This function validates and converts a matrix to a specific format.
     
    
    Usage
    validate_and_convert_matrix(
  mat,
  name,
  ensure_symmetric = FALSE,
  force_binary = FALSE
)
 
    
    Arguments
- mat
- The matrix to be validated and converted. 
- name
- The name of the matrix for error messages. 
- ensure_symmetric
- Logical indicating whether to ensure the matrix is symmetric. 
- force_binary
- Logical indicating whether to force the matrix to be binary. 
 
    
    Value
    The validated and converted matrix.