The copositive completion problem: Unspecified diagonal entries

In [L. Hogben, C.R. Johnson, R. Reams, The copositive matrix completion problem, Linear Algebra Appl. 408 (2005) 207-211] it was shown that any partial (strictly) copositive matrix all of whose diagonal entries are specified can be completed to a (strictly) copositive matrix. In this note we show that every partial strictly copositive matrix (possibly with unspecified diagonal entries) can be completed to a strictly copositive matrix, but there is an example of a partial copositive matrix with an unspecified diagonal entry that cannot be completed to a copositive matrix.     

Lower Bounds in Minimum Rank Problems

The minimum rank of a graph is the smallest possible rank among all real symmetric matrices with the given graph. The minimum semidefinite rank of a graph is the minimum rank among Hermitian positive semidefinite matrices with the given graph. We explore connections between OS-sets and a lower bound for minimum rank related to zero forcing sets as well as exhibit graphs for which the difference between the minimum semidefinite rank and these lower bounds can be arbitrarily large.     

Classes of graphs with minimum skew rank 4

The minimum skew rank of a simple graph G   is the smallest possible rank among all real skew-symmetric matrices whose (i,j)$(i,j)$-entry is nonzero if and only if the edge joining i and j is in G. It is known that a graph has minimum skew rank 2 if and only if it consists of a complete multipartite graph and some isolated vertices. Some necessary conditions for a graph to have minimum skew rank 4 are established, and several families of graphs with minimum skew rank 4 are given. Linear algebraic techniques are developed to show that complements of trees and certain outerplanar graphs have minimum skew rank 4.     

Minimum rank of skew-symmetric matrices described by a graph

The minimum (symmetric) rank of a simple graph G over a field F is the smallest possible rank among all symmetric matrices over F whose ijth entry (for i≠j) is nonzero whenever {i,j} is an edge in G and is zero otherwise. The problem of determining minimum (symmetric) rank has been studied extensively. We define the minimum skew rank of a simple graph G to be the smallest possible rank among all skew-symmetric matrices over F whose ijth entry (for i≠j) is nonzero whenever {i,j} is an edge in G and is zero otherwise. We apply techniques from the minimum (symmetric) rank problem and from skew-symmetric matrices to obtain results about the minimum skew rank problem.     

A note on universally optimal matrices and field independence of the minimum rank of a graph

For a simple graph G on n vertices, the minimum rank of G over a field F, written as mr^F(G), is defined to be the smallest possible rank among all n×n symmetric matrices over F whose (i,j)th entry (for i≠j) is nonzero whenever {i,j} is an edge in G and is zero otherwise. A symmetric integer matrix A such that every off-diagonal entry is 0, 1, or -1 is called a universally optimal matrix if, for all fields F, the rank of A over F is the minimum rank of the graph of A over F. Recently, Dealba et al. [L.M. Dealba, J. Grout, L. Hogben, R. Mikkelson, K. Rasmussen, Universally optimal matrices and field independence of the minimum rank of a graph, Electron. J. Linear Algebra 18 (2009) 403-419] initiated the study of universally optimal matrices and established field independence or dependence of minimum rank for some families of graphs. In the present paper, more results on universally optimal matrices and field independence or dependence of the minimum rank of a graph are presented, and some results of Dealba et al. [5] are improved.     

Primitive non-powerful symmetric loop-free signed digraphs with given base and minimum number of arcs

In [B.M. Kim, B.C. Song, W. Hwang, Primitive graphs with given exponents and minimum number of edges, Linear Algebra Appl. 420 (2007) 648-662], the minimum number of edges of a simple graph on n vertices with exponent k was determined. In this paper, we completely determine the minimum number, H(n,k), of arcs of primitive non-powerful symmetric loop-free signed digraphs on n vertices with base k, characterize the underlying digraphs which have H(n,k) arcs when k is 2, nearly characterize the case when k is 3 and propose an open problem.     

