Eigenvalues of a real supersymmetric tensor

In this paper, we define the symmetric hyperdeterminant, eigenvalues and E-eigenvalues of a real supersymmetric tensor. We show that eigenvalues are roots of a one-dimensional polynomial, and when the order of the tensor is even, E-eigenvalues are roots of another one-dimensional polynomial. These two one-dimensional polynomials are associated with the symmetric hyperdeterminant. We call them the characteristic polynomial and the E-characteristic polynomial of that supersymmetric tensor. Real eigenvalues (E-eigenvalues) with real eigenvectors (E-eigenvectors) are called H-eigenvalues (Z-eigenvalues). When the order of the supersymmetric tensor is even, H-eigenvalues (Z-eigenvalues) exist and the supersymmetric tensor is positive definite if and only if all of its H-eigenvalues (Z-eigenvalues) are positive. An mth-order n-dimensional supersymmetric tensor where m is even has exactly n(m − 1)n−1 eigenvalues, and the number of its E-eigenvalues is strictly less than n(m − 1)n−1 when m ≥ 4. We show that the product of all the eigenvalues is equal to the value of the symmetric hyperdeterminant, while the sum of all the eigenvalues is equal to the sum of the diagonal elements of that supersymmetric tensor, multiplied by (m − 1)n−1. The n(m−1)n−1 eigenvalues are distributed in n disks in C. The centers and radii of these n disks are the diagonal elements, and the sums of the absolute values of the corresponding off-diagonal elements, of that supersymmetric tensor. On the other hand, E-eigenvalues are invariant under orthogonal transformations. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.