Real rank versus nonnegative rank (Q1039742)

Let \(M_{m,n}(S)\) denote the set of all \(m\times n\) matrices with entries in \(S\), where \(S\) is \(\mathbb{R}\) or \(\mathbb{R}^+\) or a semiring. It is well-known that the rank \(r_{\mathbb{R}}(A)\) of \(A\in M_{m,n}(\mathbb{R})\) is the dimension of the row-space (and also of the col-space) of \(A\), and is also the minimum \(k\) such that there are matrices \(B\in M_{m,k}(\mathbb{R})\) and \(C\in M_{k,n}(\mathbb{R})\) with \(A= BC\). The authors define the factor rank \(r_S(A)\) of \(A\in M_{m,n}(S)\) to be the minimum \(k\) such that there are matrices \(B\in M_{m,k}(S)\) and \(C\in M_{k,n}(S)\) with \(A= BC\). If \(S\) is a subsemiring of the semiring \(R\), then it follows that \(r_R(A)\leq r_S(A)\) for any \(A\in M_{m,n}(S)\). Recent interest has focused on comparing various ranks over various semirings. In particular, the following question arises: if \(r_{\mathbb{R}}(X)= k\), where \(X\in M_{m,n}(\mathbb{R}^+)\), how large can \(r^+_{\mathbb{R}}(X)\) be? The authors address a more general question: if \(S\) is a subsemiring of the semiring \(R\) and \(r_R(A)= k\) for some \(A\in M_{m,n}(S)\), how large can \(r_S(A)\) be? They answer this question for anti-negative subsemirings of real polynomial semirings and obtain some further partial answers and results.