1 Introduction and preliminaries

In this article, we use the following notations. Let ℂn×nand ℝn×nbe the space of n×n complex and real matrices, respectively. The identity matrix in ℂn×nis denoted by I = I n . Let AT, Ā, AH, and tr(A) denote the transpose, the conjugate, the conjugate transpose, and the trace of a matrix A, respectively. Re(a) stands for the real part of a number a. The Frobenius inner product < ·, · > F in ℂm×nis defined as < A,B > F = Re(tr(BHA)), for A,B ∈ ℂm×n, i.e., < A,B > is the real part of the trace of BHA. The induced matrix norm is ||A| | F = < A , A > F = Re ( tr ( A H A ) ) = tr ( A H A ) , which is called the Frobenius (Euclidean) norm. The Frobenius inner product allows us to define the consine of the angle between two given real n × n matrices as

cos ( A , B ) = < A , B > F | | A | | F | | B | | F .
(1.1)

The cosine of the angle between two real n × n depends on the Frobenius inner product and the Frobenius norms of given matrices. A matrix A ∈ ℂn×nis Hermitian if AH= A. An Hermitian matrix A is said to be positive semidefinite or nonnegative definite, written as A ≥ 0, if (see, e.g., [[1], p. 159])

x H A x 0 , x n ,
(1.2)

A is further called positive definite, symbolized A > 0, if the strict inequality in (1.2) holds for all nonzero x ∈ ℂn. An equivalent condition for A ∈ ℂnto be positive definite is that A is Hermitian and all eigenvalues of A are positive real numbers.

The quanity

μ ( A ) = | | A | | | | A - 1 | | , if A is nonsingular ; if A is singular .
(1.3)

is called the condition number of matrix μ(A) with respect to the matrix norm || · ||. Notice that μ(A) = ||A-1|| · ||A|| ≥ ||A-1A|| = ||I|| ≥ 1 for any matrix norm (see, e.g., [[2], p. 336]). The condition number μ(A) of a nonsingular matrix A plays an important role in the numerical solution of linear systems since it measures the sensitivity of the solution of linear system Ax = b to the perturbations on A and b. There are several methods that allow to find good approximations of the condition number of a general square matrix.

We first introduce some inequalities. Buzano [3] obtained the following extension of the celebrated Schwarz inequality in a real or complex inner product space (H, < ·, ·>).

Lemma 1.1 ([3]). For any a, b, xH, there is

| < a , x > < x , b > | 1 2 ( | | a | | | | b | | + | < a . b > | ) | | x | | 2 .
(1.4)

It is clear that for a = b, (1.4) becomes the standard Schwarz inequality

| < a , x > 2 | | | a | | 2 | | x | | 2 , a , x H
(1.5)

with equality if and only if there exists a scalar λ such that x = λa.

Also Dragomir [4] has stated the following inequality.

Lemma 1.2[4]. For any a,b,xH, and x ≠ 0, there is the following

< a , x > < x , b > | | x | | 2 - < a , b > 2 | | a | | | | b | | 2
(1.6)

Dannan [5] showed the following inequality by using arithmetic-geometric inequality.

Lemma 1.3[5]. For n-square positive definite matrices A and B,

n ( detA det B ) m n tr ( A m B m ) ,
(1.7)

where m is a positive integer.

By taking A = I, B = A-1, and m = 1 in (1.7), we obtain

n ( detI det A - 1 ) 1 n tr ( I A - 1 ) ,
(1.8)
n 1 detA 1 n tr ( A - 1 )
(1.9)

In [6], Türkmen and Ulukök proposed the following,

Lemma 1.4[6]. Let both A and B be n-square positive definite matrices, then

cos ( A , I ) cos ( B , I ) 1 2 cos ( A , B ) + 1 ] ,
(1.10)
cos ( A , A - 1 ) cos ( A , I ) cos ( A - 1 , I ) 1 2 [ cos ( A , A - 1 ) + 1 ] 1 ,
(1.11)
cos ( A , I ) 1 , cos ( A - 1 , I ) 1 ,
(1.12)

As a consequence, in the following section, we give some bounds for the Frobenius condition numbers by considering inequalities given in this section.

2 Main results

Theorem 2.1. Let A be a positive definite real matrix, α be any real number. Then,

2 n tr A 1 + α tr A 2 α ( detA ) ( 1 - α ) n - n μ F ( A ) ;
(2.1)
2 tr A 1 + α tr A α - 1 tr A 2 α - n μ F ( A ) .
(2.2)

where μ F (A) is the Frobenius conditional number of A.

