Dimension-free trace commutator inequality

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Let AA and BB be positive definite matrices satisfying Tr⁡(A+B)=1\operatorname{Tr}(A+B)=1. Trace commutator conjecture. There exists a constant cc, independent of the dimensions of AA and BB, such that

∥[B,log⁡(A+B)]∥1≤c(−Tr⁡Alog⁡Tr⁡A−Tr⁡Blog⁡Tr⁡B).\lVert[B,\log(A+B)]\rVert_1\leq c\bigl(-\operatorname{Tr}A\log\operatorname{Tr}A-\operatorname{Tr}B\log\operatorname{Tr}B\bigr).

The source says that numerical work suggests the sharper value c=1c=1, and gives a reduction to the corresponding inequality for arbitrary positive semidefinite matrices; neither the existence claim nor the sharp constant is resolved there.

References

Primary source

K. M. R. Audenaert and F. Kittaneh, “Problems and Conjectures in Matrix and Operator Inequalities”, arXiv:1201.5232 (2012).

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