Products of involutory matrices. I

It is shown that, for every integer ?1 and every field F, each n×n matrix over F of determinant ±1 is the product of four involutory matrices over F. Products of three ×n involutory matrices over F are characterized for the special cases where n?4 or F has prime order ?5. It is also shown for every field F that every matrix over F of determinant ±1 having no more than two nontrivial invariant factors is a product of three involutory matrices over F.     

Involutory matrices over finite commutative rings

An n × n matrix A is called involutory iff A²=I_n, where I_n is the n × n identity matrix. This paper is concerned with involutory matrices over an arbitrary finite commutative ring R with identity and with the similarity relation among such matrices. In particular the authors seek a canonical set $\text{C}$ with respect to similarity for the n × n involutory matrices over R—i.e., a set $\text{C}$ of n × n involutory matrices over R with the property that each n × n involutory matrix over R is similar to exactly on matrix in $\text{C}$. Because of the structure of finite commutative rings and because of previous research, they are able to restrict their attention to finite local rings of characteristic a power of 2, and although their main result does not completely specify a canonical set $\text{C}$ for such a ring, it does solve the problem for a special class of rings and shows that a solution to the general case necessarily contains a solution to the classically unsolved problem of simultaneously bringing a sequence A₁,…,A_v of (not necessarily involutory) matrices over a finite field of characteristic 2 to canonical form (using the same similarity transformation on each A_i). (More generally, the authors observe that a theory of similarity fot matrices over an arbitrary local ring, such as the well-known rational canonical theory for matrices over a field, necessarily implies a solution to the simultaneous canonical form problem for matrices over a field.) In a final section they apply their results to find a canonical set for the involutory matrices over the ring of integers modulo 2^m and using this canonical set they are able to obtain a formula for the number of n × n involutory matrices over this ring.     

Some involutory similarities

Matrices A,B over an arbitrary field F, when given to be similar to each other, are shown to be involutorily similar (over F) to each other (i.e.B = CAC^-1 for some C = C^-1 over F) in the following cases: (1)B= aI ? Afor some a ε F and (2) B = A^-1 . Result (2) for the cases where char F ≠ 2 is essentially a 1966 result of Wonenburger.     

Involutory functions and Moore-Penrose inverses of matrices in an arbitrary field

Let F be a field, and M be the set of all matrices over F. A function ? from M into M, which we write ?(A) = A^s for A∈M, is involutory if (1) (AB)^s = B^sA^s for all A, B in M whenever the product AB is defined, and (2) (A^s)^s = A for all A∈M. If ? is an involutory function on M, then A^s is n×m if A is m×n; furthermore, Rank A = Rank A^s, the restriction of ? to F is an involutory automorphism of F, and (aA + bB)^s = a^sA^s + b^sB^s for all m×n matrices A and B and all scalars a and b. For an A∈M, an Ã∈M is called a Moore-Penrose inverse of A relative to ? if (i) AÃA = A, ÃAÃ = Ã and (ii) (AÃ)^s = AÃ, (ÃA)^s = ÃA. A necessary and sufficient condition for A to have a Moore-Penrose inverse relative to ? is that Rank A = Rank AA^s = Rank A^sA. Furthermore, if an involutory function ? preserves circulant matrices, then the Moore-Penrose inverse of any circulant matrix relative to ? is also circulant, if it exists.     

Essentially doubly stochastic matrices II. Canonical forms for row equivalence,equivalence, and a special case of congruence

In this paper we obtain canonical forms for row equivalence, equivalence, and a special case of congruence in the algebra of essentially doubly stochastic (e.d.s.) matrices of order n over a field F, char(F) [nmid] n. These forms are analogues of familiar forms in ordinary matrix algebra. The canonical form for equivalence is used in showing, in a subsequent paper, that every e.d.s. matrix of rank r and order n over F, char(F) = 0 or char(F) > n, is a product of elementary e.d.s. matrices, n – r of which are singular.     

The quaternion matrix equation ΣA i XB i =E

LetH _F be the generalized quaternion division algebra over a fieldF with charF#2. In this paper, the adjoint matrix of anyn×n matrix overH _F [γ] is defined and its properties is discussed. By using the adjoint matrix and the method of representation matrix, this paper obtains several necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a solution or a unique solution to the matrix equation Σ _i=0 ^k A ⁱ XB _i =E overH _F , and gives some explicit formulas of solutions. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Human     

Positive definite binary hermitian forms with finitely many exceptions

Let E/F be a CM extension of number fields, and L be a positive definite binary hermitian lattice over the ring of integers of E. An element in F is called an exception of L if it is represented by every localization of L but not by L itself. We show that if E/F and a positive integer k are given, then there are only finitely many similarity classes of positive definite binary hermitian lattices with at most k exceptions. This generalizes the corresponding finiteness result by Earnest and Khosravani [A.G. Earnest, A. Khosravani, Representation of integers by positive definite binary hermitian lattices over imaginary quadratic fields, J. Number Theory 62 (1997) 368-374, Theorem 2.2] for the case F=Q. We also prove that for a fixed totally real field F of odd degree over Q, there are only finitely many CM extensions E/F for which there exists a positive definite regular normal binary hermitian lattice over the ring of integers of E.     

