Hermitian part of a matrix ($H=(A+A^{\ast })/2$)

The Hermitian part of a square matrix is half its sum with its conjugate transpose. It is a Hermitian matrix and satisfies $\mathrm{Re}(x^{\ast }Ax)=x^{\ast }Hx$. Its largest eigenvalue is the numerical abscissa, controlling instantaneous growth of the Euclidean norm under $x^{\prime }=Ax$.