Inversion height in free fields (Q1919132)

The free field \(U=k\langle X\rangle\) may be defined as the universal (skew) field of fractions of the free algebra \(F=k\langle X\rangle\). Its elements can be constructed by rational operations applied to \(X\). For any element \(f\) of \(U\) the maximum number of nested inversions is called its inversion height. The author characterizes the inversion height of \(f\) in terms of minimal representations of a certain sort for \(f\) and uses the result to prove that for an \(n\times n\) matrix with indeterminate entries the entries of the inverse matrix have inversion height \(n\). He obtains a similar characterization for the star height of a rational series. Here the key concept is a function (called the height structure) which describes recursively the formation of the entries in the inverse matrix. The author observes that the results on inversion height have an analogue in the Boolean case although there is no such close relation between inversion height and cycle rank.