A hermitian analogue of the Broecker-Prestel theorem

The Broecker-Prestel local-global principle characterizes weak isotropy of quadratic forms over a formally real field in terms of weak isotropy over the henselizations and isotropy over the real closures of that field. A hermitian analogue of this principle is presented for algebras of index at most two. An improved result is also presented for algebras with a decomposable involution, algebras of pythagorean index at most two, and algebras over SAP and ED fields.Comment: Final pre-publication versio

Quadratic Forms and Space-Time Block Codes from Generalized Quaternion and Biquaternion Algebras

In the context of space-time block codes (STBCs), the theory of generalized quaternion and biquaternion algebras (i.e., tensor products of two quaternion algebras) over arbitrary base fields is presented, as well as quadratic form theoretic criteria to check if such algebras are division algebras. For base fields relevant to STBCs, these criteria are exploited, via Springer's theorem, to construct several explicit infinite families of (bi-)quaternion division algebras. These are used to obtain new 2\x 2 and 4\x 4 STBCs.Comment: 8 pages, final versio

The Procesi-Schacher conjecture and Hilbert's 17th problem for algebras with involution

In 1976 Procesi and Schacher developed an Artin-Schreier type theory for central simple algebras with involution and conjectured that in such an algebra a totally positive element is always a sum of hermitian squares. In this paper elementary counterexamples to this conjecture are constructed and cases are studied where the conjecture does hold. Also, a Positivstellensatz is established for noncommutative polynomials, positive semidefinite on all tuples of matrices of a fixed size.Comment: Final pre-publication versio