The development of fast algorithms for performing computations with n x n low-rank structured matrices has been a very active area of research during the last two decades, as a consequence of the numerous applications where these matrices arise. The key ideas behind these fast algorithms are that low-rank structured matrices can be described in terms of O(n) parameters and that these algorithms operate on the parameters instead on the matrix entries. Therefore, the sensitivity of any computed quantity should be measured with respect to the possible variations that the parameters de ning these matrices may su er, since this determines the maximum accuracy of a given fast computation. In other words, it is necessary to develop condition numbe...