Computing the Nonnegative Low-Rank Leading Eigenmatrix and its Applications to Markov Grids and Metzler Operators

Abstract

We consider in this paper the problem of computing a nonnegative low-rank approximation of the rightmost eigenpair of a linear matrix-valued real operator. We propose an algorithm based on the time integration of a suitable differential system, whose solution is parametrized according to a nonnegative factorization. The conservation of the nonnegativity is theoretically motivated by the Perron-Frobenius theorem, while the computation of the rightmost eigenpair is motivated by two applications: (1) a new class of Markov chains, which we called Markov grids, whose transition matrices can be decomposed as the sum of Kronecker products, and (2) spatially structured systems in growth-diffusion operators arising for example in population and epidemic dynamics. Theoretical analysis and computational experiments show the effectiveness of the algorithm compared to standard approaches.

22 pages, code available from https://gitlab.com/ngillis/nonnegative-low-rank-leading-eigenmatrix