Optimal triangular decompositions of matrices with entries from residuated lattices

We describe optimal decompositions of an n×m matrix I into a triangular product of an n×k matrix A and a k×m matrix B. We assume that the matrix entries are elements of a residuated lattice, which leaves binary matrices or matrices which contain numbers from the unit interval [0, 1] as special cases. The entries of I, A, and B represent grades to which objects have attributes, factors apply to objects, and attributes are particular manifestations of factors, respectively. This way, the decomposition provides a model for factor analysis of graded data. We prove that fixpoints of particular operators associated with I, which are studied in formal concept analysis, are optimal factors for decomposition of I in that they provide us with decompositions with the smallest number k of factors possible. Moreover, we describe transformations between the m-dimensional space of original attributes and the k-dimensional space of factors. We provide illustrative examples and remarks on the problem of computing the optimal decompositions. Even though we present the results for matrices, i.e. for relations between finite sets in terms of relations, the arguments behind are valid for relations between infinite sets as well.