A subdeterminant inequality for normal matrices

Let A be an n × n normal matrix over $\text{C}$, and Q_m, _n be the set of strictly increasing integer sequences of length m chosen from 1,…,n. For α, β ? Q_m, _n denote by A[α|β] the submatrix obtained from A by using rows numbered α and columns numbered β. For k ? {0, 1,…, m} we write |α∩β| = k if there exists a rearrangement of 1,…, m, say i₁,…, i_k, i_k+1,…, i_m, such that α(i_j) = β(i_j), i = 1,…, k, and {α(i_k+1),…, α(i_m) } ∩ {β(i_k+1),…, β(i_m) } = ?. A new bound for |detA[α|β ]| is obtained in terms of the eigenvalues of A when 2m = n and |α∩β| = 0.Let $\text{U}$_n be the group of n × n unitary matrices. Define the nonnegative number

where | α ∩ β| = k. It is proved that

Let A be semidefinite hermitian. We conjecture that ρ₀(A) ? ρ₁(A) ? ··· ? ρ_m(A). These inequalities have been tested by machine calculations.     

Decomposable bilinear numerical radii

Let A be an n-square normal matrix over $\text{C}$, and Q_{m, n} be the set of strictly increasing integer sequences of length m chosen from 1,…, n. For α,β∈Q_{m, n} denote by A[α|β] the submatrix obtained from A by using rows numbered α and columns numbered β. For k∈{0,1,…,m} write z.sfnc;α∩β|=k if there exists a rearrangement of 1,…,m, say i₁,…,i_k, i_k+1,…,i_m, such that α(i_j)=β(i_j), j=1,…,k, and {α(i_k+1),…,α(i_m)};∩{β(i_k+1),…,β(i_m)}=ø. Let

be the group of n-square unitary matrices. Define the nonnegative number

$\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(A)=}\text{max}\text{U∈}\textcolor{red}{}\text{|}\text{det}\text{(U}{}^1\text{AU) [α|β]|}$

, where |α∩β|=k. Theorem 1 establishes a bound for ?_k(A), 0?k<m?1, in terms of a classical variational inequality due to Fermat. Let A be positive semidefinite Hermitian, n?2m. Theorem 2 leads to an interlacing inequality which, in the case n=4, m=2, resolves in the affirmative the conjecture that

$\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{m}}\text{(A)??}{}_{\mathrm{m?1}}\text{(A)????}{}_0\text{(A)}$

.     

Pelikán's conjecture and cyclotomic cosets

The following conjecture was recently made by J. Pelikán. Let a₀ ,…, a_n be an (n + 1)-tuple of 0's and 1's; let A_k = ?_i=0^n?ka_ia_i+k for k = 0,…, n. Then if n ? 4 some A_k is even.This paper shows that Pelikán's conjecture is false for infinitely many values of n. On the other hand it is also shown that the conjecture is true for most values of n, and a characterization is given of those values of n for which it fails.     

On a Conjecture of E. Dittert

Let K_n denote the set of all n X n nonnegative matrices whose entries have sum n, and let φ be a real valued function defined on K_n by φ(X) = π_iⁿ⁼¹ n, + π_j=1^c_j⁻ⁿ per X for X E K_n with row sum vector (r₁,…, r_n) and column sum vector (c_l,hellip;, c_n). For the same X, let φ_ij(X)= π_k≠ir_k + π_1≠jc₁ - per X(i| j). A ϵK_n is called a φ-maximizing matrix if φ(A) > φ(X) for all X ϵ K_n. Dittert's conjecture asserts that J_n = [1/n]_n×n is the unique (φ-maximizing matrix on K_n. In this paper, the following are proved: (i) If A = [a_ij] is a φ-maximizing matrix on K_n then φ_ij(A) = φ (A) if a_ij > 0, and φ_ij (A) ⩽ φ (A)if aij = 0. (ii) The conjecture is true for n = 3.     

A combinatorial problem involving graphs and matrices

In this paper we discuss a combinatorial problem involving graphs and matrices. Our problem is a matrix analogue of the classical problem of finding a system of distinct representatives (transversal) of a family of sets and relates closely to an extremal problem involving 1-factors and a long standing conjecture in the dimension theory of partially ordered sets. For an integer n ?1, let n denote the n element set {1,2,3,…, n}. Then let A be a k×t matrix. We say that A satisfies property P(n, k) when the following condition is satisfied: For every k-taple (x₁,x₂,…,x_k?n^k there exist k distinct integers j₁,j₂,…,j_k so that x_i= a_ii for i= 1,2,…,k. The minimum value of t for which there exists a k × t matrix A satisfying property P(n,k) is denoted by f(n,k). For each k?1 and n sufficiently large, we give an explicit formula for f(n, k): for each n?1 and k sufficiently large, we use probabilistic methods to provide inequalities for f(n,k).     

