arXiv subjects

Alexander Belton

Publications and source records attributed to Alexander Belton.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Distance preservers for Lobachevsky space

We obtain a complete description of the class of entrywise preservers of Lorentz-Gram matrices. This resolves, for the case of constant negative curvature, the classification of entrywise preservers obtained by Schoenberg in the zero-curvature (Euclidean) and constant-positive-curvature (spherical) settings. These preservers admit a Lévy--Khintchine-type representation and their asymptotic characteristics are related to Krein's classification of screw lines in Lobachevsky space. Connections with complete Nevanlinna--Pick kernels and Bochner subordination are also obtained.

math.CA↗

arXiv2026

Negativity-preserving transforms of tuples of symmetric matrices

Compared to the entrywise transforms which preserve positive semidefiniteness, those leaving invariant the inertia of symmetric matrices reveal a surprising rigidity. We first obtain the classification of negativity preservers by combining recent advances in matrix analysis with some novel arguments relying on well chosen test matrices, Sidon sets from number theory, and analytic properties of absolutely monotone functions. We continue with the analogous classification in the multi-variable setting, revealing for the first time a striking separation of variables, with absolute monotonicity on one side and only homotheties on the other. We conclude with the complex analogue of this result.

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arXiv2023

Matrix positivity preservers in fixed dimension. II: positive definiteness and strict monotonicity of Schur function ratios

We continue the study of real polynomials acting entrywise on matrices of fixed dimension to preserve positive semidefiniteness, together with the related analysis of order properties of Schur polynomials. Previous work has shown that, given a real polynomial with positive coefficients that is perturbed by adding a higher-degree monomial, there exists a negative lower bound for the coefficient of the perturbation which characterizes when the perturbed polynomial remains positivity preserving. We show here that, if the perturbation coefficient is strictly greater than this bound then the transformed matrix becomes positive definite given a simple genericity condition that can be readily verified. We identity a slightly stronger genericity condition that ensures positive definiteness occurs at the boundary. The analysis is complemented by computing the rank of the transformed matrix in terms of the location of the original matrix in a Schubert cell-type stratification that we have introduced and explored previously. The proofs require enhancing to strictness a Schur monotonicity result of Khare and Tao, to show that the ratio of Schur polynomials is strictly increasing along each coordinate on the positive orthant and non-decreasing on its closure whenever the defining tuples satisfy a coordinate-wise domination condition.

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arXiv2022

Preservers of totally positive kernels and Polya frequency functions

Fractional powers and polynomial maps preserving structured totally positive matrices, one-sided Polya frequency functions, or totally positive kernels are treated from a unifying perspective. Besides the stark rigidity of the polynomial transforms, we unveil an ubiquitous separation between discrete and continuous spectra of such inner fractional powers. Classical works of Schoenberg, Karlin, Hirschman, and Widder are completed by our classification. Concepts of probability theory, multivariate statistics, and group representation theory naturally enter into the picture.

math.FA↗

arXiv2022

Hirschman-Widder densities

Hirschman and Widder introduced a class of Pólya frequency functions given by linear combinations of one-sided exponential functions. The members of this class are probability densities, and the class is closed under convolution but not under pointwise multiplication. We show that, generically, a polynomial function of such a density is a Pólya frequency function only if the polynomial is a homothety, and also identify a subclass for which each positive-integer power is a Pólya frequency function. We further demonstrate connections between the Maclaurin coefficients, the moments of these densities, and the recovery of the density from finitely many moments, via Schur polynomials.

math.CA↗

arXiv2022

Matrix compression along isogenic blocks

A matrix-compression algorithm is derived from a novel isogenic block decomposition for square matrices. The resulting compression and inflation operations possess strong functorial and spectral-permanence properties. The basic observation that Hadamard entrywise functional calculus preserves isogenic blocks has already proved to be of paramount importance for thresholding large correlation matrices. The proposed isogenic stratification of the set of complex matrices bears similarities to the Schubert cell stratification of a homogeneous algebraic manifold. An array of potential applications to current investigations in computational matrix analysis is briefly mentioned, touching concepts such as symmetric statistical models, hierarchical matrices and coherent matrix organization induced by partition trees.

math.RA↗

arXiv2021

Totally positive kernels, Polya frequency functions, and their transforms

The composition operators preserving total non-negativity and total positivity for various classes of kernels are classified, following three themes. Letting a function act by post composition on kernels with arbitrary domains, it is shown that such a composition operator maps the set of totally non-negative kernels to itself if and only if the function is constant or linear, or just linear if it preserves total positivity. Symmetric kernels are also discussed, with a similar outcome. These classification results are a byproduct of two matrix-completion results and the second theme: an extension of A.M. Whitney's density theorem from finite domains to subsets of the real line. This extension is derived via a discrete convolution with modulated Gaussian kernels. The third theme consists of analyzing, with tools from harmonic analysis, the preservers of several families of totally non-negative and totally positive kernels with additional structure: continuous Hankel kernels on an interval, Pólya frequency functions, and Pólya frequency sequences. The rigid structure of post-composition transforms of totally positive kernels acting on infinite sets is obtained by combining several specialized situations settled in our present and earlier works.

