We start by proving the following negative result for nilpotent matrices. LEMMA 2.1. No nilpotent matrix, except the zero matrix, is the product of two nonnegative matrices.
Proof. Let T = AB on the finite-dimensional space H, where T is nilpotent and A, B 2 0. Since u((A’/~B)A’/~) = u(A’/~(A~/~B)) (cf. [4, p. 102, Exercise 131) and a(T) = (0) by the nilpotency of T, we infer that a( A”2BA”2) = (0). Th is, together with the nonnegativity of A’/2BA’/2,