On the visibility of leading eigenvalues in compartmental models (Q1103548)

This paper deals with the problem of a priori establishing whether or not the leading eigenvalue of a compartmental system is ``visible'' or ``fully visible''; that is whether or not it affects the impulse response, and how much it does. Strongly connected systems and ``cascade systems'' are investigated; it is shown that the leading eigenvalue is fully visible in both cases (nonrepeated in the first one), and the highest degree mode coefficient is nonnegative but nonzero. The achieved results are utilised to get informations on general I/O connectable systems. A wide range of examples is provided.