An Algorithm for Constrained Maximization of the Trace of a Matrix

The "trace" of a rectangular matrix is defined as the trace of a square matrix obtained by appending null rows (or columns) at the bottom (or right) end. The problem of maximizing the trace of a matrix, by permutations and mergers of rows and columns with constraints on the resulting size of the matrix, is of interest in comparison of maps and image-change detection. This correspondence presents an algorithm based on dynamic propramming for efficient maximization of trace.