An operator inequality for range projections

Abstract: By a result of Lundquist-Barrett, it follows that the rank of a positive semi-definite matrix is less than or equal to the sum of the ranks of its principal diagonal submatrices when written in block form. In this article, we take a general operator algebraic approach which provides insight as to why the above rank inequality resembles the Hadamard-Fischer determinant inequality in form, with multiplication replaced by addition. It also helps in identifying the necessary and sufficient conditions under which equality holds. Let $\mathscr{R}$ be a von Neumann algebra, and $\Phi$ be a normal conditional expectation from $\mathscr{R}$ onto a von Neumann subalgebra $\mathscr{S}$ of $\mathscr{R}$. Let $\mathfrak{R}[T]$ denote the range projection of an operator $T$. For a positive operator $A$ in $\mathscr{R}$, we prove that $\Phi(\mathfrak{R}[A]) \le \mathfrak{R}[\Phi(A)]$ with equality if and only if $\mathfrak{R}[A] \in \mathscr{S}$.