Proof. Let X, A, B be positive definite real matrices. From Lemma 1.2, we have the following

< A , X > F < X , B > F | | X | | F 2 < A , B > F 2 | | A | | F | | B | | F 2 ,
(2.3)

i.e.,

tr ( A T X ) tr ( X T B ) | | X | | F 2 - tr ( A T B ) 2 | | A | | F | | B | | F 2 .
(2.4)

Let B = A-1, then (2.4) turns into

tr ( A T X ) tr ( X T A - 1 ) | | X | | F 2 - tr ( A T A - 1 ) 2 | | A | | F | | A - 1 | | F 2 .
(2.5)

Since both X and A are positive definite, we have

tr ( AX ) tr ( X A - 1 ) | | X | | F 2 - n 2 | | A | | F | | A - 1 | | F 2 = μ F ( A ) 2 ,
(2.6)

where μ F (A) is the Frobenius condition number of A.

By taking X = Aα(α is an arbitrary real number) into (2.6), there exists

tr A 1 + α tr A - ( 1 - α ) tr A 2 α - n 2 μ F ( A ) 2 .
(2.7)

Thus, it follows that

tr A 1 + α tr A - ( 1 - α ) tr A 2 α - n 2 μ F ( A ) 2 ,
(2.8)

i.e.,

2 tr A 1 + α tr A α - 1 tr A 2 α - n μ F ( A ) .
(2.9)

From (1.9), by replacing A with A1, we get

0 < n 1 ( det A ) ( 1 - α ) n tr ( A - ( 1 - α ) ) .
(2.10)

Taking (2.10) into (2.8), we can write

n tr A 1 + α tr A 2 α 1 ( det A ) ( 1 - α ) n - n 2 μ F ( A ) 2 ,
(2.11)

i.e.,

2 n tr A 1 + α tr A 2 α ( detA ) ( 1 - α ) n - n μ F ( A ) .
(2.12)

In particular, let α = 1, and by taking it into (2.7), we have the following

tr A 2 trI tr A 2 - n 2 μ F ( A ) 2 ,
(2.13)

i.e.,

n μ F ( A ) .
(2.14)

Note, when α= 1 2 , (2.12) becomes

2 n tr A 3 2 t r A ( det A ) 1 2 n - n μ F ( A ) ,
(2.15)

Taking α = 1 into (2.12), we obtain that

2 tr A ( det A ) 1 n - n μ F ( A ) .
(2.16)

(2.15), (2.16) can be found in [6].

Example 2.2.

A = 2 0 0 2 - 1 .

Here trA = 2.5, detA = 1 and n = 2. Then, from (2.15) and (2.16), we obtain two lower bounds of μ F (A):

μ F ( A ) 2 n tr A 3 2 trA ( detA ) 1 2 n = 3 . 091168 , and μ F ( A ) 2 tr A ( det A ) 1 n = 3 .

Taking α = 1/4 into (2.1) and (2.2) from Theorem 2.1, another two lower bounds are obtained as follows:

μ F ( A ) 2 n tr A 1 + α tr A 2 α ( det A ) ( 1 - α ) n - n = 3 . 277585 , and μ F ( A ) 2 tr A 1 + α tr A α - 1 tr A 2 α - n = 4 . 006938 .

In fact, μ F (A) = 4.25. Thus, Theorem 2.1 is indeed a generalization of (2.15) and (2.16) given in [6].

Lemma 2.3. Let a1, a2,..., a n be positive numbers, and

f ( x ) = a 1 x + a 2 x + + a n x + a 1 - x + + a n - x .

Then, f(x) is monotonously increasing for x ∈ [0,+ ∞).

Proof. It is obvious that

f ( x ) = a 1 x ln a 1 + a 2 x ln a 2 + + a n x ln a n - a 1 - x ln a 1 - - a n x ln a n = ln a 1 ( a 1 x - a 1 - x ) + ln a 2 ( a 2 x - a 1 - x ) + ln a n ( a n x - a n - x ) .

When a i ≥ 1, and x ∈ [0, + ∞), ln a i 0, a i x 1, and a i - x 1. Thus, ln a i ( a i x - a i - x ) 0.

When 0 < a i < 1, and x ∈ [0, + ∞), we have ln a i <0,0< a i x 1, and a i - x 1. Thus, ln a i ( a i x - a i - x ) 0. Therefore, f'(x) ≥ 0, and f(x) is increasing for x ∈ [0, ∞).

