Every $A \in \text{GL}_n(\mathbb{R})$ has a unique orthogonal polar factor $O_A=A(\sqrt{A^TA})^{-1}$, 

( $A=O_AP_A$, $O \in \operatorname{O}_n, P \in \operatorname{Psym}_n$see [Polar decomposition][1]).

I am interseted in characterizing the set $W:=\{(A,B)\in \text{GL}_n^+ \times \text{GL}_n^+|\,O_{AB}=O_AO_B \}$. I have made some progress, but am still lacking a unifying necessary and sufficient criterion. Even the special case where $A=B$ does not seem trivial. Any advancement would be welcome.

*Edit:* Another natural question is to ask how rare is it for a pair $(A,B)$ to be in $W$? (we can take the uniform distribution on  $\text{GL}_n^+ \times \text{GL}_n^+$ and ask what is the probability of a random pair to be in $W$). 

**Motivation:**

This question has a *geometric* nature, since $O_A$ is the [closest matrix in $\text{SO}_n$ to $A$][2] (w.r.t to the Frobenius norm). Thus, it reflects the "rotational part" of $A$, after the scaling of the different directions is removed; This is very clear when looking at the SVD of $A$, $$A=U\Sigma V^T \Rightarrow O_A=UV^T$$ So, we can think of $O_A$ as the best "isometric approximation" (or projection) of $A$. If we know the two approximations for $A,B$ it is natural to compose them and to ask if we obtained in this way the best approximation to $AB$. (This actually becomes relevant in some applications of geometry and analysis).

**What I have so far:**

**(0)** The relation is not symmetric, i.e $(A,B) \in W \nRightarrow (B,A) \in W$.

**(1)** A *sufficient* condition for $(A,B) \in W$ is that $P_A$ commutes with $O_B,P_B$. (This is far from being a necessary condition, see below).

**(2)** $\forall A \in \text{GL}_n^+ \,: \, (A,A^{-1}) \in W$.

**(3)** If $B \in \operatorname{Psym}_n$, then $$(A,B) \in W \iff [P_A,B]=[P_A,P_B] =0$$ (see [here][3] for details )

In particular, for $A,B \in \operatorname{Psym}_n$: $$(A,B) \in W \iff [A,B]=0$$

**(4)** None of these implications hold in the general (proofs at the end):

(a) $(A,B) \in W  \nRightarrow [A,B]=0.$

(b) $[A,B]=0 \nRightarrow (A,B) \in W.$ 

(c) $(A,B) \in W  \nRightarrow [P_A,P_B]=0.$

(d) $[P_A,P_B]=0 \nRightarrow (A,B) \in W.$

**(5)** If $A$ is a normal matrix, then $(A,A) \in W$.

(This is easy to see since $A$ is normal $\iff$ $[O_A,P_A]=0$, via the uniqueness of the positive square root).

**Is it true that $(A,A) \in W$ implies $A$ is normal ?** (I suspect the answer is negative)

____
**Proofs (for the statements in (4)):**

(a) Take $B \in \operatorname{Psym}_n,O \in \operatorname{SO}_n$ such that $[B,O] \neq 0$, and define $A=OB$. Then $(A,B) \in W$ but $\, AB=OB^2 \neq BOB=BA$.

(b) Assume by contradiction $[A,B]=0 \Rightarrow (A,B) \in W$. Then $[A,B]=0 \Rightarrow [O_A,O_B]=0$; Indeed, $$[A,B]=0 \Rightarrow [B,A] =0 \Rightarrow (B,A) \in W,$$ so $$O_BO_A=O_{BA}=O_{AB}=O_AO_B \Rightarrow [O_A,O_B]=0.$$ However, this does not always hold: 

Let $A \in \text{GL}_2^+,B \in \text{GL}_2^-$ be commuting matrices. Note that $[O_A,O_B] \neq 0$ since for any two elements $X \in \operatorname{O}_2\setminus \operatorname{SO}_2,Y \in \operatorname{SO}_2\setminus\{\pm Id\}$, $[X,Y] \neq 0$. However, I want counter-examples where $A,B$ are both in $\text{GL}_n^+$. This is impossible to find for $n=2$ since $\operatorname{SO}_2$ is abelian. However, we can take $4 \times 4$ matrices, by "doubling" $A,B$ in two diagonal blocks.

(For a concrete example see [here][4])

(c) See counter-example [here][5].

(d) See counter-example [here][6].



[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_decomposition
[2]:http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1477855/distance-of-a-matrix-from-the-orthogonal-group
[3]:http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1891851/multiplicativity-of-isometric-projections-and-commutation-of-matrices
[4]:http://math.stackexchange.com/a/1876393/104576
[5]:http://math.stackexchange.com/a/1894966/104576
[6]:http://math.stackexchange.com/a/1910835/104576