Square Roots of Hermitian Matrices and a Rational Algorithm for Checking Their Congruence

Abstract

A finite computational process using only arithmetical operations is called a rational algorithm. Presently, there is no known rational algorithm for checking congruence between arbitrary complex matrices A and B. The situation may be different if A and B belong to a special matrix class. For instance, there exist rational algorithms for the cases where both matrices are Hermitian, unitary, or accretive. In this publication, we propose a rational algorithm for checking congruence between matrices A and B that are square roots of Hermitian matrices.