with 1 in the (i; j)-entry and zeros elsewhere (called a matrix unit) In n × n identity matrix, also written as e11 + e22 + ··· + enn At transpose of a matrix A tr(A) trace of a matrix A det(A) determinant of a matrix A rank(A) rank of a matrix A σ(A) spectrum of a matrix A A ◦ B Jordan product AB + BA [A; B] Lie product AB − BA C(A) centralizer of A, fB 2 Mn(F ) j AB = BAg FA set of F multiples of A, fcA j c 2 F g V1 ⊕ V2 direct sum of vector spaces φjV restriction of a map φ to V bxc the largest integer n such that n ≤ x dxe the smallest integer n such that x ≤ n viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly I would like to express profound gratitude to my advisor Mikhail Chebotar. Misha's guidance over the past few years has been incredible. He has helped me publish a nontrivial amount of papers, navigate the academic job market during a global pandemic, and advocated for me when travel was not possible. In addition to his professional support, Misha has been there for me personally. I will fondly remember all of our conversations past and present about current events, fresh fish and coffee, the nature of academic publishing, and entertainment; in particular, stop motion cartoons about the Cold War. Thank you to each member of my defense committee, Mark Lewis, Dmitry Ryabogin, Feodor Dragan, and Joanne Caniglia for their generous time spent with my monstrous dissertation. I would also like to acknowledge Misha, Mark, and Jenya Soprunova for the wonderful opportunities with the 2019 and 2020 REU programs at Kent State University. Thank you to Victor Ginsburg, Ricardo Velasquez, Nikita Borisov, and Martha Sikora for their collaboration on problems that appear in this dissertation. I am honored to have played a (small) part in their future success as young researchers. I am especially grateful to Artem Zvavitch and Andrew Tonge for their guidance and support throughout my time at Kent State. Thank you to Patty Housley and Virginia Wright for their constant and invaluable assistance. I would also like to acknowledge my amazing fellow graduate students, past and present, who have been there for me over the years. Thank you to my parents, Mark and Alison, and my siblings, Maggie and Anthony, for their love and so much more. To Miranda, for everything. And to Toby, my best friend. ix CHAPTER 1 An introduction to linear preserver problems Linear preserver problems concern the characterization of linear operators on matrix spaces that leave invariant certain functions, subsets, relations, etc. Emerging prominently in the latter half of the 20th century, the earliest linear preserver problems arose naturally as converse problems from matrix theory. Since then, LPPs have become an active, fertile area of research with applications to many branches of mathematics, both pure and applied. What follows is a brief discussion highlighting several significant and classical results that moti- vate the upcoming presentation of results in later chapters. This introduction follows the expository papers [37, 52, 56]. 1.1 Types of linear preserver problems Let M denote a matrix space, by which we mean a vector space whose elements are linear operators. 1.1.1 Subset preservers Let S be a proper subset of M. We say that the linear map φ : M!M preserves S if A 2 S =) φ(A) 2 S and φ : M!M preserves S in both directions if A 2 S () φ(A) 2 S: A typical subset preserver problem asks for a characterization of maps φ such that S is invariant under φ. Equivalently, we write φ(S) ⊆ S if φ preserves S and φ(S) = S if φ preserves S in both 1 directions. In the familar case of Mn := Mn(C), there are many important subsets of matrices that are well understood and of chief interest in applications.