Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
We generalize the well-known result that a square traceless complex matrix is unitarily similar to a matrix with zero diagonal to arbitrary connected semisimple complex Lie groups $G$ and their Lie algebras $\mathfrak{g}$ under the action of a maximal compact subgroup $K$ of $G$. We also introduce a natural partial order on $\mathfrak{g}:\,x\,\le y$ if $f(K\,\cdot \,x)\,\subseteq \,f(K\,\cdot \,y)$ for all $f\,\in \,{{\mathfrak{g}}^{*}}$, the complex dual of $\mathfrak{g}$. This partial order is $K$-invariant and induces a partial order on the orbit space $\mathfrak{g}/K$. We prove that, under some restrictions on $\mathfrak{g}$, the set $f(K\,\cdot \,x)$ is star-shaped with respect to the origin.