New lower bounds on eigenvalue of the Hadamard product of an M-matrix and its inverse

Some new lower bounds for the minimum eigenvalue of the Hadamard product of an M-matrix and its inverse are given. These bounds improve the results of [H.B. Li, T.Z. Huang, S.Q. Shen, H. Li, Lower bounds for the minimum eigenvalue of Hadamard product of an M-matrix and its inverse, Linear Algebra Appl. 420 (2007) 235-247].     

Zero forcing parameters and minimum rank problems

The zero forcing number Z(G), which is the minimum number of vertices in a zero forcing set of a graph G, is used to study the maximum nullity/minimum rank of the family of symmetric matrices described by G. It is shown that for a connected graph of order at least two, no vertex is in every zero forcing set. The positive semidefinite zero forcing number Z₊(G) is introduced, and shown to be equal to |G|-OS(G), where OS(G) is the recently defined ordered set number that is a lower bound for minimum positive semidefinite rank. The positive semidefinite zero forcing number is applied to the computation of positive semidefinite minimum rank of certain graphs. An example of a graph for which the real positive symmetric semidefinite minimum rank is greater than the complex Hermitian positive semidefinite minimum rank is presented.     

On acyclic and unicyclic graphs whose minimum rank equals the diameter

The minimum rank of a graph G is defined as the smallest possible rank over all symmetric matrices governed by G. It is well known that the minimum rank of a connected graph is at least the diameter of that graph. In this paper, we investigate the graphs for which equality holds between minimum rank and diameter, and completely describe the acyclic and unicyclic graphs for which this equality holds.     

Zero forcing sets and the minimum rank of graphs

The minimum rank of a simple graph G is defined to be the smallest possible rank over all symmetric real matrices whose ijth entry (for i≠j) is nonzero whenever {i,j} is an edge in G and is zero otherwise. This paper introduces a new graph parameter, Z(G), that is the minimum size of a zero forcing set of vertices and uses it to bound the minimum rank for numerous families of graphs, often enabling computation of the minimum rank.     

An upper bound for the minimum rank of a graph

For a graph G of order n, the minimum rank of G is defined to be the smallest possible rank over all real symmetric n×n matrices A whose (i,j)th entry (for i≠j) is nonzero whenever {i,j} is an edge in G and is zero otherwise. We prove an upper bound for minimum rank in terms of minimum degree of a vertex is valid for many graphs, including all bipartite graphs, and conjecture this bound is true over for all graphs, and prove a related bound for all zero-nonzero patterns of (not necessarily symmetric) matrices. Most of the results are valid for matrices over any infinite field, but need not be true for matrices over finite fields.     

Completion problem with partial correlation vines

This paper extends the results in [D. Kurowicka, R.M. Cooke, A parametrization of positive definite matrices in terms of partial correlation vines, Linear Algebra Appl. 372 (2003) 225-251]. We show that a partial correlation vine represents a factorization of the determinant of the correlation matrix. We show that the graph of an incompletely specified correlation matrix is chordal if and only if it can be represented as an m-saturated incomplete vine, that is, an incomplete vine for which all edges corresponding to membership-descendents (m-descendents for short) of a specified edge are specified. This enables us to find the set of completions, and also the completion with maximal determinant for matrices corresponding to chordal graphs.     

On Matrices with Perron–Frobenius Properties and Some Negative Entries

We consider those n-by-n matrices with a strictly dominant positive eigenvalue of multiplicity 1 and associated positive left and right eigenvectors. Such matrices may have negative entries and generalize the primitive matrices in important ways. Several ways of constructing such matrices, including a very geometric one, are discussed. This paper grew out of a recent survey talk about nonnegative matrices by the first author and a joint paper, with others, by the second author about the symmetric case [Tarazaga et al. (2001) Linear Algebra Appl. 328: 57].     

