The permanent rank of a matrix (Q1284166)

The permanent rank of an \(n\)-square matrix \(A\) (perrank(\(A\))) is defined to be the order of the largest square submatrix of \(A\) with nonzero permanent. Let \(F\) be a field with \(\text{char}(F) = p \not= 2\). Among others, the author proves the following results: (i) For any matrix \(A\), \(\text{perrank}(A) \geq \frac{1}{2} \text{rank}(A)\). (ii) If \(p = 3,\) then \(\text{perrank}(A) = \text{perrank}(A^{-1})\) for any nonsingular matrix \(A\). (iii) \(\text{perrank}(A_1 \cdots A_l) \geq (1-2^{-l})n\) for any nonsingular \(n\)-square matrices \(A_1, \ldots, A_l\). [It is shown that the latter implies an affirmative partial answer to a conjecture of \textit{N. Alon} and \textit{M. Tarsi}, Combinatorica 9, No. 4, 393-395 (1989; Zbl 0717.05021).] (iv) If the \(i\)th row of the \(n\)-square matrix \(A\) contains at least \(i\) nonzero entries and \(p = 0,\) then \(\text{perrank}(AA)=n\).