Sperner systems consisting of pairs of complementary subsets

It was proved by Erdös, Ko, and Radó (Intersection theorems for systems of finite sets, Quart. J. Math. Oxford Ser.12 (1961), 313–320.) that if $\text{A}$ = {;A₁,…, A_l}; consists of k-subsets of a set with n > 2k elements such that A_i ∩ A_j ≠ ? for all i, j then l ? (_k?1^n?1). Schönheim proved that if A₁, …, A_l are subsets of a set S with n elements such that A_i ? A_j, A_i ∩ A_j ≠ ø and A_i ∪ A_j ≠ S for all i ≠ j then $\text{l ? (}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>[</mtext><mtext>n</mtext><mtext>2</mtext><mtext>]\; ?\; 1</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{n\; ?\; 1}}\text{)}$. In this note we prove a common strengthening of these results.     

Extensions of the Erdös-Ko-Rado Theorem

An antichain of subsets of 1,2,...,n has the Erdös-Ko-Rado property if |A_i|?n/2 and A_i∩A_j≠Ø(i=j). This paper contains a number of results concerning the distribution of sizes of sets in such a family, and also in families where the restriction |A_i|?n/2 is removed.     

An extremal problem among subsets of a set

We determine the maximum size of a family of subsets in {1, 2,…, n} with the property that if A₁, A₂, A₃,… are any members of the family with $\text{∩A}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= ?}$, then ∪A_i = {1, 2,…, n}.     

Isomorphism of circulant graphs and digraphs

Let S? {1, …, n?1} satisfy ?S = S mod n. The circulant graph G(n, S) with vertex set {v₀, v₁,…, v_n?1} and edge set E satisfies v_iv_j?E if and only if j ? i ∈ S, where all arithmetic is done mod n. The circulant digraph G(n, S) is defined similarly without the restriction S = ? S. Ádám conjectured that $\text{G(n, S) ? G(n, S′)}$ if and only if S = uS′ for some unit u mod n. In this paper we prove the conjecture true if n = pq where p and q are distinct primes. We also show that it is not generally true when n = p², and determine exact conditions on S that it be true in this case. We then show as a simple consequence that the conjecture is false in most cases when n is divisible by p² where p is an odd prime, or n is divisible by 2⁴.     

Monotonicity of permanents of direct sums of doubly stochastic matrices

Let Ωn be the set of all n × n doubly stochastic matrices, let J_n be the n × n matrix all of whose entries are 1/n and let σ _k (A) denote the sum of the permanent of all k × k submatrices of A. It has been conjectured that if A ε Ω _n and A ≠ J_J then g_A,k (θ) ? σ _k ((1 θ)J_n 1 θA) is strictly increasing on [0,1] for k = 2,3,…,n. We show that if A = A ₁ ⊕ ⊕A_t (t ≥ 2) is an n × n matrix where A_i for i = 1,2, …,t, and if for each i g_Ai,ki (θ) is non-decreasing on [0.1] for k_t = 2,3,…,n_i , then g_A,k (θ) is strictly increasing on [0,1] for k = 2,3,…,n.     

On the separation power and the completion of partial latin squares

Let n and m be natural numbers, n ? m. The separation power of order n and degree m is the largest integer k = k(n, m) such that for every (0, 1)-matrix A of order n with constant linesums equal to m and any set of k 1's in A there exist (disjoint) permutation matrices P₁,…, P_m such that A = P₁ + … + P_m and each of the k 1's lies in a different P_i. Almost immediately we have 1 ? k(n, m) ? m ? 1, yet in all cases where the value of k(n, m) is actually known it equals m ? 1 (except under the somewhat trivial circumstances of k(n, m) = 1). This leads to a conjecture about the separation power, namely that k(n, m) = m ? 1 if $\text{m ? [}\text{n}\text{2}\text{] + 1}$. We obtain the bound $\text{k(n, m) ? m ? [}\text{n}\text{2}\text{] + 2}$, so that this conjecture holds for n ? 7. We then move on to latin squares, describing several equivalent formulations of the concept. After establishing a sufficient condition for the completion of a partial latin square in terms of the separation power, we can show that the Evans conjecture follows from this conjecture about the separation power. Finally the lower bound on k(n, m) allows us to show, after some calculations, that the Evans conjecture is true for orders n ? 11.     

A generalization of Lavoie's inequality concerning the sum of idempotent matrices

Let a complex pxn matrix A be partitioned as A′=(A′₁,A′₂,…,A′_k). Denote by ?(A), A′, and A^? respectively the rank of A, the transpose of A, and an inner inverse (or a g-inverse) of A. Let A⁽¹⁴⁾ be an inner inverse of A such that A⁽¹⁴⁾A is a Hermitian matrix. Let B=(A⁽¹⁴⁾₁,A⁽¹⁴⁾₂,…,A_k⁽¹⁴⁾) and $\text{ρ(A)=}\text{∑}\text{i=1}\text{k}\text{ρ(A}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}$.Then the product of nonzero eigenvalues of BA (or AB) cannot exceed one, and the product of nonzero eigenvalues of BA is equal to one if and only if either B=A⁽¹⁴⁾ or $\text{A}{}_{\mathrm{i>}}\text{A}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>j</mtext>}}{}^1\text{=0}$ for all i ≠ j,i, j=1,2,…,k . The results of Lavoie (1980) and Styan (1981) are obtained as particular cases. A result is obtained for k=2 when the condition $\text{ρ(A)=}\text{∑}\text{i=1}\text{k}\text{ρ(A}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}$ is no longer true.     

