Hans Schneider

We study sequences of optimal walks of a growing length, in weighted digraphs, or equivalently, sequences of entries of max-algebraic matrix powers with growing exponents. It is known that these sequences are eventually periodic when the digraphs are strongly connected. The transient of such periodicity depends, in general, both on the size of digraph and on the magnitude of the weights. In this paper, we show that some bounds on the indices of periodicity of (unweighted) digraphs, such as the bounds of Wielandt, Dulmage-Mendelsohn, Schwarz, Kim and Gregory-Kirkland-Pullman, apply to the weights of optimal walks when one of their ends is a critical node.

Motivated by a work of Boros, Brualdi, Crama and Hoffman, we consider the sets of (i) possible Perron roots of nonnegative matrices with prescribed row sums and associated graph, and (ii) possible eigenvalues of complex matrices with prescribed associated graph and row sums of the moduli of their entries. To characterize the set of Perron roots or possible eigenvalues of matrices in these classes we introduce, following an idea of Al'pin, Elsner and van den Driessche, the concept of row uniform matrix, which is a nonnegative matrix where all nonzero entries in every row are equal. Furthermore, we completely characterize the sets of possible Perron roots of the class of nonnegative matrices and the set of possible eigenvalues of the class of complex matrices under study. Extending known results to the reducible case, we derive new sharp bounds on the set of eigenvalues or Perron roots of matrices when the only information available is the graph of the matrix and the row sums of the moduli of its entries. In the last section of the paper a new constructive proof of the Camion-Hoffman theorem is given.

The max-algebraic core of a nonnegative matrix is the intersection of column spans of all max-algebraic matrix powers. Here we investigate the action of a matrix on its core. Being closely related to ultimate periodicity of matrix powers, this study leads us to new modifications and geometric characterizations of robust, orbit periodic and weakly stable matrices.

We examine when a matrix whose elements are differentiable functions in one variable commutes with its derivative. This problem was discussed in a letter from Issai Schur to Helmut Wielandt written in 1934, which we found in Wielandt's Nachlass. We present this letter and its translation into English. The topic was rediscovered later and partial results were proved. However, there are many subtle observations in Schur's letter which were not obtained in later years. Using an algebraic setting, we put these into perspective and extend them in several directions. We present in detail the relationship between several conditions mentioned in Schur's letter and we focus in particular on the characterization of matrices called Type 1 by Schur. We also present several examples that demonstrate Schur's observations.

We study the max-algebraic analogue of equations involving Z-matrices and M-matrices, with an outlook to a more general algebraic setting. We show that these equations can be solved using the Frobenius trace down method in a way similar to that in non-negative linear algebra, characterizing the solvability in terms of supports and access relations. We give a description of the solution set as combination of the least solution and the eigenspace of the matrix, and provide a general algebraic setting in which this result holds.

We study the behavior of max-algebraic powers of a reducible nonnegative matrix A ∈ R + n × n A\in \mathbb {R}_+^{n\times n} . We show that for t ≥ 3 n 2 t\geq 3n^2 , the powers A t A^t can be expanded in max-algebraic sums of terms of the form C S t R CS^tR , where C C and R R are extracted from columns and rows of certain Kleene stars, and S S is diagonally similar to a Boolean matrix. We study the properties of individual terms and show that all terms, for a given t ≥ 3 n 2 t\geq 3n^2 , can be found in O ( n 4 log ⁡ n ) O(n^4\log n) operations. We show that the powers have a well-defined ultimate behavior, where certain terms are totally or partially suppressed, thus leading to ultimate C S t R CS^tR terms and the corresponding ultimate expansion. We apply this expansion to the question whether { A t y , t ≥ 0 } \{A^ty,\; t\geq 0\} is ultimately linear periodic for each starting vector y y , showing that this question can also be answered in O ( n 4 log ⁡ n ) O(n^4\log n) time. We give examples illustrating our main results.

We study the behavior of max-algebraic powers of a reducible nonnegative n by n matrix A. We show that for t>3n^2, the powers A^t can be expanded in max-algebraic powers of the form CS^tR, where C and R are extracted from columns and rows of certain Kleene stars and S is diadonally similar to a Boolean matrix. We study the properties of individual terms and show that all terms, for a given t>3n^2, can be found in O(n^4 log n) operations. We show that the powers have a well-defined ultimate behavior, where certain terms are totally or partially suppressed, thus leading to ultimate CS^tR terms and the corresponding ultimate expansion. We apply this expansion to the question whether {A^ty, t>0} is ultimately linear periodic for each starting vector y, showing that this question can be also answered in O(n^4 log n) time. We give examples illustrating our main results.

This paper studies commuting matrices in max algebra and nonnegative linear algebra. Our starting point is the existence of a common eigenvector, which directly leads to max analogues of some classical results for complex matrices. We also investigate Frobenius normal forms of commuting matrices, particularly when the Perron roots of the components are distinct. For the case of max algebra, we show how the intersection of eigencones of commuting matrices can be described, and we consider connections with Boolean algebra which enables us to prove that two commuting irreducible matrices in max algebra have a common eigennode.