Matrices with maximum kth local exponent in the class of doubly symmetric primitive matrices

Let A be a primitive matrix of order n, and let k be an integer with 1?k?n. The kth local exponent of A, is the smallest power of A for which there are k rows with no zero entry. We have recently obtained the maximum value for the kth local exponent of doubly symmetric primitive matrices of order n with 1?k?n. In this paper, we use the graph theoretical method to give a complete characterization of those doubly symmetric primitive matrices whose kth local exponent actually attain the maximum value.     

Hoffman polynomials of nonnegative irreducible matrices and strongly connected digraphs

For a nonnegative n × n matrix A, we find that there is a polynomial f(x)∈R[x] such that f(A) is a positive matrix of rank one if and only if A is irreducible. Furthermore, we show that the lowest degree such polynomial f(x) with tr f(A) = n is unique. Thus, generalizing the well-known definition of the Hoffman polynomial of a strongly connected regular digraph, for any irreducible nonnegative n × n matrix A, we are led to define its Hoffman polynomial to be the polynomial f(x) of minimum degree satisfying that f(A) is positive and has rank 1 and trace n. The Hoffman polynomial of a strongly connected digraph is defined to be the Hoffman polynomial of its adjacency matrix. We collect in this paper some basic results and open problems related to the concept of Hoffman polynomials.     

The scrambling index of symmetric primitive matrices

A nonnegative square matrix A is primitive if some power A^k>0 (that is, A^k is entrywise positive). The least such k is called the exponent of A. In [2], Akelbek and Kirkland defined the scrambling index of a primitive matrix A, which is the smallest positive integer k such that any two rows of A^k have at least one positive element in a coincident position. In this paper, we give a relation between the scrambling index and the exponent for symmetric primitive matrices, and determine the scrambling index set for the class of symmetric primitive matrices. We also characterize completely the symmetric primitive matrices in this class such that the scrambling index is equal to the maximum value.     

Good distance graphs and the geometry of matrices

Denote by G=(V,∼) a graph which V is the vertex set and ∼ is an adjacency relation on a subset of V×V. In this paper, the good distance graph is defined. Let (V,∼) and (V^′,∼^′) be two good distance graphs, and φ:V→V^′ be a map. The following theorem is proved: φ is a graph isomorphism ⇔φ is a bounded distance preserving surjective map in both directions ⇔φ is a distance k preserving surjective map in both directions (where k<diam(G)/2 is a positive integer), etc. Let D be a division ring with an involution such that both |F∩Z_D|?3 and D is not a field of characteristic 2 with D=F, where and Z_D is the center of D. Let H_n(n?2) be the set of n×n Hermitian matrices over D. It is proved that (H_n,∼) is a good distance graph, where A∼B⇔rank(A-B)=1 for all A,B∈H_n.     

Determinant identities for Laplace matrices

We show that every minor of an n×n Laplace matrix, i.e., a symmetric matrix whose row- and column sums are 0, can be written in terms of those minors that are obtained by deleting two rows and the corresponding columns. The proof is based on a classical determinant identity due to Sylvester. Furthermore, we show how our result can be applied in the context of electrical networks and spanning tree enumeration.     

Completion of operator partial matrices associated with chordal graphs

H. Dym and I. Gohberg established in [6] necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of an invertible block matrix F=(F_ij)_i,j=1,...,n such that F_ij=R_ij for |i–j|m and F^–1 has a band triangular factorization and so (F^–1)_ij=0 for |i–j|>m. Here R_ij, |i–j|m are given block matrices.The aim of this paper is to generalize these results in two directions. First, we shall allow R_ij to be an (linear bounded) operator acting between the Hilbert spaces H_j and H_i. Secondly, the set of indices of the given R_ij will be more general than banded ones. In fact, we will consider index sets which have an associated graph which is chordal. The case of partial positive operator matrices is also discussed.     

Characteristic polynomial of a generalized complete product of matrices

For a simple graph G, let denote the complement of G relative to the complete graph and let P_G(x)=det(xI-A(G)) where A(G) denotes the adjacency matrix of G. The complete product G∇H of two simple graphs G and H is the graph obtained from G and H by joining every vertex of G to every vertex of H. In [2]P_G∇H(x) is represented in terms of P_G, , P_H and . In this paper we extend the notion of complete product of simple graphs to that of generalized complete product of matrices and obtain their characteristic polynomials.     

Perturbations on the subdiagonals of Toeplitz matrices

Let L be an Hermitian linear functional defined on the linear space of Laurent polynomials. It is very well known that the Gram matrix of the associated bilinear functional in the linear space of polynomials is a Toeplitz matrix. In this contribution we analyze some linear spectral transforms of L such that the corresponding Toeplitz matrix is the result of the addition of a constant in a subdiagonal of the initial Toeplitz matrix. We focus our attention in the analysis of the quasi-definite character of the perturbed linear functional as well as in the explicit expressions of the new monic orthogonal polynomial sequence in terms of the first one.     

Orbits in max-min algebra

Properties of orbits in max-min algebra are described, mainly the properties of periodic orbits. An O(n³) algorithm computing the period of a periodic orbit is presented. As a consequence, an O(n³ log n) algorithm computing the period of arbitrary orbit is obtained, as the pre-periodic part of the orbit has length at most (n − 1)² + 1.     