Unitary matrix digraphs and minimum semidefinite rank

For an undirected simple graph G, the minimum rank among all positive semidefinite matrices with graph G is called the minimum semidefinite rank (msr) of G. In this paper, we show that the msr of a given graph may be determined from the msr of a related bipartite graph. Finding the msr of a given bipartite graph is then shown to be equivalent to determining which digraphs encode the zero/nonzero pattern of a unitary matrix. We provide an algorithm to construct unitary matrices with a certain pattern, and use previous results to give a lower bound for the msr of certain bipartite graphs.     

The weighted complexity and the determinant functions of graphs

The complexity of a graph can be obtained as a derivative of a variation of the zeta function [S. Northshield, A note on the zeta function of a graph, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 74 (1998) 408-410] or a partial derivative of its generalized characteristic polynomial evaluated at a point [D. Kim, H.K. Kim, J. Lee, Generalized characteristic polynomials of graph bundles, Linear Algebra Appl. 429 (4) (2008) 688-697]. A similar result for the weighted complexity of weighted graphs was found using a determinant function [H. Mizuno, I. Sato, On the weighted complexity of a regular covering of a graph, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 89 (2003) 17-26]. In this paper, we consider the determinant function of two variables and discover a condition that the weighted complexity of a weighted graph is a partial derivative of the determinant function evaluated at a point. Consequently, we simply obtain the previous results and disclose a new formula for the complexity from a variation of the Bartholdi zeta function. We also consider a new weighted complexity, for which the weights of spanning trees are taken as the sum of weights of edges in the tree, and find a similar formula for this new weighted complexity. As an application, we compute the weighted complexities of the product of the complete graphs.     

Techniques for determining the minimum rank of a small graph

The minimum rank of a simple graph G is defined to be the smallest possible rank over all symmetric real matrices whose ijth entry (for i≠j) is nonzero whenever {i,j} is an edge in G and is zero otherwise. Minimum rank is a difficult parameter to compute. However, there are now a number of known reduction techniques and bounds that can be programmed on a computer; we have developed a program using the open-source mathematics software Sage to implement several techniques. We have also established several additional strategies for computation of minimum rank. These techniques have been used to determine the minimum ranks of all graphs of order 7.     

Primitive zero-symmetric sign pattern matrices with the maximum base

In [B. Cheng, B. Liu, The base sets of primitive zero-symmetric sign pattern matrices, Linear Algebra Appl. 428 (2008) 715-731], Cheng and Liu studied the bases of primitive zero-symmetric sign pattern matrices. The sharp upper bound of the bases was obtained. In this paper, we characterize the sign pattern matrices with the sharp bound.     

On the maximum multiplicity of an eigenvalue in a matrix whose graph contains exactly one cycle

We consider the general problem of determining the maximum possible multiplicity of an eigenvalue in a Hermitian matrix whose graph contains exactly one cycle. For some cases we express that maximum multiplicity in terms of certain parameters associated with the graph.     

Maximum generic nullity of a graph

For a graph G of order n, the maximum nullity of G is defined to be the largest possible nullity over all real symmetric n×n matrices A whose (i,j)th entry (for i≠j) is nonzero whenever {i,j} is an edge in G and is zero otherwise. Maximum nullity and the related parameter minimum rank of the same set of matrices have been studied extensively. A new parameter, maximum generic nullity, is introduced. Maximum generic nullity provides insight into the structure of the null-space of a matrix realizing maximum nullity of a graph. It is shown that maximum generic nullity is bounded above by edge connectivity and below by vertex connectivity. Results on random graphs are used to show that as n goes to infinity almost all graphs have equal maximum generic nullity, vertex connectivity, edge connectivity, and minimum degree.     

Some new bounds on the spectral radius of matrices

A new lower bound on the smallest eigenvalue τ(AB) for the Fan product of two nonsingular M-matrices A and B is given. Meanwhile, we also obtain a new upper bound on the spectral radius ρ(A°B) for nonnegative matrices A and B. These bounds improve some results of Huang (2008) [R. Huang, Some inequalities for the Hadamard product and the Fan product of matrices, Linear Algebra Appl. 428 (2008) 1551-1559].