Abstract
Given a complex, separable Hilbert space H, we characterize those operators for which ‖PT(I−P)‖=‖(I−P)TP‖ for all orthogonal projections P on H. When H is finite-dimensional, we also obtain a complete characterization of those operators for which rank(I−P)TP=rankPT(I−P) for all orthogonal projections P. When H is infinite-dimensional, we show that any operator with the latter property is normal, and its spectrum is contained in either a line or a circle in the complex plane.