A new notion of equivalence for discrete time AR representations

Abstract

We present a new equivalence transformation termed divisor equivalence, that has the property of preserving both the finite and the infinite elementary divisor structures of a square non-singular polynomial matrix. This equivalence relation extends the known notion of strict equivalence, which dealt only with matrix pencils, to the general polynomial matrix case. It is proved that divisor equivalence characterizes in a closed form relation the equivalence classes of polynomial matrices that give rise to fundamentally equivalent discrete time auto-regressive representations.