Some Symmetric Sign Patterns Requiring Full $P$-vertices

Abstract

A sign pattern is a matrix whose entries belong to $\{+,-,0\}$. Let $\mathcal{P}$ be a symmetric sign pattern and $A$ a real symmetric matrix in its qualitative class. A vertex $v_j$ of the underlying graph of $\mathcal{P}$ is called a $P$-vertex if $m_{A(j)}(0)-m_A(0)=1,$ where $A(j)$ is the principal submatrix obtained by deleting the $j$-th row and column of $A$, and $m_A(0),m_{A(j)}(0)$ denotes the algebraic multiplicity of the eigenvalue $0$ of $A,A(j)$, respectively. We say that $\mathcal{P}$ requires full $P$-vertices if every symmetric matrix in its qualitative class has all vertices as $P$-vertices. In this paper, we investigate structural conditions under which symmetric sign patterns require full $P$-vertices. We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for several classes of sign patterns to require full $P$-vertices. In particular, we prove that a tree sign pattern with a $0$-diagonal requires full $P$-vertices if and only if its underlying graph admits a perfect matching. We also derive necessary and sufficient conditions for sign patterns whose underlying graphs contain cycles but no loops to require full $P$-vertices.

19 pages, 12 figures