math.FA↗

arXiv2021

Moment-sequence transforms

We classify all functions which, when applied term by term, leave invariant the sequences of moments of positive measures on the real line. Rather unexpectedly, these functions are built of absolutely monotonic components, or reflections of them, with possible discontinuities at the endpoints. Even more surprising is the fact that functions preserving moments of three point masses must preserve moments of all measures. Our proofs exploit the semidefiniteness of the associated Hankel matrices and the complete monotonicity of the Laplace transforms of the underlying measures. As a byproduct, we characterize the entrywise transforms which preserve totally non-negative Hankel matrices, and those which preserve all totally non-negative matrices. The latter class is surprisingly rigid: such maps must be constant or linear. We also examine transforms in the multivariable setting, which reveals a new class of piecewise absolutely monotonic functions.

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arXiv2020

Total-positivity preservers

We prove that the only entrywise transforms of rectangular matrices which preserve total positivity or total non-negativity are either constant or linear. This follows from an extended classification of preservers of these two properties for matrices of fixed dimension. We also prove that the same assertions hold upon working only with symmetric matrices; for total-positivity preservers our proofs proceed through solving two totally positive completion problems.

math.FA↗

arXiv2019

A panorama of positivity

This survey contains a selection of topics unified by the concept of positive semi-definiteness (of matrices or kernels), reflecting natural constraints imposed on discrete data (graphs or networks) or continuous objects (probability or mass distributions). We put emphasis on entrywise operations which preserve positivity, in a variety of guises. Techniques from harmonic analysis, function theory, operator theory, statistics, combinatorics, and group representations are invoked. Some partially forgotten classical roots in metric geometry and distance transforms are presented with comments and full bibliographical references. Modern applications to high-dimensional covariance estimation and regularization are included.

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arXiv2018

Simultaneous kernels of matrix Hadamard powers

In previous work [Adv. Math. 298, pp. 325-368, 2016], the structure of the simultaneous kernels of Hadamard powers of any positive semidefinite matrix were described. Key ingredients in the proof included a novel stratification of the cone of positive semidefinite matrices and a well-known theorem of Hershkowitz, Neumann, and Schneider, which classifies the Hermitian positive semidefinite matrices whose entries are $0$ or $1$ in modulus. In this paper, we show that each of these results extends to a larger class of matrices which we term $3$-PMP (principal minor positive).

math.RA↗

arXiv2016

Schur polynomials and matrix positivity preservers

A classical result by Schoenberg (1942) identifies all real-valued functions that preserve positive semidefiniteness (psd) when applied entrywise to matrices of arbitrary dimension. Schoenberg's work has continued to attract significant interest, including renewed recent attention due to applications in high-dimensional statistics. However, despite a great deal of effort in the area, an effective characterization of entrywise functions preserving positivity in a fixed dimension remains elusive to date. As a first step, we characterize new classes of polynomials preserving positivity in fixed dimension. The proof of our main result is representation theoretic, and employs Schur polynomials. An alternate, variational approach also leads to several interesting consequences including (a) a hitherto unexplored Schubert cell-type stratification of the cone of psd matrices, (b) new connections between generalized Rayleigh quotients of Hadamard powers and Schur polynomials, and (c) a description of the joint kernels of Hadamard powers.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

Matrix positivity preservers in fixed dimension. I

A classical theorem proved in 1942 by I.J. Schoenberg describes all real-valued functions that preserve positivity when applied entrywise to positive semidefinite matrices of arbitrary size; such functions are necessarily analytic with non-negative Taylor coefficients. Despite the great deal of interest generated by this theorem, a characterization of functions preserving positivity for matrices of fixed dimension is not known. In this paper, we provide a complete description of polynomials of degree $N$ that preserve positivity when applied entrywise to matrices of dimension $N$. This is the key step for us then to obtain negative lower bounds on the coefficients of analytic functions so that these functions preserve positivity in a prescribed dimension. The proof of the main technical inequality is representation theoretic, and employs the theory of Schur polynomials. Interpreted in the context of linear pencils of matrices, our main results provide a closed-form expression for the lowest critical value, revealing at the same time an unexpected spectral discontinuity phenomenon. Tight linear matrix inequalities for Hadamard powers of matrices and a sharp asymptotic bound for the matrix-cube problem involving Hadamard powers are obtained as applications. Positivity preservers are also naturally interpreted as solutions of a variational inequality involving generalized Rayleigh quotients. This optimization approach leads to a novel description of the simultaneous kernels of Hadamard powers, and a family of stratifications of the cone of positive semidefinite matrices.

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