Can one factor the classical adjoint of a generic matrix?

Let k be an integral domain, n a positive integer, X a generic n × n matrix over k (i.e., the matrix (x_ij over a polynomial ring k[x_ij] in n² indeterminates x_ij), and adj(X) its classical adjoint. For char k = 0, it is shown that if n is odd, adj(X) is not the product of two noninvertible n × n matrices over k[x_ij], while for n even, only one special sort of factorization occurs. Whether the corresponding results hold in positive characteristic is not known. The operation adj on matrices arises from the (n – 1)st exterior power functor on modules; the analogous factorization question for matrix constructions arising from other functors is raised, as are several other questions.     

Congruence and Conjunctivity of Matrices

Congruence of arbitrary square matrices over an arbitrary field is treated here by elementary classical methods, and likewise for conjunctivity of arbitrary square matrices over an arbitrary field with involution. Uniqueness results are emphasized, since they are largely neglected in the literature. In particular, it is shown that a matrix S is congruent [conjunctive] to S₀⊕S₁ with S₁ nonsingular, and that if S₁ here is of maximal size among all nonsingular matrices R₁ for which R₀⊕R₁ is congruent [conjunctive] to S, then the congruence [conjunctivity] class of S determines that of S₁. Partially canonical forms (most of them already known) are derived, to the extent that they do not depend on the field. Nearly canonical forms are derived for “neutral” matrices (those congruent or conjunctive with block matrices $\text{O}\text{N}\text{M}\text{O}$ with the two zero blocks being square). For a neutral matrix S over a field F,the F-congruence [F-conjunctivity] class of S is determined by the F-equivalence class of the pencil S+tS' [S+tS¹] and, if the pencil is nonsingular, by the F[t]-equivalence class of S+tS' [S+tS¹].     

A combined approach for evaluating papers, authors and scientific journals

An integrated model for ranking scientific publications together with authors and journals recently presented in [Bini, Del Corso, Romani, ETNA 2008] is closely analyzed. The model, which relies on certain adjacency matrices H,K and F obtained from the relations of citation, authorship and publication, provides the ranking by means of the Perron vector of a stochastic matrix obtained by combining H,K and F. Some perturbation theorems concerning the Perron vector previously introduced by the authors are extended to more general cases and a counterexample to a property previously addressed by the authors is presented. The theoretical results confirm the consistency and effectiveness of our model. Some paradigmatic examples are reported together with some results obtained on a real set of data.     

Products of idempotent matrices

For some years it has been known that every singular square matrix over an arbitrary field F is a product of idempotent matrices over F. This paper quantifies that result to some extent. Main result: for every field F and every pair (n,k) of positive integers, an n×n matrix S over F is a product of k idempotent matrices over F iff rank(I ? S)?k· nullity S. The proof of the “if” part involves only elementary matrix operations and may thus be regarded as constructive. Corollary: (for every field F and every positive integer n) each singular n×n matrix over F is a product of n idempotent matrices over F, and there is a singular n×n matrix over F which is not a product of n ? 1 idempotent matrices.     

On construction of involutory MDS matrices from Vandermonde Matrices in GF(2 q )

Due to their remarkable application in many branches of applied mathematics such as combinatorics, coding theory, and cryptography, Vandermonde matrices have received a great amount of attention. Maximum distance separable (MDS) codes introduce MDS matrices which not only have applications in coding theory but also are of great importance in the design of block ciphers. Lacan and Fimes introduce a method for the construction of an MDS matrix from two Vandermonde matrices in the finite field. In this paper, we first suggest a method that makes an involutory MDS matrix from the Vandermonde matrices. Then we propose another method for the construction of 2 ⁿ × 2 ⁿ Hadamard MDS matrices in the finite field GF(2 ^q ). In addition to introducing this method, we present a direct method for the inversion of a special class of 2 ⁿ ?× 2 ⁿ Vandermonde matrices.     

Eigenvalue inequalities for principal submatrices

For a polynomial with real roots, inequalities between those roots and the roots of the derivative are demonstrated and translated into eigenvalue inequalities for a hermitian matrix and its submatrices. For example, given an n-by-n positive definite hermitian matrix with maximum eigenvalue λ, these inequalities imply that some principal submatrix has an eigenvalue exceeding $\text{[(}\text{n?1)}\text{n}\text{]λ}$.     

