English

On Prime Matrix Product Factorizations

Combinatorics 2026-01-01 v1 Discrete Mathematics

Abstract

A graph GG factors into graphs HH and KK via a matrix product if A=BCA = BC, where AA, BB, and CC are the adjacency matrices of GG, HH, and KK, respectively. The graph GG 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}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T08:46:55.544Z