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Consider the matrix, for some $\lambda \in \mathbb R$ .

$$A=\begin{pmatrix} i \lambda & -1 & i & 0 \\ 1 & 0 & 0& 0 \\ i & 0 & - i \lambda & -1 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 \end{pmatrix}$$

I would like to know if there exists a matrix $B$, independent of $\lambda$ such that

$$ B A B^{-1} = \begin{pmatrix} K_1(\lambda) & 0\\0 &K_2(\lambda) \end{pmatrix}$$

where $K_1,K_2$ are two $2 \times 2$ block matrices.

The reason I believe this to be true is that the eigenvalues of $A$ seem to decouple. This is what suggests this block form.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

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    $\begingroup$ I'm unsure what you mean by eigenvalues which "decouple", it's a string of four numbers, their product is 1, but why "decouple" ? $\endgroup$ Commented May 25, 2021 at 13:33
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    $\begingroup$ @CarloBeenakker they seem to be solutions to a second order polynomial. $\endgroup$ Commented May 25, 2021 at 13:34
  • $\begingroup$ hmm, the four eigenvalues are two complex conjugate pairs, I'm not sure why that would imply the block diagonalization. $\endgroup$ Commented May 25, 2021 at 14:37
  • $\begingroup$ @PritamBemis Have you looked at joint block diagonalization algorithms? I would think that these could let you figure out an analytical result. E.g., see github.com/Prof-Boualem-Boashash/MTFSP_Software_package/blob/… $\endgroup$ Commented May 25, 2021 at 17:50

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I will show that it is not possible for $\phi=\pi/2$, so it is certainly not for general $\phi$. (actually, I don't think that it is possible for any single $\phi$ except $0$ and $\pi$, by an analogous argument).

I will multiply $A$ by $-i$ and conjugate it by $\begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & -i & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & -i \end{pmatrix}$ just to have real coefficients for simplicity, it clearly doesn't affect block-diagonalisabilty. $A$ then becomes: $$\begin{pmatrix} \lambda & 1 & 1 & 0 \\ 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 0 & -\lambda & 1 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 \end{pmatrix}$$ and has characteristic polynomial $X^4-(\lambda^2+3)X^2+1$. If it was block diagonalizable, then the characteristic polynomial (seen as a polynomial with coefficients in $\mathbb{C}[\lambda]$) would factor as a product of two factors of degree $2$ in $X$: $$X^4-(\lambda^2+3)X^2+1=(X^2+aX+b)(X^2+cX+d)$$ with $a,b,c,d\in \mathbb{C}[\lambda]$. Comparing coefficients yields:

  • $bd=1$ (in particular $b,d\in \mathbb{C}$)
  • $a+c=0$
  • $ad+bc=a(d-b)=0$, so either $a=0$ or $b=d=\pm 1$

The case $a=0$ is impossible since then the factors would have coefficients in $\mathbb{C}$ and we couldn't get the coefficient $\lambda^2+3$. Hence the factorization must have the form $$X^4-(\lambda^2+3)X^2+1=(X^2+aX\pm 1)(X^2-aX\pm 1)$$ Comparing coefficients of $X^2$, we have $$-a^2\pm2=-(\lambda^2+3)$$ $$a^2\pm2=\lambda^2+3$$ $$a^2=\lambda^2+1 \ \text{or}\ a^2=\lambda^2+5$$ Since neither of $\lambda^2+1$ and $\lambda^2+5$ are squares in $\mathbb{C}[\lambda]$, we get a contradiction.

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  • $\begingroup$ interesting, let me go in detail through your answer. but somehow i am surprised about this negative answer, as I saw you answered another similar question, where you showed that eigenvalues always come in pairs, just as here and obtained a block reduction. In fact, just as in the other answer, I now also checked that the degenerate eigenvalues are stable under taking products of such matrices for different $\lambda$ but fixed $\varphi$. Strange, don't you think? $\endgroup$ Commented May 25, 2021 at 18:03
  • $\begingroup$ I should add that actually I only asked this question trying to generalize what you did in the other post, but somehow it does not work, as you proved yourself. However, the result still seems to apply. $\endgroup$ Commented May 25, 2021 at 18:08
  • $\begingroup$ What do you mean by "the degenerate eigenvalues are stable under taking products of such matrices for different $\lambda$"? $\endgroup$ Commented May 25, 2021 at 18:16
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry for being vague. Call the matrix I defined $A(\lambda,\alpha)$. Let $\lambda_i$ be a sequence of real numbers, then $\prod_{i=1}^n A(\lambda_i,\alpha)$ has two double degenerate/complex conjugate eigenvalues. This is precisely what happened also in this other post. But apparently, this time it is not because of some block-diagonal form? $\endgroup$ Commented May 25, 2021 at 18:19
  • $\begingroup$ The matrices do not have degenerate eigenvalues in general, actually for $\phi=\pi/2$ the matrix $A$ has 4 distinct eigenvalues for any $\lambda$. $\endgroup$ Commented May 25, 2021 at 18:23

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