A Combinatorial Interpretation of the LDU Decomposition of Totally Positive Matrices

We study the combinatorial description of the LDU decomposition of totally positive matrices. We give a description of the lower triangular L, the diagonal D, and the upper triangular U matrices of the LDU decomposition of totally positive matrices in terms of the combinatorial structure of essential planar networks described by Zelvinsky and Fomin. Similarly, we find a combinatorial description of the inverses of these matrices. In addition, we provide recursive formulae for computing the L, D, and U matrices of a totally positive matrix.