The initial value problem for a matrix Riccati differential equation associated with an $M$-matrix is known to have a global solution $X(t)$ on $[0, \infty)$ when $X(0)$ takes values from a suitable set of nonnegative matrices. It is also known, except for the critical case, that as $t$ goes to infinity $X(t)$ converges to the minimal nonnegative solution of the corresponding algebraic Riccati equation. In this paper we present a new approach for proving the convergence, which is based on the doubling procedure and is also valid for the critical case. The approach also provides a way for solving the initial value problem and a new doubling algorithm for computing the minimal nonnegative solution of the algebraic Riccati equation.
