Quasi-Convex Free Polynomials

Let \Rx denote the ring of polynomials in $g$ freely non-commuting variables $x=(x_1,...,x_g)$. There is a natural involution * on \Rx determined by $x_j^*=x_j$ and $(pq)^*=q^* p^*$ and a free polynomial p\in\Rx is symmetric if it is invariant under this involution. If $X=(X_1,...,X_g)$ is a $g$ tuple of symmetric $n\times n$ matrices, then the evaluation $p(X)$ is naturally defined and further $p^*(X)=p(X)^*$. In particular, if $p$ is symmetric, then $p(X)^*=p(X)$. The main result of this article says if $p$ is symmetric, $p(0)=0$ and for each $n$ and each symmetric positive definite $n\times n$ matrix $A$ the set ${X:A-p(X)\succ 0}$ is convex, then $p$ has degree at most two and is itself convex, or $-p$ is a hermitian sum of squares

Boundary Representations for Operator Algebras

All operator algebras have (not necessarily irreducible) boundary representations. A unital operator algebra has enough such boundary representations to generate its C*-envelope.Comment: 7 pages. Includes instructions for processing in pdfLaTe

Test Functions, Kernels, Realizations and Interpolation

Jim Agler revolutionized the area of Pick interpolation with his realization theorem for what is now called the Agler-Schur class for the unit ball in $\mathbb C^d$. We discuss an extension of these results to algebras of functions arising from test functions and the dual notion of a family of reproducing kernels, as well as the related interpolation theorem. When working with test functions, one ideally wants to use as small a collection as possible. Nevertheless, in some situations infinite sets of test functions are unavoidable. When this is the case, certain topological considerations come to the fore. We illustrate this with examples, including the multiplier algebra of an annulus and the infinite polydisk.Comment: 22 page

The failure of rational dilation on a triply connected domain

For R a bounded triply connected domain with boundary consisting of disjoint Jordan loops there exists an operator T on a complex Hilbert space H so that the closure of R is a spectral set for T, but T does not dilate to a normal operator with spectrum in B, the boundary of R. There is considerable overlap with the construction of an example on such a domain recently obtained by Agler, Harland and Rafael using numerical computations and work of Agler and Harland.Comment: 43 page

Free convex sets defined by rational expressions have LMI representations

Suppose p is a symmetric matrix whose entries are polynomials in freely noncommutating variables and p(0) is positive definite. Let D(p) denote the component of zero of the set of those g-tuples X of symmetric matrices (of the same size) such that p(X) is positive definite. By a previous result of the authors, if D(p) is convex and bounded, then D(p) can be described as the set of all solutions to a linear matrix inequality (LMI). This article extends that result from matrices of polynomials to matrices of rational functions in free variables. As a refinement of a theorem of Kaliuzhnyi-Verbovetskyi and Vinnikov, it is also shown that a minimal symmetric descriptor realization r for a symmetric free matrix-valued rational function R in g freely noncommuting variables precisely encodes the singularities of the rational function. This singularities result is an important ingredient in the proof of the LMI representation theorem stated above

Szego and Widom Theorems for the Neil Algebra

Versions of well known function theoretic operator theory results of Szego and Widom are established for the Neil algebra. The Neil algebra is the subalgebra of the algebra of bounded analytic functions on the unit disc consisting of those functions whose derivative vanishes at the origin.Comment: 11 pages, Version

Agler interpolation families of kernels

An abstract Pick interpolation theorem for a family of positive semi-definite kernels on a set $X$ is formulated. The result complements those in \cite{Ag} and \cite{AMbook} and will subsequently be applied to Pick interpolation on distinguished varieties \cite{JKM}.Comment: 14 page

Compact Sets in the Free Topology

Subsets of the set of $g$-tuples of matrices that are closed with respect to direct sums and compact in the free topology are characterized. They are, in a dilation theoretic sense, contained in the hull of a single point.Comment: 4 pages, Version 2, Corrections made in the abstract and the main theore

Non-commutative varieties with curvature having bounded signature

The signature(s) of the curvature of the zero set V of a free (non-commutative) polynomial is defined as the number of positive and negative eigenvalues of the non-commutative second fundamental form on V determined by p. With some natural hypotheses, the degree of p is bounded in terms of the signature. In particular, if one of the signatures is zero, then the degree of p is at most two

Semidefinite programming in matrix unknowns which are dimension free

One of the main applications of semidefinite programming lies in linear systems and control theory. Many problems in this subject, certainly the textbook classics, have matrices as variables, and the formulas naturally contain non-commutative polynomials in matrices. These polynomials depend only on the system layout and do not change with the size of the matrices involved, hence such problems are called "dimension-free". Analyzing dimension-free problems has led to the development recently of a non-commutative (nc) real algebraic geometry (RAG) which, when combined with convexity, produces dimension-free Semidefinite Programming. This article surveys what is known about convexity in the non-commutative setting and nc SDP and includes a brief survey of nc RAG. Typically, the qualitative properties of the non-commutative case are much cleaner than those of their scalar counterparts - variables in R^g. Indeed we describe how relaxation of scalar variables by matrix variables in several natural situations results in a beautiful structure.Comment: 25 pages; surve