On Prime Matrix Product Factorizations
Combinatorics
2026-01-01 v1 Discrete Mathematics
Abstract
A graph factors into graphs and via a matrix product if , where , , and are the adjacency matrices of , , and , respectively. The graph is prime if, in every such factorization, one of the factors is a perfect matching that is, it corresponds to a permutation matrix. We characterize all prime graphs, then using this result we classify all factorable forests, answering a question of Akbari et al. [\emph{Linear Algebra and its Applications} (2025)]. We prove that every torus is factorable, and we characterize all possible factorizations of grids, addressing two questions posed by Maghsoudi et al. [\emph{Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics} (2025)].
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.24864,
title = {On Prime Matrix Product Factorizations},
author = {Saieed Akbari and Mohamad Parsa Elahimanes and Bobby Miraftab},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.24864},
year = {2026}
}