We introduce a new class of structured symmetric matrices by extending the
notion of perfect elimination ordering from graphs to weighted graphs or
matrices. This offers a common framework capturing common vertex elimination
orderings of monotone families of chordal graphs, Robinsonian matrices and
ultrametrics. We give a structural characterization for matrices that admit
perfect elimination orderings in terms of forbidden substructures generalizing
chordless cycles in graphs.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure