We explicitly describe the best approximation in geodesic submanifolds of positive definite matrices obtained from involutive congruence transformations on the Cartan-Hadamard manifold ${\mathrm{Sym}}(n,{\Bbb R})^{++}$ of positive definite matrices. An explicit calculation for the minimal distance function from the geodesic submanifold ${\mathrm{Sym}}(p,{\mathbb R})^{++}\times {\mathrm{Sym}}(q,{\mathbb R})^{++}$ block diagonally embedded in ${\mathrm{Sym}}(n,{\mathbb R})^{++}$ is given in terms of metric and spectral geometric means, Cayley transform, and Schur complements of positive definite matrices when $p\leq 2$ or $q\leq 2.$

In this paper, we consider the set $\mathcal{S} = a(e^X K e^Y)$ where $a(g)$ is the abelian part in the Cartan decomposition of $g$. This is exactly the support of the measure intervening in the product formula for the spherical functions on symmetric spaces of noncompact type. We give a simple description of that support in the case of $\SL(3,\mathbf{F})$ where $\mathbf{F} = \mathbf{R}$, $\mathbf{C}$ or $\mathbf{H}$. In particular, we show that $\mathcal{S}$ is convex. We also give an application of our result to the description of singular values of a product of two arbitrary matrices with prescribed singular values.

Given a matrix $A$, let $\mathcal{O}(A)$ denote the orbit of $A$ under a certain group action such as \begin{enumerate}[(4)] \item[(1)] $U(m) \otimes U(n)$ acting on $m \times n$ complex matrices $A$ by $(U,V)*A = UAV^t$, \item[(2)] $O(m) \otimes O(n)$ or $\SO(m) \otimes \SO(n)$ acting on $m \times n$ real matrices $A$ by $(U,V)*A = UAV^t$, \item[(3)] $U(n)$ acting on $n \times n$ complex symmetric or skew-symmetric matrices $A$ by $U*A = UAU^t$, \item[(4)] $O(n)$ or $\SO(n)$ acting on $n \times n$ real symmetric or skew-symmetric matrices $A$ by $U*A = UAU^t$. \end{enumerate} Denote by $$ \mathcal{O}(A_1,\dots,A_k) = \{X_1 + \cdots + X_k : X_i \in \mathcal{O}(A_i), i = 1,\dots,k\} $$ the joint orbit of the matrices $A_1,\dots,A_k$. We study the set of diagonals or partial diagonals of matrices in $\mathcal{O}(A_1,\dots,A_k)$, {\it i.e.}, the set of vectors $(d_1,\dots,d_r)$ whose entries lie in the $(1,j_1),\dots,(r,j_r)$ positions of a matrix in $\mathcal{O}(A_1, \dots,A_k)$ for some distinct column indices $j_1,\dots,j_r$. In many cases, complete description of these sets is given in terms of the inequalities involving the singular values of $A_1,\dots,A_k$. We also characterize those extreme matrices for which the equality cases hold. Furthermore, some convexity properties of the joint orbits are considered. These extend many classical results on matrix inequalities, and answer some questions by Miranda. Related results on the joint orbit $\mathcal{O}(A_1,\dots,A_k)$ of complex Hermitian matrices under the action of unitary similarities are also discussed.

The question of counting minimal factorizations of permutations into transpositions that act transitively on a set has been studied extensively in the geometrical setting of ramified coverings of the sphere and in the algebraic setting of symmetric functions. It is natural, however, from a combinatorial point of view to ask how such results are affected by counting up to equivalence of factorizations, where two factorizations are equivalent if they differ only by the interchange of adjacent factors that commute. We obtain an explicit and elegant result for the number of such factorizations of permutations with precisely two factors. The approach used is a combinatorial one that rests on two constructions. We believe that this approach, and the combinatorial primitives that have been developed for the ``cut and join'' analysis, will also assist with the general case.