Relationships between minimum rank problem parameters for cobipartite graphs

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Deaett, Louis, Young, Derek
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866912678696452096
author Deaett, Louis
Young, Derek
author_facet Deaett, Louis
Young, Derek
contents For a simple graph, the minimum rank problem is to determine the smallest rank among the symmetric matrices whose off-diagonal nonzero entries occur in positions corresponding to the edges of the graph. Bounds on this minimum rank (and on an equivalent value, the maximum nullity) are given by various graph parameters, most notably the zero forcing number and its variants. For a matrix, replacing each nonzero entry with the symbol \(\ast\) gives its zero-nonzero pattern. The associated minimum rank problem is to determine, given only this pattern, the smallest possible rank of the matrix. The most fundamental lower bound on this minimum rank is the triangle number of the pattern. A cobipartite graph is the complement of a bipartite graph; its vertices can be partitioned into two cliques. Such a graph corresponds to a zero-nonzero pattern in a natural way. Over an infinite field, the minimum rank of the graph and that of the pattern obey a simple relationship. We show that this same relationship is followed by the zero forcing number of the graph and the triangle number of the pattern. This has implications for the relationship between the two minimum rank problems. We also explore how, for cobipartite graphs, variants of the zero forcing number and other parameters important to the minimum rank problem are related, as well as how, for graphs in general, these parameters can be interpreted in terms of the zero-nonzero patterns of the symmetric matrices associated with the graph.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_02977
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Relationships between minimum rank problem parameters for cobipartite graphs
Deaett, Louis
Young, Derek
Combinatorics
05C50 (Primary), 15B35 (Secondary)
For a simple graph, the minimum rank problem is to determine the smallest rank among the symmetric matrices whose off-diagonal nonzero entries occur in positions corresponding to the edges of the graph. Bounds on this minimum rank (and on an equivalent value, the maximum nullity) are given by various graph parameters, most notably the zero forcing number and its variants. For a matrix, replacing each nonzero entry with the symbol \(\ast\) gives its zero-nonzero pattern. The associated minimum rank problem is to determine, given only this pattern, the smallest possible rank of the matrix. The most fundamental lower bound on this minimum rank is the triangle number of the pattern. A cobipartite graph is the complement of a bipartite graph; its vertices can be partitioned into two cliques. Such a graph corresponds to a zero-nonzero pattern in a natural way. Over an infinite field, the minimum rank of the graph and that of the pattern obey a simple relationship. We show that this same relationship is followed by the zero forcing number of the graph and the triangle number of the pattern. This has implications for the relationship between the two minimum rank problems. We also explore how, for cobipartite graphs, variants of the zero forcing number and other parameters important to the minimum rank problem are related, as well as how, for graphs in general, these parameters can be interpreted in terms of the zero-nonzero patterns of the symmetric matrices associated with the graph.
title Relationships between minimum rank problem parameters for cobipartite graphs
topic Combinatorics
05C50 (Primary), 15B35 (Secondary)
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.02977