Theorem 2.4. Let A be a positive definite real matrix. Then

n n A 1 2 F tr A 1 2 μ F ( A ) .
(2.17)

Proof. Since A is positive definite, from Lemma 1.4, we have

cos ( A 1 / 2 , A 1 / 2 cos ( A 1 / 2 , I ) .
(2.18)

That is

n μ F ( A 1 2 ) = tr ( A 1 2 A - 1 2 ) | | A 1 2 | | F | | ( A 1 2 ) - 1 | | F tr A 1 2 n | | A 1 2 | | F .
(2.19)

Let all the positive real eigenvalues of A be λ1, λ2,..., λ n > 0. Then, the eigenvalues of A-1 are 1/λ1, 1/λ2,..., 1/λ n > 0, the eigenvalues of A2 are λ 1 2 , λ 2 2 ,..., λ n 2 >0, and the eigenvalue of A-2 are λ 1 - 2 , λ 2 - 2 ,..., λ n - 2 >0. Next, we will prove the following by induction.

i = 1 n λ i 2 i = 1 n 1 λ i 2 i = 1 n λ i i = 1 n 1 λ i .
(2.20)

In case n = 1, it is obvious that (2.20) holds.

In case n=2, i = 1 n λ i 2 i = 1 n 1 λ i 2 =2+ ( λ 1 λ 2 ) 2 + ( λ 2 λ 1 ) 2 . From Lemma 2.3, 2 + (λ12)2 + (λ21)2 ≥ 2 + λ12 + λ21 = (λ1 + λ2)(1/λ1 + 1/λ2). Thus, (2.20) holds. Suppose that (2.20) holds, when n = k, i.e.,

i = 1 k λ i 2 i = 1 k 1 λ i 2 i = 1 k λ i i = 1 k 1 λ i .
(2.21)

In case n = k + 1,

( i = 1 k + 1 λ i 2 ) ( i = 1 k + 1 1 / λ i 2 ) = ( i = 1 k λ i 2 + λ k + 1 2 ) ( i = 1 k 1 / λ i 2 + 1 / λ k + 1 2 ) = ( i = 1 k λ i 2 ) ( i = 1 k 1 / λ i 2 ) + i = 1 k ( λ i / λ k + 1 ) 2 + i = 1 k ( λ k + 1 / λ i ) 2 + 1.
(2.22)

By Lemma 2.3, we get

i = 1 k + 1 λ i 2 i = 1 k + 1 1 λ i 2 i = 1 k λ i i = 1 k 1 λ i + i = 1 k ( λ i λ k + 1 ) + i = 1 k ( λ k + 1 λ i ) + 1 = i = 1 k + 1 λ i i = 1 k + 1 1 λ i .
(2.23)

Thus, when n = k + 1, (2.20) holds. On the other hand, ||A| | F = tr ( A 2 ) = i = 1 n λ i 2 ,|| A - 1 | | F = tr A - 2 = i = 1 n λ i - 2 ,|| A 1 2 | | F = trA = i = 1 n λ i and || A - 1 2 | | F = tr A - 1 = i = 1 n λ i - 1 . Therefore,

| | A | | F 2 | | A - 1 | | F 2 | | A 1 2 | | F 2 | | A - 1 2 | | F 2 ,
(35)

i.e.,

μ F ( A ) μ F ( A 1 2 ) .
(2.25)

Taking (2.25) into (2.19), we obtain

n μ F ( A ) n μ F ( A 1 2 ) tr A 1 2 n | | A 1 2 | | F ,
(2.26)

i.e.,

n n | | A 1 2 | | F tr A 1 2 μ F ( A ) .
(2.27)

Remark 2.5. (2.17) can be extended to any 0 < α ≤ 1, i.e., n n | | A α | | F tr A α μ F ( A ) .

3 The Frobenius condition number of a centrosymmetric positive definite matrix

Definition 3.1 (see [7]). Let A = (a ij )p xq∈ ℝp×q. A is a centrosymmetric matrix, if

a i j = a p - i + 1 , q - j + 1 , 1 i p , 1 j q , o r J p A J q = A ,

where J n = (e n , en-1,..., e1), e i denotes the unit vector with the i-th entry 1.

Using the partition of matrix, the central symmetric character of a square centrosym-metric matrix can be described as follows (see [7]):

Lemma 3.2. Let A = (a ij )n×n(n = 2m) be centrosymmetric. Then, A has the form,

A = B J m C J m C J m B J m , P T A P = B - J m C 0 0 B + J m C ,
(3.1)

Where B,C ∈ ℂm×m, P= 1 2 I m I m - J m J m .

Lemma 3.3. Let Abeann × n(n = 2m) centrosymmetric positive definite matrix with the following form

A = B J m C J m C J m B J m ,

where B,C ∈ ℝm×m. Then there exists an orthogonal matrix P such that

P T A P = M N ,

where M = B - J m C, N = B + J m C and M-1, N-1are positive definite matrices.

Proof. From Lemma 3.2, there exists an orthogonal matrix P such that

H = P T A P = M N .

Since A is positive definite, then any eigenvalue of A is positive real number. Thus, the eigenvalues of H are all positive real numbers. That is to say, all eigenvalues of M and N are positive real numbers. Thus, M and N are both positive definite. It is obvious that M-1 and N-1 are positive definite matrices.

