Let V and W be matrices of size n × pk and qm × n, respectively. A necessary and sufficient condition is given for the existence of a triple (A,B,C) such that V a k-step reachability matrix of (A,B) andW an m-step observability matrix of (A,C).

Let m ≥ 2 be an integer. We show that ZF + “Every countable set of m-element sets has an infinite partial choice function” is not strong enough to prove that every countable set of m-element sets has a choice function, answering an open question from . (Actually a slightly stronger result is obtained.) The independence result in the case where m = p is prime is obtained by way of a permutation (Fraenkel-Mostowski) model of ZFA, in which the set of atoms (urelements) has the structure of a vector...

For a rank-$1$ matrix $A={𝐚𝐛}^t$, we define the perimeter of $A$ as the number of nonzero entries in both $𝐚$ and $𝐛$. We characterize the linear operators which preserve the rank and perimeter of rank-$1$ matrices over semifields. That is, a linear operator $T$ preserves the rank and perimeter of rank-$1$ matrices over semifields if and only if it has the form $T\left(A\right)=UAV$, or $T\left(A\right)=U{A}^{t}V$ with some invertible matrices U and V.

Let ${\mathbb{Z}}_{+}$ be the semiring of all nonnegative integers and $A$ an $m\times n$ matrix over ${\mathbb{Z}}_{+}$. The rank of $A$ is the smallest $k$ such that $A$ can be factored as an $m\times k$ matrix times a $k\times n$ matrix. The isolation number of $A$ is the maximum number of nonzero entries in $A$ such that no two are in any row or any column, and no two are in a $2\times 2$ submatrix of all nonzero entries. We have that the isolation number of $A$ is a lower bound of the rank of $A$. For $A$ with isolation number $k$, we investigate the possible values of the rank of $A$...