Rational forms for block lower-triangular matrices

Abstract

Linear time invariant (LTI) systems are often represented by rational forms or rational matrix functions. Such forms exhibit important properties of a system, but these properties are often thought to be due to time invariance. Are there such forms for linear time-variant (LTV) systems with comparable properties, generalizing the LTI case? One major obstacle to derive them has been the lack of a divisibility theory for general block lower-triangular matrices, in particular the lack of a Euclidean algorithm or, in its wake, Smith forms and Smith-McMillan forms. But do rational forms for matrices, generalizing the time-invariant properties, exist at all? It turns out they do. The theory presented here produces representations for block lower-triangular matrices as ratios of (block) staircase (or echelon) matrices, and shows how central properties such as co-prime factorization or Bezout identities hold. Instead of the Euclidean algorithm, the theory uses a technique derived from a paper of Paul Van Dooren, namely ‘dead-beat control’. The theory finds good applications in various domains (computational efficiency, determining pre-conditioners, control theory and model reduction via generalized forms of interpolation).