On the convexity of numerical range in quaternionic hilbert spaces

Abstract

Let A be a bounded linear operator in a quaternionic Hilberi space (H,(·,·)). The numerical range of A is defined to be the set W (A)={( Au, u): u ε H, (u,u) = 1}. Quite different from the complex caseW (A) may not be convex. In this note the author proves that W (A) is convex if and only if R ∩ W (A) = {Req : q ε W(A)}. where R is the real field and Re q denotes the real part of the quaternion q. For a normal operator A in a finite dimensional space H, the author gives a characterization on the convexity of W(A) in terms of ihe eigenvalues of A and also proves that the generalized numerical range of A is convex if and only if A is Hermitian.