A determinantal description of GCD-closed sets and k-sets

Let S={x ₁,x ₂,…,x_n } be a naturally ordered set of distinct positive integers. S is called a k-set if k= gcd(x_i ,x_j ) for x_i ≠x_j any in S. In this paper k-sets are characterized by certain conditions on the determinants of some matrices associated with S.     

Reconstruction from vertex-switching

Let X be a graph with vertices x₁ ,…, x_n. Let X_i be the graph obtained by removing all edges {x_i, x_j} of X and inserting all nonedges {x_i, x_k}. If n ? 0 (mod 4), then X can be uniquely reconstructed from the unlabeled graphs X₁.…, X_n. If n = 4 the result is false, while for n = 4m≥8 the result remains open. The proof uses linear algebra and does not explicitly describe the reconstructed graph X.     

Graph decompositions without isolated vertices III

Let G be a graph of order n, and n = Σ^k_i=1 a_i be a partition of n with a_i ≥ 2. In this article we show that if the minimum degree of G is at least 3k−2, then for any distinct k vertices v₁,…, v_k of G, the vertex set V(G) can be decomposed into k disjoint subsets A₁,…, A_k so that |A_i| = a_i,v_iisA_i is an element of A_i and “the subgraph induced by A_i contains no isolated vertices” for all i, 1 ≥ i ≥ k. Here, the bound on the minimum degree is sharp. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Fast canonization of circular strings

A circular string A = (a₁,…,a_n) is a string that has n equivalent linear representations A_i = a_i,…,a_n,a₁,…,a_i?1 for i = 1,…,n. The a_i's are assumed to be well ordered. We say that A_i < A_j if the word a_i…a_na₁…a_i?1 precedes the word a_j…a_na₁…a_j?1 in the lexicographic order, A_i ? A_j if either A_i < A_j or A_i = A_j. A_i0 is a minimal representation of A if A_i0 ? A_i for all 1 ≤ i ≤ n. The index i₀ is called a minimal starting point (m.s.p.). In this paper we discuss the problem of finding m.s.p. of a given circular string. Our algorithm finds, in fact, all the m.s.p.'s of a given circular string A of length n by using at most $\text{n + ?}\text{d}\text{2}\text{?}$ comparisons. The number d denotes the difference between two successive m.s.p.'s (see Lemma 1.1) and is equal to n if A has a unique m.s.p. Our algorithm improves the result of 3n comparisons given by K. S. Booth. Only constant auxiliary storage is used.     

Continuity properties of the Drazin pseudoinverse

Let B^D denote that Drazin inverse of the n×n complex matrix B. Define the core-rank of B as rank (B^i(B)) where i(B) is the index of B. Let j = 1,2,…, and A_j and A be square matrices such that A_i converges to A with respect to some norm. The main result of this paper is that A_j^D converges to A^D if and only if there exist a j₀ such that core-rank A_j=core-rankA for j ? j₀.     

Crisscross Latin squares

Let A be a Latin square of order n. Then the jth right diagonal of A is the set of n cells of A: {(i,j+i):i=0,1…,n?1(modn); and the jth left diagonal of A is the set {(i,j?i):i=0,1…,n?1(modn); A diagonal is said to be complete if every element appears in it exactly once. For n = 2m even, we introduce the concept of a crisscross Latin square which is something in between a diagonal Latin square and a Knut Vik design. A crisscross Latin square is a Latin square such that all the jth right diagonals for even j and all the jth left diagonals for odd j are complete. We show that a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a crisscross Latin square of order 2m is that m is even.     

On a characterization of irreducibility of a non-negative matrix

Let A denote an n×n matrix with all its elements real and non-negative, and let r_i be the sum of the elements in the ith row of A, i=1,…,n. Let B=A?D(r₁,…,r_n), where D(r₁,…,r_n) is the diagonal matrix with r_i at the position (i,i). Then it is proved that A is irreducible if and only if rank B=n?1 and the null space of B^T contains a vector d whose entries are all non-null.     

On a problem of Katona on minimal completely separating systems with restrictions

Let S be a set of n elements, and k a fixed positive integer $\text{<}\text{1}\text{2}\text{n}$. Katona's problem is to determine the smallest integer m for which there exists a family $\text{A}$ = {A₁, …, A_m} of subsets of S with the following property: |_i| ? k (i = 1, …, m), and for any ordered pair x_i, x_i ∈ S (i ≠ j) there is A₁ ∈ $\text{A}$ such that x_i ∈ A₁, x_j ? A₁. It is given in this note that $\text{m = ?}\text{2n}\text{k}\text{?}\text{if}\text{1}\text{2}\text{k}{}^2\text{? 2}$.