Matrix polynomials with specified eigenvalues

This work concerns the distance in the 2-norm from a given matrix polynomial to a nearest polynomial with a specified number of its eigenvalues at specified locations in the complex plane. Initially, we consider perturbations of the constant coefficient matrix only. A singular value optimization characterization is derived for the associated distance. We also consider the distance in the general setting, when all of the coefficient matrices are perturbed. In this general setting, we obtain a lower bound in terms of another singular value optimization problem. The singular value optimization problems derived facilitate the numerical computation of the distances.