Let $A$ be an $m\times n$-matrix and $B$ an $n \times m$-matrix over the same field. Consider the matrices $C=AB$ and $D=BA$. It is probably well known (and not difficult to show) that the only difference between the canonic rational forms of $C$ and $D$ are nilpotent blocks (blocks with minimal polynomial $x^k$). (In particular, these compensate the different dimensions of $C$ and $D$.) I'm interested in the converse question:
Given an $m\times m$-matrix $C$ and an $n\times n$-matrix $D$, what are necessary and sufficient conditions that there exist matrices $A$ and $B$ such that $C=AB$ and $D=BA$?
One may assume without loss of generality that $C$ and $D$ are both nilpotent. I'm thinking of a characterization in terms of the Jordan normal forms of $C$ and $D$. These in turn are characterized by their block sizes. In fact, an equivalent version can be stated as a question on partitions:
Suppose $\lambda=(\lambda_1 \geq\lambda_2\geq \dotsc )$ and $\mu= (\mu_1 \geq \mu_2 \geq \dotsc)$ are partitions of the integers $m$ and $n$. When are there matrices $A$ and $B$ such that the blocks in the jordan normal forms of $AB$ and $BA$ belonging to the eigenvalue $0$ have sizes $\lambda_1, \dotsc$ and $\mu_1, \dotsc$, respectively?
These are not arbitrary, for example, the quotient of the minimal polynomials must be in $\{1, x^{\pm 1}\}$, meaning that $|\lambda_1-\mu_1| \leq 1$.
This problem seems so natural that I think it has been addressed somewhere (not in the linear algebra books I looked into, however), so in particular I would appreciate a reference.
EDIT: I have now seen that $|\lambda_i -\mu_i|\leq 1$ for all $i$ is sufficient (and this is easy, since we may assume $C$ and $D$ in Jordan form, and then reduce to the case of one Jordan block). I guess it's necessary, too. Does anyone know a reference for this? And are there any nontrivial mathematical applications of this situation?