Combinatorial properties of the enhanced principal rank characteristic sequence over finite fields

Abstract The enhanced principal rank characteristic sequence (epr-sequence) of a symmetric matrix B ∈ 𝔽n×n is defined as ℓ1ℓ2· · · ℓn, where ℓj ∈ {A, S, N} according to whether all, some but not all, or none of the principal minors of order j of B are nonzero. Building upon the second author’s recent classification of the epr-sequences of symmetric matrices over the field 𝔽 = 𝔽2, we initiate a study of the case 𝔽= 𝔽3. Moreover, epr-sequences over finite fields are shown to have connections to Ramsey theory and coding theory.