Title
On the sum of the largest eigenvalues of a symmetric matrix
Abstract
The sum of the largest k eigenvalues of a symmetric matrix has a well-known extremal property that was given by Fan in 1949 [Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 35 (1949), pp. 652-655]. A simple proof of this property, which seems to have been overlooked in the vast literature on the subject and its many generalizations, is discussed. The key step is the observation, which is neither new nor well known, that the convex hull of the set of projection matrices of rank k is the set of symmetric matrices with eigenvalues between 0 and 1 and summing to k. The connection with the well-known Birkhoff theorem on doubly stochastic matrices is also discussed. This approach provides a very convenient characterization for the subdifferential of the eigenvalue sum, described in a separate paper.
Year
DOI
Venue
1992
10.1137/0613006
SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications
Keywords
Field
DocType
largest eigenvalues,symmetric matrix,convex hull,projection matrix
Combinatorics,Matrix (mathematics),Generalization,Convex hull,Projection (linear algebra),Subderivative,Symmetric matrix,Spectrum of a matrix,Eigenvalues and eigenvectors,Mathematics
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
13
1
0895-4798
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
41
40.00
1
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Michael L. Overton1634590.15
Robert S. Womersley225874.51