Elementary bidiagonal factorizations (Q1124871)

An elementary bidiagonal matrix is a square matrix such that every entry in the diagonal is \(1,\) exactly one entry either on the sub- or superdiagonal is nonzero, and all other entries are zero. The authors show that every \(n\times n\) matrix is a product of elementary bidiagonal matrices. For special cases, e.g., for \(2\times 2\) and \(3\times 3\) matrices they also determine the minimal number of factors needed in any elementary bidiagonal factorization.