Dynamics of Products of Matrices in Max Algebra

Abstract

The aim of this manuscript is to understand the dynamics of matrix products in a max algebra. A consequence of the Perron-Fröbenius theorem on periodic points of a nonnegative matrix is generalized to a max algebra setting. The same is then studied for a finite product associated to a $p$-lettered word on $N$ letters arising from a finite collection of nonnegative matrices, with each member having its maximum circuit geometric mean at most 1.