On the Associativity of Infinite Matrix Multiplication

Abstract

A natural definition of the product of infinite matrices mimics the usual formulation of multiplication of finite matrices with the caveat (in the absence of any sense of convergence) that the intersection of the support of each row of the first factor with the support of each column of the second factor must be finite. Multiplication is hence not completely defined, but restricted to a specific relation on infinite matrices. In order for the product of three infinite matrices $A$, $B$, and $C$ to behave in an associative manner, the middle factor, $B$, must link $A$ and $C$ in three ways: (i) $AB$ and $BC$ must both be defined; (ii) $A(BC)$ and $(AB)C$ must both be defined; and, finally, (iii) $A(BC)$ must equal $(AB)C$. In this article, these conditions are studied and are characterized in various ways by means of summability notions akin to those of formal calculus.