Forbidden submatrices

We consider a m × n (0, 1)-matrix A, no repeated columns, which has no k × l sumatrix F. We may deduce bounds on n, polynomial in m, depending on F. The best general bound is O(m^2k−1). We improve this and provide best possible bounds for k × 1 F's and certain k × 2 F's. In the case that all columns of F are the same, good bounds are obtained which are best possible for l = 2 and some other cases. Good bounds for 1 × l F's are provided, namely n ⩽ (l−1)m + 1, which are shown to be best possible for F = [1010...10]. The paper finishes with a study of the 14 different 3 × 2 possibilities for F, solving all but 3.     

Switchings, extensions, and reductions in central digraphs

A directed graph is called central if its adjacency matrix A satisfies the equation A²=J, where J is the matrix with a 1 in each entry. It has been conjectured that every central directed graph can be obtained from a standard example by a sequence of simple operations called switchings, and also that it can be obtained from a smaller one by an extension. We disprove these conjectures and present a general extension result which, in particular, shows that each counterexample extends to an infinite family.     

Some estimates for maximal functions on Köthe function spaces

IfA is an invertiblen×n matrix with entries in the finite field F_q, letT _n (A) be its minimum period or exponent, i.e. its order as an element of the general linear group GL(n,q). The main result is, roughly, that $T_n (A) = q^{n - } (log n)^{2 + 0(1)} $ for almost everyA.     

The centro-invertible matrix: A new type of matrix arising in pseudo-random number generation

This paper defines a new type of matrix (which will be called a centro-invertible matrix) with the property that the inverse can be found by simply rotating all the elements of the matrix through 180 degrees about the mid-point of the matrix. Centro-invertible matrices have been demonstrated in a previous paper to arise in the analysis of a particular algorithm used for the generation of uniformly-distributed pseudo-random numbers.An involutory matrix is one for which the square of the matrix is equal to the identity. It is shown that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the centro-invertible matrices and the involutory matrices. When working in modular arithmetic this result allows all possible k by k centro-invertible matrices with integer entries modulo M to be enumerated by drawing on existing theoretical results for involutory matrices.Consider the k by k matrices over the integers modulo M. If M takes any specified finite integer value greater than or equal to two then there are only a finite number of such matrices and it is valid to consider the likelihood of such a matrix arising by chance. It is possible to derive both exact expressions and order-of-magnitude estimates for the number of k by k centro-invertible matrices that exist over the integers modulo M. It is shown that order (√N) of the N=M^(k2) different k by k matrices modulo M are centro-invertible, so that the proportion of these matrices that are centro-invertible is order (1/√N).     

Simultaneous congruence of convex compact sets of Hermitian matrices with constant rank

Let S be a compact convex set of n × n hermitian matrices (n ⩾ 2). Suppose every member of S is nonsingular and has exactly one negative eigenvalue. Let (ε₁,…,ε_n) be any ordered n-tuple from the set {- 1, 1}. One of our main results is that a nonsingular matrix X exists such that, for every A in S and every 1 ⩽ j ⩽ n, the (j, j) entry of X¹AX has sign ε_j. A similar result, with only negative ε_j allowed, is proved also for a compact convex set S of n × n hermitian matrices such that every member of S has the same rank and exactly one negative eigenvalue.     

On a number of poisson matrices in Bang-Bang representations for 3 × 3 embeddable matrices

We give a counterexample to the Strong Bang-Bang Conjecture according to which any 3 × 3 embeddable matrix can be expressed as a product of six Poisson matrices. We exhibit a 3 × 3 embeddable matrix which can be expressed as a product of seven but not six Poisson matrices. We show that an embeddable 3 × 3 matrix P with det $\text{P ≥}\text{1}\text{8}$ can be expressed as a product of at most six Poisson matrices and give necessary and sufficient conditions for a 3 × 3 stochastic matrix P with det $\text{P ≥}\text{1}\text{8}$ to be embeddable. For an embeddable 3 × 3 matrix P with det $\text{P <}\text{1}\text{8}$ we give a new bound for the number of Poisson matrices in its Bang-Bang representation.     

∗-Polynomial Identities of a Nonsymmetric ∗-Minimal Algebra

Let F be an infinite field of characteristic ≠?2. We study the ?-polynomial identities of the ?-minimal algebra R?=?UT _?(F?⊕?F, F). We describe the generators of T _?(R) and a linear basis of the relatively free algebra of R. When char.F?=?0, these results allow us to provide a complete list of polynomials generating irreducible GL × GL-modules decomposing the proper part of the relatively free algebra of R. Finally, the ?-codimension sequence of R is explicitly computed.