Generalized Eigenvectors and Rayleigh bounds for tropical algebraic eigenvalues

Abstract

In this paper, we review the eigenpair problem in the context of tropical algebra. An important fact that has been largely overlooked in spectral theory of tropical algebra is that the tropical algebraic eigenvalues, which are obtained from the characteristic polynomial, may not correspond to any tropical eigenvector satisfying the standard eigenvalue-eigenvector equation. To resolve this, we use the tropical numerical range and define a generalized tropical eigenvalue-eigenvector relation. We define any non-zero vector satisfying this equation as a generalized tropical eigenvector. We show that a generalized tropical eigenvector always exists for any given tropical algebraic eigenvalue. We propose a computationally inexpensive method for the construction of these vectors. Additionally, we prove an upper bound for the algebraic eigenvalues of a tropical matrix, using the tropical Rayleigh quotients.