1. Introduction
In this work we propose a numerical approach for solving the kth degree polynomial eigenvalue problem
(P)
Problem (P) arises in many applications in science and engineering, ranging from the dynamical analysis of structural systems such as bridges and buildings to theories of elementary particles in atomic physics [1] [2]. It’s also the most important task in the vibration analysis of buildings, machines, and vehicles [3]. We first transform our kth degree polynomial eigenvalue problem (P) to an equivalent first-degree equation
commonly called pencil problem. In the case when matrices
have symmetric/skew-symmetric structure, the problem (P) is transformed to a skew-Hamiltonian/Hamiltonian pencil [4]. The second step is to transform the skew-Hamiltonian/Hamiltonian pencil to a standard Hamiltonian eigenproblem
[5]. This transformation is obtained after decomposing B as
where R is a permuted triangular matrix.
The Hamiltonian matrix H is given by
where
.
It is known that any nonsingular skew-symmetric matrix has a decomposition of the form
[6]. The real matrix
is skew-Hamiltonian and has the decomposition
where R has the form of a permuted triangular matrix. We give here a new proof for this result and different algorithms that compute the decomposition
.
2. Preliminaries
We give in this paragraph, new definitions and useful propositions.
Let
, where
denotes the
identity matrix. We
will use J when the size is clear from the context. Recall that a matrix
is skew-Hamiltonian if
, where the J-transpose of the matrix M is defined
by
. Likewise, a Hamiltonian matrix H is written as
where E, G and
with
and
. We have
. More general, the J-transpose of the rectangular 2p-by-2q matrix N is defined by 2q-by-2p matrix
.
The set
where
with
is denoting the i-th unit vector of length 2n, satisfies
,
and
where
and
Let
where
and
. Then U is written in a unique way as linear combination of
on
,
where
. Let
be a 2n-by-2n real matrix. Then M is written as
where
.
Definition 2.1. The 2n-by-2n real matrix
is called lower J-triangular if
for
and
, (i.e.,
).
Definition 2.2. The 2n-by-2n real matrix
is called upper J-triangular if
for
and
, (i.e.,
).
Proposition 2.1. Let M and N be two upper J-triangular (respectively, lower J-triangular) 2n-by-2n real matrix. The product
remain as upper J-triangular (respectively, as lower J-triangular).
Proof. Let
and
two upper J-triangular 2n-by-2n real matrix. The matrix product of M and N is obtained by

That proves
remain as upper J-triangular. (similarly, when M and N are lower J-triangular). 
Definition 2.3.
is called J-isotropic if
.
Proposition 2.2. The inverse of a regular upper J-triangular 2n-by-2n real matrix (respectively, lower J-triangular) is also upper J-triangular (respectively, also lower J-triangular).
Proof. Let
an upper J-triangular 2n-by-2n real matrix. The following proposition
, where
are 2-by-2 real matrix, holds for
. Suppose
are true for
,
. For
, we have
, therefore

Since
is invertible and by using recurrence hypothesis, then
![]()
with
.
3. Cholesky Like-Decomposition for Skew-Hamiltonian Matrix
In this section, we study different ways to compute
decomposition of a real skew-Hamiltonian matrix
. We began first by giving some interesting theoretical results.
3.1. Definition and Theoretical Results
Definition 3.1. The 2n-by-2n real skew-Hamiltonian matrix M is called J-definite if
with
for every non J-isotropic
(i.e.,
).
Remark 3.1 For
and a 2n-by-2n real skew-Hamiltonian matrix M,
with
.
Lemma 3.1. If M is a 2n-by-2n real skew-Hamiltonian and J-definite matrix, then M is invertible.
Proof. If not, there exists
such that
. Let
that verify
non J-isotropic (i.e.,
). Since
, then
which is contradictory with the hypothesis. ![]()
Theorem 3.2. If M is a 2n-by-2n real skew-Hamiltonian, J-definite matrix, then M has an LU J-factorization.
Proof. Let
(
) be non J-isotropic. Suppose that
where
. We construct an
such that
where
for
. We have,
where
as defined in theorem 2.2 given above. Then 2k-by-2k matrix
remains skew-Hamiltonian and J-definite and then invertible. ![]()
Corollary 3.3. If
is the LU J-factorization of the real 2n-by-2n skew-Hamiltonian, J-definite matrix M, then M has an
where
(here
is the i-th diagonal entry of U).
Proof. Since the matrix M is skew-Hamiltonian, then by taking
we obtain
![]()
is nothing but the
J-factorization of M. Indeed,
is lower J-triangular with 1 in diagonal and
is upper J-triangular. Thus, from the uniqueness of the
J-factorization, it follows that
. ![]()
Theorem 3.4. Let M be a 2n-by-2n real skew-Hamiltonian J-definite matrix, then M has a Cholesky J-factorization
where N is lower J-triangular
and in addition the
are diagonal.
