We consider the problem of computing the nearest matrix polynomial with a non-trivial Smith Normal Form. We show that computing the Smith form of a matrix polynomial is amenable to numeric computation as an optimization problem. Furthermore, we describe an effective optimization technique to find a nearby matrix polynomial with a non-trivial Smith form. The results are later generalized to include the computation of a matrix polynomial having a maximum specified number of ones in the Smith Form (i.e., with a maximum specified McCoy rank). We discuss the geometry and existence of solutions and how our results can used for a backwards error analysis. We develop an optimization-based approach and demonstrate an iterative numerical method for computing a nearby matrix polynomial with the desired spectral properties. We also describe the implementation of our algorithms and demonstrate the robustness with examples in Maple.

Matrix polynomials appear in many areas of computational algebra, control systems theory, differential equations, and mechanics, typically with real or complex coefficients. Because of numerical error and instability, a matrix polynomial may appear of considerably higher rank (generically full rank), while being very close to a rank-deficient matrix. "Close" is defined naturally under the Frobenius norm on the underlying coefficient matrices of the matrix polynomial. In this paper we consider the problem of finding the nearest rank-deficient matrix polynomial to an input matrix polynomial, that is, the nearest square matrix polynomial which is algebraically singular. We prove that such singular matrices at minimal distance always exist (and we are never in the awkward situation having an infimum but no actual matrix polynomial at minimal distance). We also show that singular matrices at minimal distance are all isolated, and are surrounded by a basin of attraction of non-minimal solutions. Finally, we present an iterative algorithm which, on given input sufficiently close to a rank-deficient matrix, produces that matrix. The algorithm is efficient and is proven to converge quadratically given a sufficiently good starting point. An implementation demonstrates the effectiveness and numerical robustness in practice.