Notions of equivalence for linear multivariable systems

The present paper is a survey on linear multivariable systems equivalences. We attempt a review of the most significant types of system equivalence having as a starting point matrix transformations preserving certain types of their spectral structure. From a system theoretic point of view, the need for a variety of forms of polynomial matrix equivalences, arises from the fact that different types of spectral invariants give rise to different types of dynamics of the underlying linear system. A historical perspective of the key results and their contributors is also given.