Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2009
Let N(λ) be a square matrix polynomial, and suppose det N is a polynomial of degree d. Subject to a certain non-singularity condition we construct a d by d Hermitian matrix whose signature determines the numbers of zeros of N inside and outside the unit circle. The result generalises a well known theorem of Schur and Cohn for scalar polynomials. The Hermitian “test matrix” is obtained as the inverse of the Gram matrix of a natural basis in a certain Krein space of rational vector functions associated with N. More complete results in a somewhat different formulation have been obtained by Lerer and Tismenetsky by other methods.