English

Counting Cholesky factorizations of the zero matrix over $\mathbb{F}_2$

Combinatorics 2025-12-16 v1 Rings and Algebras

Abstract

A square, upper-triangular matrix UU is a Cholesky root of a matrix MM provided UU=MU^*U=M, where \cdot^* represents the conjugate transpose when working over the complex field and U=UTU^*=U^T over the reals and finite fields. In this paper, we investigate the number of such factorizations over the finite field with two elements, F2\mathbb{F}_2, and prove the equinumerosity, for each fixed rank, of the Cholesky roots of and the upper-triangular square roots of the zero matrix. We then provide asymptotics for this count and finish with a few directions for future inquiry.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.12496,
  title  = {Counting Cholesky factorizations of the zero matrix over $\mathbb{F}_2$},
  author = {Joshua Cooper and Hays Whitlatch},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.12496},
  year   = {2025}
}