On a reduction procedure for Horn inequalities in finite von Neumann algebras

Abstract

We consider the analogues of the Horn inequalities in finite von Neumann algebras, which concern the possible spectral distributions of sums $a+b$ of self--adjoint elements $a$ and $b$ in a finite von Neumann algebra. It is an open question whether all of these Horn inequalities must hold in all finite von Neumann algebras, and this is related to Connes' embedding problem. For each choice of integers $1\le r\le n$, there is a set $T^n_r$ of Horn triples, and the Horn inequalities are in one-to-one correspondence with $\cup_{1\le r\le n}T^n_r$. We consider a property P$_n$, analogous to one introduced by Therianos and Thompson in the case of matrices, amounting to the existence of projections having certain properties relative to arbitrary flags, which guarantees that a given Horn inequality holds in all finite von Neumann algebras. It is an open question whether all Horn triples in $T^n_r$ have property P$_n$. Certain triples in $T^n_r$ can be reduced to triples in $T^{n-1}_r$ by an operation we call {\em TT--reduction}. We show that property P$_n$ holds for the original triple if property P$_{n-1}$ holds for the reduced one. We then characterize the TT--irreducible Horn triples in $T^n_3$, for arbitrary $n$, and for those LR--minimal ones (namely, those having Littlewood--Richardson coefficient equal to 1), we perform a construction of projections with respect to flags in arbitrary von Neumann algebras in order to prove property P$_n$ for them. This shows that all LR--minimal triples in $\cup_{n\ge3}T^n_3$ have property P$_n$, and so that the corresponding Horn inequalities hold in all finite von Neumann algebras.