Extension to maximal semidefinite invariant subspaces for hyponormal matrices in indefinite inner products

It is proved that under certain essential additional hypotheses, a nonpositive invariant subspace of a hyponormal matrix admits an extension to a maximal nonpositive subspace which is invariant for both the matrix and its adjoint. Nonpositivity of subspaces and the hyponormal property of the matrix are understood in the sense of a nondegenerate inner product in a finite dimensional complex vector space. The obtained theorem combines and extends several previously known results. A Pontryagin space formulation, with essentially the same proof, is offered as well. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.