In this paper, we present some new estimates on Sigma (i)/lambda (i)/(2), w
here lambda (i) is an eigenvalue of a matrix, which improve Schur's inequal
ity. By using these estimates, we provide a new criterion for nonsingularit
y of matrices and a monotonic iterative method for matrix 1-balancing probl
ems. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science inc, All rights reserved.