We completely characterize the ranks of A - B and $A^{1/2}-B^{1/2}$ for operators A and B on a Hilbert space satisfying A ≥ B ≥ 0. Namely, let l and m be nonnegative integers or infinity. Then l = rank(A - B) and $m=rank(A^{1/2}-B^{1/2})$ for some operators A and B with A ≥ B ≥ 0 on a Hilbert space of dimension n (1 ≤ n ≤ ∞) if and only if l = m = 0 or 0 < l ≤ m ≤ n. In particular, this answers in the negative the question posed by C. Benhida whether for positive operators A and B the finiteness of rank(A - B) implies that of $rank(A^{1/2}-B^{1/2})$. For...

This paper shows some directions of perturbation theory for Lipschitz functions of selfadjoint and normal operators, without giving precise proofs. Some of the ideas discussed are explained informally or for the finite-dimensional case. Several unsolved problems are mentioned.