The Index of Invariance and its Implications for a Parameterized Least Squares Problem

We study the problem $x_{b,\omega} := \text{arg min}_{x \in \mathcal{S}} \|(A + \omega I)^{-1/2} (b - Ax)\|_2$, with $A = A^*$, for a subspace $\mathcal{S}$ of $\mathbb{F}^n$ ($\mathbb{F} = \mathbb{R}$ or $\mathbb{C}$), and $\omega > -\lambda_{min}(A)$. We show that there exists a subspace $\mathcal{Y}$ of $\mathbb{F}^n$, independent of $b$, such that $\{x_{b,\omega} - x_{b,\mu} \mid \omega,\mu > -\lambda_{min}(A)\} \subseteq \mathcal{Y}$, where $\dim(\mathcal{Y}) \leq \dim(\mathcal{S} + A\mathcal{S}) - \dim(\mathcal{S}) = \mathbf{Ind}_A(\mathcal{S})$, a quantity which we call the index of invariance of $\mathcal{S}$ with respect to $A$. In particular if $\mathcal{S}$ is a Krylov subspace, this implies the low dimensionality result of Hallman & Gu (2018). The problem is also such that when $A$ is positive and $\mathcal{S}$ is a Krylov subspace, it reduces to CG for $\omega = 0$ and to MINRES for $\omega \to \infty$. We study several properties of $\mathbf{Ind}_A(\mathcal{S})$ in relation to $A$ and $\mathcal{S}$. We show that the dimension of the affine subspace $\mathcal{X}_b$ containing the solutions $x_{b,\omega}$ can be smaller than $\mathbf{Ind}_A(\mathcal{S})$ for all $b$. However, we also exhibit some sufficient conditions on $A$ and $\mathcal{S}$, under which $\mathcal{X} := \text{Span}{\{x_{b,\omega} - x_{b,\mu} \mid b \in \mathbb{F}^n, \omega,\mu > -\lambda_{min}(A)\}}$ has dimension equal to $\mathbf{Ind}_A(\mathcal{S})$. We then study the injectivity of the map $\omega \mapsto x_{b,\omega}$, leading us to a proof of the convexity result from Hallman & Gu (2018). We finish by showing that sets such as $M(\mathcal{S},\mathcal{S}') = \{A \in \mathbb{F}^{n \times n} \mid \mathcal{S} + A\mathcal{S} = \mathcal{S}'\}$, for nested subspaces $\mathcal{S} \subseteq \mathcal{S}' \subseteq \mathbb{F}^n$, form smooth real manifolds, and explore some topological relationships between them.