Products of multidimensional matrices, stochastic matrices, and permanents

Abstract: In this paper we consider four basic multidimensional matrix operations (outer product, Kronecker product, contraction, and projection) and two derivative operations (dot and circle products). We start with the interrelations between these operations and deduce some of their algebraic properties. Next, we study their action on $k$-stochastic matrices. At last, we prove several relations on the permanents of products of multidimensional matrices. In particular, we obtain that the permanent of the dot product of nonnegative multidimensional matrices is not less than the product of their permanents and show that inequalities on the Kronecker product of nonnegative 2-dimensional matrices cannot be extended to the multidimensional case.