Hermitian matrices with a bounded number of eigenvalues

Conjugation covariants of matrices are applied to study the real algebraic variety consisting of complex Hermitian matrices with a bounded number of distinct eigenvalues. A minimal generating system of the vanishing ideal of degenerate three by three Hermitian matrices is given, and the structure of the corresponding coordinate ring as a module over the special unitary group is determined. The method applies also for degenerate real symmetric three by three matrices. For arbitrary $n$ partial information on the minimal degree component of the vanishing ideal of the variety of $n\times n$ Hermitian matrices with a bounded number of eigenvalues is obtained, and some known results on sum of squares presentations of subdiscriminants of real symmetric matrices are extended to the case of complex Hermitian matrices.