-matrices and signed digraphs

We associate a signed digraph with a list of matrices whose dimensions permit them to be multiplied, and whose product is square. Cycles in this graph have a parity, that is, they are either even (termed e-cycles) or odd (termed o-cycles). The absence of e-cycles in the graph is shown to imply that the matrix product is a P 0 -matrix, i.e., all of its principal minors are nonnegative. Conversely, the presence of an e-cycle is shown to imply that there exists a list of matrices associated with the graph whose product fails to be a P 0 -matrix. The results generalise a number of previous results relating P - and P 0 -matrices to graphs.