Equality of the bistochastic and correlation-matrix parameters

Let λn\lambda_n be the smallest nonnegative number such that

λnBnsym+(1λn)WnBnsym,\lambda_n \mathcal{B}_n^{sym}+(1-\lambda_n)W_n\subseteq\mathcal{B}_n^{sym},

and let ρn\rho_n be the smallest nonnegative number such that

ρnεn(R)+(1ρn)InQn.\rho_n\varepsilon_n(\mathbb{R})+(1-\rho_n)I_n\subseteq\mathcal{Q}_n.

Here Bnsym\mathcal{B}_n^{sym} is the set of nn by nn symmetric bistochastic matrices, WnW_n is the relevant distinguished symmetric bistochastic matrix, εn(R)\varepsilon_n(\mathbb{R}) is the convex set of real correlation matrices, and Qn\mathcal{Q}_n is the convex hull of the real rank-one correlation matrices. Equality conjecture.

λn=ρnfor all nN.\lambda_n=\rho_n\quad\text{for all }n\in\mathbb{N}.

The conjecture is motivated by the close relationship between self-dual doubly stochastic maps, symmetric bistochastic matrices, and real correlation matrices. The equality is known for n4n\leq 4, where both parameters have the values λ1=λ2=1\lambda_1=\lambda_2=1 and λ3=λ4=23\lambda_3=\lambda_4=\frac{2}{3}, but the general case remains open.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Corey O'Meara and Rajesh Pereira, “Self-Dual Maps and Symmetric Bistochastic Matrices”, arXiv:1210.2579 (2012).

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