The numerical range and the spectrum of a product of two orthogonal projections

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to describe the closure of the numerical range of the product of two orthogonal projections in Hilbert space as a closed convex hull of some explicit ellipses parametrized by points in the spectrum. Several improvements (removing the closure of the numerical range of the operator, using a parametrization after its eigenvalues) are possible under additional assumptions. An estimate of the least angular opening of a sector with vertex 1 containing the numerical range of a product of two orthogonal projections onto two subspaces is given in terms of the cosine of the Friedrichs angle. Applications to the rate of convergence in the method of alternating projections and to the uncertainty principle in harmonic analysis are also discussed.