Backward error and condition of polynomial eigenvalue problems

We develop normwise backward errors and condition numbers for the polynomial eigenvalue problem. The standard way of dealing with this problem is to reformulate it as a generalized eigenvalue problem (GEP). For the special case of the quadratic eigenvalue problem (QEP), we show that solving the QEP by applying the QZ algorithm to a corresponding GEP can be backward unstable. The QEP can be reformulated as a GEP in many ways. We investigate the sensitivity of a given eigenvalue to perturbations in each of the GEP formulations and identify which formulations are to be preferred for large and small eigenvalues, respectively. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.