Lemma 3.4. Let A, B are positive definite real matrices. Then,

tr A ( detB ) 1 n | | A | | F | | B - 1 | | F .
(3.2)

Proof. Let X be positive definite. By Lemma 1.2, we have

< A , X > F < X , B > F | | X | | F 2 - < A , B > F 2 | | A | | F B | | F 2 .
(3.3)

Thus,

tr ( A T X ) tr ( X T B ) | | X | | F 2 - tr ( A T B ) 2 | | A | | F B | | F 2 .
(3.4)

By replacing X, B with I n and B-1, respectively, in inequality (3.4), we can obtain

tr ( A ) tr ( B - 1 ) n - tr ( A T B - 1 ) 2 | | A | | F | | B - 1 | | F 2 .
(3.5)

That is,

tr ( A ) tr ( B - 1 ) n - tr ( A T B - 1 ) 2 | | A | | F | | B - 1 | | F 2 .
(3.6)

From Schwarz inequality (1.5),

tr ( A T B - 1 ) = < A , B - 1 > F | | A | | F | | B - 1 | | F .
(3.7)

By taking (3.7) into (3.6), we have

tr ( A ) tr ( B - 1 ) n | | A | | F | | B - 1 | | F | | A | | F | | B - 1 | | F 2 + tr ( A T B - 1 ) 2 .
(3.8)

From (1.9),

n ( 1 detB ) 1 n tr B - 1 .
(3.9)

Therefore,

tr A ( det B ) 1 n | | A | | F | | B - 1 | | F .
(3.10)

Theorem 3.5. Let A be a centrosymmetric positive definite matrix with the form

A = B J m C J m C J m B J m , B , C m × m .

Let M = B - J m C, N = B + J m C. Then,

μ F ( A ) 2 tr M ( det M ) 1 m - m 2 + 2 tr N ( det N ) 1 m - m 2 + tr M ( det N ) 1 m 2 + tr N ( det M ) 1 m 2 .
(3.11)

Proof. By Lemma 3.2, there exists an orthogonal matrix P such that

H = P T A P = B - J m C B + J m C = M N .

Thus,

μ F ( A ) = | | A | | F | | A - 1 | | F = μ F ( H ) = | | H | | F | | H - 1 | | F = | | M | | F 2 + | | N | | F 2 | | M - 1 | | F 2 + | | N - 1 | | F 2 .
(3.12)

Therefore,

μ F 2 ( A ) = ( | | M | | F 2 + | | N | | F 2 ) ( | | M - 1 | | F 2 + | | N - 1 | | F 2 ) = | | M | | F 2 | | M - 1 | | F 2 + | | N | | F 2 | | N - 1 | | F 2 + | | M | | F 2 | | N - 1 | | F 2 + | | N | | F 2 | | M - 1 | | F 2 = μ F 2 ( M ) + μ F 2 ( N ) + ( | | M | | F | | N - 1 | | F ) 2 + ( | | N | | F | | M - 1 | | F ) 2 .

From Lemma 3.4,

tr M ( det N ) 1 m | | M | | F | | N - 1 | | F , tr N ( det M ) 1 m | | N | | F | | M - 1 | | F .
(3.14)

From (2.18),

2 tr M ( det M ) 1 m - m μ F ( M ) , and 2 tr N ( det N ) 1 m - m μ F ( N ) .
(3.15)

Thus,

μ F ( A ) 2 tr M ( det M ) 1 m - m 2 + 2 tr N ( det N ) 1 m - m 2 + tr M ( det N ) 1 m 2 + tr N ( det M ) 1 m 2 .

Example 3.6.

A = 5 0 0 3 0 5 3 0 0 3 5 0 3 0 0 5 , and P T A P = M N = 2 0 0 2 8 0 0 8 .

Here n = 4, m = 2, det (A) = 256, tr A = 20, tr M = 4, tr N = 16, det(M) = 4, det(N) = 64. From Theorem 3.5, a lower bound of μ F (A) is as follows:

μ F ( A ) 2 trM ( detM ) 1 m - m 2 + 2 trN ( detN ) 1 m - m 2 + trM ( detN ) 1 m 2 + trN ( detM ) 1 m 2 = 8 . 5 .

In fact

μ F ( A ) = μ F 2 ( M ) + μ F 2 ( N ) + ( | | M | | F | | N - 1 | | F ) 2 + ( | | N | | F | | M - 1 | | F ) 2 = 8 . 5 .

On the other hand, the lower bounds of μ F (A) in (2.15) and (2.16) provided by [6] are

μ F ( A ) 2 n tr A 3 2 tr A ( detA ) 1 2 n - n = 6 . 1823376 , and μ F ( A ) 2 tr A ( det A ) 1 n - n = 6 .

It can easily be seen that, in this example, the best lower bound is the first one given by Theorem 3.5.