pdSymm package:nlme R Documentation _G_e_n_e_r_a_l _P_o_s_i_t_i_v_e-_D_e_f_i_n_i_t_e _M_a_t_r_i_x _D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n: This function is a constructor for the 'pdSymm' class, representing a general positive-definite matrix. If the matrix associated with 'object' is of dimension n, it is represented by n*(n+1)/2 unrestricted parameters, using the matrix-logarithm parametrization described in Pinheiro and Bates (1996). When 'value' is 'numeric(0)', an uninitialized 'pdMat' object, a one-sided formula, or a vector of character strings, 'object' is returned as an uninitialized 'pdSymm' object (with just some of its attributes and its class defined) and needs to have its coefficients assigned later, generally using the 'coef' or 'matrix' replacement functions. If 'value' is an initialized 'pdMat' object, 'object' will be constructed from 'as.matrix(value)'. Finally, if 'value' is a numeric vector, it is assumed to represent the unrestricted coefficients of the matrix-logarithm parametrization of the underlying positive-definite matrix. _U_s_a_g_e: pdSymm(value, form, nam, data) _A_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s: value: an optional initialization value, which can be any of the following: a 'pdMat' object, a positive-definite matrix, a one-sided linear formula (with variables separated by '+'), a vector of character strings, or a numeric vector. Defaults to 'numeric(0)', corresponding to an uninitialized object. form: an optional one-sided linear formula specifying the row/column names for the matrix represented by 'object'. Because factors may be present in 'form', the formula needs to be evaluated on a data.frame to resolve the names it defines. This argument is ignored when 'value' is a one-sided formula. Defaults to 'NULL'. nam: an optional vector of character strings specifying the row/column names for the matrix represented by object. It must have length equal to the dimension of the underlying positive-definite matrix and unreplicated elements. This argument is ignored when 'value' is a vector of character strings. Defaults to 'NULL'. data: an optional data frame in which to evaluate the variables named in 'value' and 'form'. It is used to obtain the levels for 'factors', which affect the dimensions and the row/column names of the underlying matrix. If 'NULL', no attempt is made to obtain information on 'factors' appearing in the formulas. Defaults to the parent frame from which the function was called. _V_a_l_u_e: a 'pdSymm' object representing a general positive-definite matrix, also inheriting from class 'pdMat'. _A_u_t_h_o_r(_s): Jose Pinheiro Jose.Pinheiro@pharma.novartis.com and Douglas Bates bates@stat.wisc.edu _R_e_f_e_r_e_n_c_e_s: Pinheiro, J.C. and Bates., D.M. (1996) "Unconstrained Parametrizations for Variance-Covariance Matrices", Statistics and Computing, 6, 289-296. Pinheiro, J.C., and Bates, D.M. (2000) "Mixed-Effects Models in S and S-PLUS", Springer. _S_e_e _A_l_s_o: 'as.matrix.pdMat', 'coef.pdMat', 'pdClasses', 'matrix<-.pdMat' _E_x_a_m_p_l_e_s: pd1 <- pdSymm(diag(1:3), nam = c("A","B","C")) pd1