Locating a nearest matrix with an eigenvalue of prespecified algebraic multiplicity

The Wilkinson distance of a matrix A is the two-norm of the smallest perturbation E so that A + E has a multiple eigenvalue. Malyshev derived a singular value optimization characterization for the Wilkinson distance. In this work we generalize the definition of the Wilkinson distance as the two-norm of the smallest perturbation so that the perturbed matrix has an eigenvalue of prespecified algebraic multiplicity. We provide a singular value characterization for this generalized Wilkinson distance. Then we outline a numerical technique to solve the derived singular value optimization problems. In particular the numerical technique is applicable to Malyshev's formula to compute the Wilkinson distance as well as to retrieve a nearest matrix with a multiple eigenvalue.