Some algebraic identities for the alpha-permanent

We show that the permanent of a matrix is a linear combination of determinants of block diagonal matrices which are simple functions of the original matrix. To prove this, we first show a more general identity involving \alpha-permanents: for arbitrary complex numbers \alpha and \beta, we show that the \alpha-permanent of any matrix can be expressed as a linear combination of \beta-permanents of related matrices. Some other identities for the \alpha-permanent of sums and products of matrices are shown, as well as a relationship between the \alpha-permanent and general immanants. We conclude with a discussion of the computational complexity of the \alpha-permanent and provide some numerical illustrations.