The following theorem is proved:
Suppose $M = (a_{i,j})$ be a $k \times k$ matrix with positive entries and $a_{i,j}a_{i+1,j+1} > 4\cos ^2 \fracπ{k+1} a_{i,j+1}a_{i+1,j} \quad (1 \leq i \leq k-1, 1 \leq j \leq k-1).$ Then $\det M > 0 .$ The constant $4\cos ^2 \fracπ{k+1}$ in this Theorem is sharp. A few other results concerning totally positive and multiply positive matrices are obtained.
Keywords: Multiply positive matrix; Totally positive matrix; Strictly totally positive matrix; Toeplitz matrix; Hankel matrix; Pólya frequency sequence.
The matrix $S = [1+x_i y_j]_{i,j=1}^{n}, 0<x_1<\cdots<x_n,\, 0<y_1<\cdots<y_n$, has gained importance lately due to its role in powers preserving total nonnegativity. We give an explicit decomposition of $S$ in terms of elementary bidiagonal matrices, which is analogous to the Neville decomposition. We give a bidiagonal decomposition of $S^{\circ m}=[(1+x_iy_j)^m]$ for positive integers $1\leq m \leq n-1$. We also explore the total positivity of Hadamard powers of another important class of matrices called mean matrices.
We give a short proof of a recent result of Drury on the positivity of a $3\times 3$ matrix of the form $(\|R_i^*R_j\|_{\rm tr})_{1 \le i, j \le 3}$ for any rectangular complex (or real) matrices $R_1, R_2, R_3$ so that the multiplication $R_i^*R_j$ is compatible for all $i, j$, where $\|\cdot\|_{\rm tr}$ denotes the trace norm. We then give a complete analysis of the problem when the trace norm is replaced by other unitarily invariant norms.
A square matrix $M$ with real entries is said to be algebraically positive (AP) if there exists a real polynomial $p$ such that all entries of the matrix $p(M)>0$. A square sign pattern matrix $S$ is said to allow algebraic positivity if there is an algebraically positive matrix $M$ whose sign pattern class is $S$. On the other hand, $S$ is said to require algebraic positivity if any matrix $M$, having sign pattern class $S$, is algebraically positive. Motivated by open problems raised in the work of Kirkland, Qiao and Zhan (2016) on AP matrices, we list down all nonequivalent irreducible $3\t…
We consider matrices whose elements enumerate weights of walks in planar directed weighted graphs (not necessarily acyclic). These matrices are totally nonnegative; more precisely, all their minors are formal power series in edge weights with nonnegative coefficients. A combinatorial explanation of this phenomenon involves loop-erased walks. Applications include total positivity of hitting matrices of Brownian motion in planar domains.
We prove that the only entrywise transforms of rectangular matrices which preserve total positivity or total non-negativity are either constant or linear. This follows from an extended classification of preservers of these two properties for matrices of fixed dimension. We also prove that the same assertions hold upon working only with symmetric matrices; for total-positivity preservers our proofs proceed through solving two totally positive completion problems.
An introduction to total positivity (TP), with the emphasis on efficient TP criteria and parametrizations of TP matrices. Intended for general mathematical audience.
In this paper, we build the unfolding approach from acyclic sign-skew-symmetric matrices of finite rank to skew-symmetric matrices of infinite rank, which can be regard as an improvement of that in the skew-symmetrizable case. Using this approach, we give a positive answer to the problem by Berenstein, Fomin and Zelevinsky in \cite{fz3} which asks whether an acyclic sign-skew-symmetric matrix is always totally sign-skew-symmetric. As applications, the positivity for cluster algebras in acyclic sign-skew-symmetric case is given; further, the $F$-polynomials of cluster algebras are proved to hav…
A matrix $A$ is totally positive (or non-negative) of order $k$, denoted $TP_k$ (or $TN_k$), if all minors of size $\leq k$ are positive (or non-negative). It is well-known that such matrices are characterized by the variation diminishing property together with the sign non-reversal property. We do away with the former, and show that $A$ is $TP_k$ if and only if every submatrix formed from at most $k$ consecutive rows and columns has the sign non-reversal property. In fact this can be strengthened to only consider test vectors in $\mathbb{R}^k$ with alternating signs. We also show a similar ch…
Curtis-Ingerman-Morrow characterize response matrices for circular planar electrical networks as symmetric square matrices with row sums zero and non-negative circular minors. In this paper, we study this positivity phenomenon more closely, from both algebraic and combinatorial perspectives. Extending work of Postnikov, we introduce electrical positroids, which are the sets of circular minors which can simultaneously be positive in a response matrix. We give a self-contained axiomatic description of these electrical positroids. In the second part of the paper, we discuss a naturally arising ex…
A matrix $A$ is called totally positive (or totally non-negative) of order $k$, denoted by TP_k (or TN_k), if all minors of size at most $k$ are positive (or non-negative). These matrices have featured in diverse areas in mathematics, including algebra, analysis, combinatorics, and probability theory. The goal of this article is to provide a novel connection between total positivity and optimization/game theory. Specifically, we draw a relationship between TP matrices and the Linear Complementarity Problem (LCP), which generalizes and unifies linear and quadratic programming problems and bimat…
We study ranks of the $r\textrm{th}$ Hadamard powers of doubly nonnegative matrices and show that the matrix $A^{\circ r}$ is positive definite for every $n\times n$ doubly nonnegative matrix $A$ and for every $r>n-2$ if and only if no column of $A$ is a scalar multiple of any other column of $A.$ A particular emphasis is given to the study of rank, positivity and monotonicity of Hadamard powers of rank two, positive semidefinite matrices that have all entries positive.
This survey contains a selection of topics unified by the concept of positive semi-definiteness (of matrices or kernels), reflecting natural constraints imposed on discrete data (graphs or networks) or continuous objects (probability or mass distributions). We put emphasis on entrywise operations which preserve positivity, in a variety of guises. Techniques from harmonic analysis, function theory, operator theory, statistics, combinatorics, and group representations are invoked. Some partially forgotten classical roots in metric geometry and distance transforms are presented with comments and …
