Separation theorems for singular values of matrices and their applications in multivariate analysis

Separation theorems for singular values of a matrix, similar to the Poincaré separation theorem for the eigenvalues of a Hermitian matrix, are proved. The results are applied to problems in approximating a given r.v. by an r.v. in a specified class. In particular, problems of canonical correlations, reduced rank regression, fitting an orthogonal random variable (r.v.) to a given r.v., and estimation of residuals in the Gauss-Markoff model are discussed. In each case, a solution is obtained by minimizing a suitable norm. In some cases a common solution is shown to minimize a wide class of norms known as unitarily invariant norms introduced by von Neumann.