Polynomial perturbations of bilinear functionals and Hessenberg matrices

This paper deals with symmetric and non-symmetric polynomial perturbations of symmetric quasi-definite bilinear functionals. We establish a relation between the Hessenberg matrices associated with the initial and the perturbed functionals using LU and QR factorizations. Moreover we give an explicit algebraic relation between the sequences of orthogonal polynomials associated with both functionals.     

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.     

Even and odd diagonals in doubly stochastic matrices

The existence of even or odd diagonals in doubly stochastic matrices depends on the number of positive elements in the matrix. The optimal general lower bound in order to guarantee the existence of such diagonals is determined, as well as their minimal number for given number of positive elements. The results are related to the characterization of even doubly stochastic matrices in connection with Birkhoff's algorithm.     

Jordan structures of strictly lower triangular completions of nilpotent matrices

This work is part of a doctoral thesis, written under the supervision of Prof. A. Berman. It was supported by the Fund for Promotion of Research at the Technion.     

Products of two unipotent matrices of index 2

Necessary and sufficient conditions are presented for a square matrix A over a general field F to be the product of two unipotent matrices of index 2. This generalizes a result established by Wang and Wu (1991) [4] for the case where F is the complex field.     

Alexandrov’s inequality and conjectures on some Toeplitz matrices

We study determinant inequalities for certain Toeplitz-like matrices over C. For fixed n and N ? 1, let Q be the n × (n + N − 1) zero-one Toeplitz matrix with Q_ij = 1 for 0 ? j − i ? N − 1 and Q_ij = 0 otherwise. We prove that det(QQ^∗) is the minimum of det(RR^∗) over all complex matrices R with the same dimensions as Q satisfying ∣R_ij∣ ? 1 whenever Q_ij = 1 and R_ij = 0 otherwise. Although R has a Toeplitz-like band structure, it is not required to be actually Toeplitz. Our proof involves Alexandrov’s inequality for polarized determinants and its generalizations. This problem is motivated by Littlewood’s conjecture on the minimum 1-norm of N-term exponential sums on the unit circle. We also discuss polarized Bazin-Reiss-Picquet identities, some connections with k-tree enumeration, and analogous conjectured inequalities for the elementary symmetric functions of QQ^∗.     

Theorems on partitioned matrices revisited and their applications to graph spectra

Some old results about spectra of partitioned matrices due to Goddard and Schneider or Haynsworth are re-proved. A new result is given for the spectrum of a block-stochastic matrix with the property that each off-diagonal block has equal entries and each diagonal block has equal diagonal entries and equal off-diagonal entries. The result is applied to the study of the spectra of the usual graph matrices by partitioning the vertex set of the graph according to the neighborhood equivalence relation. The concept of a reduced graph matrix is introduced. The question of when n-2 is the second largest signless Laplacian eigenvalue of a connected graph of order n is treated. A recent conjecture posed by Tam, Fan and Zhou on graphs that maximize the signless Laplacian spectral radius over all (not necessarily connected) graphs with given numbers of vertices and edges is refuted. The Laplacian spectrum of a (degree) maximal graph is reconsidered.     

The minimum rank problem: A counterexample

We provide a counterexample to a recent conjecture that the minimum rank over the reals of every sign pattern matrix can be realized by a rational matrix. We use one of the equivalences of the conjecture and some results from projective geometry. As a consequence of the counterexample we show that there is a graph for which the minimum rank of the graph over the reals is strictly smaller than the minimum rank of the graph over the rationals. We also make some comments on the minimum rank of sign pattern matrices over different subfields of R.     

Max-algebraic attraction cones of nonnegative irreducible matrices

It is known that the max-algebraic powers A^r of a nonnegative irreducible matrix are ultimately periodic. This leads to the concept of attraction cone Attr(A, t), by which we mean the solution set of a two-sided system λ^t(A)A^r⊗x=A^r+t⊗x, where r is any integer after the periodicity transient T(A) and λ(A) is the maximum cycle geometric mean of A. A question which this paper answers, is how to describe Attr(A,t) by a concise system of equations without knowing T(A). This study requires knowledge of certain structures and symmetries of periodic max-algebraic powers, which are also described. We also consider extremals of attraction cones in a special case, and address the complexity of computing the coefficients of the system which describes attraction cone.     

Factoring matrices with a tree-structured sparsity pattern

Let A be a matrix whose sparsity pattern is a tree with maximal degree d_max. We show that if the columns of A are ordered using minimum degree on |A|+|A|^∗, then factoring A using a sparse LU with partial pivoting algorithm generates only O(d_maxn) fill, requires only O(d_maxn) operations, and is much more stable than LU with partial pivoting on a general matrix. We also propose an even more efficient and just-as-stable algorithm called sibling-dominant pivoting. This algorithm is a strict partial pivoting algorithm that modifies the column preordering locally to minimize fill and work. It leads to only O(n) work and fill. More conventional column pre-ordering methods that are based (usually implicitly) on the sparsity pattern of |A|^∗|A| are not as efficient as the approaches that we propose in this paper.