Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
We generalize the well-known result that a square traceless complex matrix is unitarily similar to a matrix with zero diagonal to arbitrary connected semisimple complex Lie groups $G$ and their Lie algebras
$\mathfrak{g}$ under the action of a maximal compact subgroup
$K$ of
$G$. We also introduce a natural partial order on
$\mathfrak{g}:\,x\,\le y$ if
$f(K\,\cdot \,x)\,\subseteq \,f(K\,\cdot \,y)$ for all
$f\,\in \,{{\mathfrak{g}}^{*}}$, the complex dual of
$\mathfrak{g}$. This partial order is
$K$-invariant and induces a partial order on the orbit space
$\mathfrak{g}/K$. We prove that, under some restrictions on
$\mathfrak{g}$, the set
$f(K\,\cdot \,x)$ is star-shaped with respect to the origin.