On convertible complex matrices (Q1906778)

A complex square matrix \(A\) is called convertible if there is a matrix \(B\) obtained from \(A\) by affixing \(\pm\) signs to entries of \(A\) such that \(\text{per} A=\text{det} B\). The support \(\text{supp} A=[s_{ij}]\) of an \(n \times n\) complex matrix \(A=[a_{ij}]\) is defined by \(s_{ij}=1\) if \(a_{ij}\neq 0\) and \(=0\) if \(a_{ij}=0\). It is proved in this paper that (1) if \(\text{supp} A\) is convertible, so is \(A\); (2) if there is an \(\alpha\), \(0\leq\alpha<2\pi\) such that \(a_{ij}\in R_{\alpha,n}\) for all \(i\), \(j=1,\dots,n\), then the converse of (1) holds. The \(n\)-sector \(R_{\alpha,n}\) is defined to be the set of complex numbers \(\{z\mid z\neq 0,\;\alpha-\pi/2n<\arg z<\alpha+\pi/2n\}\cup\{0\}\).