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Fundamental theorem of geometry of hermitian matrices characterizes all bijective maps on the space of all hermitian matrices, which preserve adjacency in both directions. In this and subsequent paper we characterize maps on the set of all invertible hermitian matrices over a finite field, which preserve adjacency in one direction. In this first paper it is shown that maps that preserve adjacency on the set of all invertible hermitian matrices over a finite field are necessarily bijective, so the corresponding graph on invertible hermitian matrices, where edges are defined by the adjacency relation, is a core. Besides matrix theory, the proof relies on results from several other mathematical areas, including spectral and chromatic graph theory, and finite geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enhanced principal rank characteristic sequence (epr-sequence) of a symmetric n × n matrix is a sequence ℓ 1 ℓ 2 ⋯ ℓ n where ℓ k is A , S , or N according as all, some, or none of its principal minors of order k are nonzero. Such sequences give more information than the (0,1) pr-sequences previously studied (where basically the k th entry is 0 or 1 according as none or at least one of its principal minors of order k is nonzero). Various techniques including the Schur complement are introduced to establish that certain subsequences such as NAN are forbidden in epr-sequences over fields of characteristic not two. Using probabilistic methods over fields of characteristic zero, it is shown that any sequence of A s and S s ending in A is attainable, and any sequence of A s and S s followed by one or more N s is attainable; additional families of attainable epr-sequences are constructed explicitly by other methods. For real symmetric matrices of orders 2, 3, 4, and 5, all attainable epr-sequences are listed with justifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given an n × n matrix, its principal rank characteristic sequence is a sequence of length n + 1 of 0s and 1s where, for k = 0 , 1 , … , n , a 1 in the k th position indicates the existence of a principal submatrix of rank k and a 0 indicates the absence of such a submatrix. The principal rank characteristic sequences for symmetric matrices over various fields are investigated, with all such attainable sequences determined for all n over any field with characteristic 2. A complete list of attainable sequences for real symmetric matrices of order 7 is reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]