Required nonzero patterns for nonsingular sign regular matrices (Q848580)

An \(n\times n\) real matrix is called \textit{sign regular} of order \(r\leq n\) if for each \(k\leq r\) all its \(k\times k\) minors have the same sign or are zero. If \(r=n\), the matrix is called \textit{sign regular}. The common sign \(\varepsilon_k\) may differ for different \(k\), and the sequence \((\varepsilon_i,\dots,\varepsilon_k)\) is the signature of the matrix. For nonsingular matrices, there exist nonzero minors for all orders and there is a unique signature for the matrix. A matrix is \textit{totally nonnegative} if all its minors are nonnegative. It is well known that all of the principal minors of nonsingular totally nonnegative matrices are nonzero, one can guarantee that special entries are nonzero, depending on the signature of the matrix. The authors give a complete clarification of this topic.