Proof. We proceed by induction on n. For
, the real 2-by-2 skew-Hamiltonian J-definite matrix
where
. If we set
, the theorem holds trivially.
Let’s now
. Since M is skew-Hamiltonian and J-definite, then
. We can write
![]()
We set
and
. The J-transpose of W is given by
. Let
,
and
. We calculate
. The J-transpose of
is given by
. Finally, we obtain
![]()
Since
, then
. By induction
, where
where L is
-by-
lower J-triangular matrix and in addition the
are diagonal for
. Therefore, if we let
, we obtain
and then finally
![]()
Since
and G are lower J-triangular, then
remain lower J-triangular and verify
are diagonal. ![]()
3.2. Method 1
We construct an algorithm that gives decomposition
of skew-Hamiltonian matrices via a
J-decomposition.
Proposition 3.5. Let M is a 2n-by-2n real skew-Hamiltonian, J-definite matrix. If
its
J-factorization, then
where D is a diagonal matrix defined by
![]()
(here
is the i-th diagonal entry of U) is lower J-triangular and verify
.
Proof. By corollary 3.3,
. Since
where D is as given above, then
is lower J-triangular and
. From the J-decomposition
given by algorithms in section, we set
![]()
where
. We have
where
. ![]()
3.3. Method 2
We study now a method that constructs decomposition
of skew-Hamiltonian J-definite matrices.
Let
be a skew-Hamiltonian J-definite matrix.
![]()
with
and
. Let
where L is lower J-triangular that verify
. The existence of L is guaranteed by theorem 4.4
![]()
Since
![]()
then
![]()
If
,
then
. We obtain
. Since
and
, then
, then
![]()
And for
,
. Multiplying on the right by
, we obtain
![]()
Thus
![]()
Since
![]()
then,
![]()
Since
, then
If we set
, then we obtain
![]()
However
for
, then
. Multiplying on the right by
we find
and finally
.
The method yield the following algorithm.
Algorithm:
for ![]()
![]()
![]()
for ![]()
![]()
4. Polynomial Eigenvalue Problems
Many applications give rise to structured matrix polynomial eigenvalue problems
![]()
The numerical solution of this polynomial eigenvalue problem is one of the most important tasks in the vibration analysis of buildings, machines and vehicles [7]. In many applications, the coefficient matrices have particular structure and it is important that numerical methods respect this structure. A popular approach for solving the polynomial eigenvalue problem
is to linearize to produce a generalized eigenproblem
[8].
Theorem 4.1. [9] Consider the polynomial eigenvalue problem
with either
or
and with
nonsingular. Then solving problem
is equivalent to solve
where
![]()
and
![]()
We draw from this theorem that the polynomial eigenvalue problem (P) can be reduced to an eigenvalue pencil problem
where A is symmetric and B is skew-symmetric. The second step is to transform the skew-symmetric/ symmetric pencil to a standard Hamiltonian eigenproblem
by decomposing the skew-Hamiltonian matrix
as
. The Hamiltonian matrix H is then obtained by
. Eigenvalue problems of this type arise property that all eigenvalues appear in quadruples
, the spectrum is symmetric with respect to the real and imaginary axes.
5. Numerical Examples
We present computed eigenvalues that solve the kth degree polynomial eigenvalue problem
of dimension
which is transforming to a standard eigenvalue problem of dimension
. We also compute the error consisting in
![]()
Example 1. [9]Let us consider a quartic eigenvalue problem of the form
.
We obtain a 144 × 144 quartic pencil, whose 576 eigenvalues are shown in Figure 1 given above.
![]()
Example 2. [10]Now, let us consider the following quadratic eigenvalue problems given by
.
The 400 eigenvalues are shown in Figure 2 below ![]()
![]()
Figure 1. Eigenvalues of 144 × 144 polynomial problems.
![]()
Figure 2. Eigenvalues of 400 quadratic polynomial problems.
6. Conclusion
We have proposed a numerical approach for solving polynomial eigenvalue problems structured. We first transform polynomial eigenvalue problem
to a skew-Hamiltonian/Hamiltonian pencil
. The second step is to transform the pencil into a standard Hamiltonian eigenproblem
. Numerical methods based on these structured linearizations are expected to be more effective in computing accurate eigenvalues in practical applications. My future work based on this current study is to solve the large matrix equations applied in signal processing, image restoration and model reduction in control theory.
Acknowledgements
We thank the editor and the referee for their comments.