Toeplitz minimal rank completions (Q1329934)

A partial block matrix is a rectangular array some of whose blocks are given matrices over the field \(\mathbb{F}\) (of real or complex numbers), while the remaining entries are unspecified. A completion is an allowed choice of values for the unspecified entries. A partial block matrix is called Toeplitz if it allows a completion \({\mathbf A} = (a_{ij})\) such that \(a_{ij} = a_{i + 1,j + 1}\). If \(A\) is a partial block matrix, its minimal rank \(\text{mr}A\) is defined as \(\text{mr} A = \min \{\text{rank} {\mathbf A} \mid{\mathbf A}\) is a completion of \(A\}\). Define the Toeplitz minimal rank \(\text{mr}_ TA\) as follows: \(\text{mr}_ TA = \min \{\text{rank} {\mathbf A} \mid{\mathbf A}\) is a Toeplitz completion of \(A\}\). The main result is as follows. If \(A\) is a Toeplitz partial block matrix with a banded pattern (i.e. consecutive diagonals are specified) then \(\text{mr}A = \text{mr}_ TA\).