English

Constructing Invariant Subspaces as Kernels of Commuting Matrices

Functional Analysis 2023-05-25 v1

Abstract

Given an n by n matrix A over the complex numbers and an invariant subspace L, this paper gives a straightforward formula to construct an n by n matrix N that commutes with A and has L equal to the kernel of N. For Q a matrix putting A into Jordan canonical form J = RAQ with R the inverse of Q, we get N = RM$ where the kernel of M is an invariant subspace for J with M commuting with J. In the formula M = P ZVW with V the inverse of a constructed matrix T and W the transpose of P, the matrices Z and T are m by m and P is an n by m row selection matrix. If L is a marked subspace, m = n and Z is an n by n block diagonal matrix, and if L is not a marked subspace, then m > n and Z is an m by m near-diagonal block matrix. Strikingly, each block of Z is a monomial of a finite-dimensional backward shift. Each possible form of Z is easily arranged in a lattice structure isomorphic to and thereby displaying the complete invariant subspace lattice L(A) for A.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2305.15375,
  title  = {Constructing Invariant Subspaces as Kernels of Commuting Matrices},
  author = {Carl C. Cowen and William Johnston and Rebecca G. Wahl},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2305.15375},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

12 pages with two illustrations of invariant subspace lattice diagrams

R2 v1 2026-06-28T10:44:57.318Z