New Lower Bounds and Asymptotics for the cp-Rank

Let pn denote the largest possible cp-rank of an n × n completely positive matrix. This matrix parameter has its significance both in theory and applications, as it sheds light on the geometry and structure of the solution set of hard optimization problems in their completely positive formulation. Known bounds for pn are sn = ( n+1 2 ) − 4, the current best upper bound, and the Drew-Johnson-Loewy (DJL) lower bound dn = ⌊ n 4 ⌋ . The famous DJL conjecture (1994) states that pn = dn. Here we show pn = n 2 +O ( n ) = 2dn +O ( n ) , and construct counterexamples to the DJL conjecture for all n ≥ 12 (for orders seven through eleven counterexamples were already given in [3]).