Weakly invariant norms: geometry of spheres in the space of skew-Hermitian matrices

Abstract

Let $N$ be a weakly unitarily invariant norm (i.e. invariant for the coadjoint action of the unitary group) in the space of skew-Hermitian matrices $\mathfrak{u}_n(\mathbb C)$. In this paper we study the geometry of the unit sphere of such a norm, and we show how its geometric properties are encoded by the majorization properties of the eigenvalues of the matrices. We give a detailed characterization of norming functionals of elements for a given norm, and we then prove a sharp criterion for the commutator $[X,[X,V]]$ to be in the hyperplane that supports $V$ in the unit sphere. We show that the adjoint action $V\mapsto V+[X,V]$ of $\mathfrak{u}_n(\mathbb C)$ on itself pushes vectors away from the unit sphere. As an application of the previous results, for a strictly convex norm, we prove that the norm is preserved by this last action if and only if $X$ commutes with $V$. We give a more detailed description in the case of any weakly $Ad$-invariant norm.