Fast Algorithms for the computation of Fourier Extensions of arbitrary length

Fourier series of smooth, non-periodic functions on $[-1,1]$ are known to exhibit the Gibbs phenomenon, and exhibit overall slow convergence. One way of overcoming these problems is by using a Fourier series on a larger domain, say $[-T,T]$ with $T>1$, a technique called Fourier extension or Fourier continuation. When constructed as the discrete least squares minimizer in equidistant points, the Fourier extension has been shown shown to converge geometrically in the truncation parameter $N$. A fast ${\mathcal O}(N \log^2 N)$ algorithm has been described to compute Fourier extensions for the case where $T=2$, compared to ${\mathcal O}(N^3)$ for solving the dense discrete least squares problem. We present two ${\mathcal O}(N\log^2 N )$ algorithms for the computation of these approximations for the case of general $T$, made possible by exploiting the connection between Fourier extensions and Prolate Spheroidal Wave theory. The first algorithm is based on the explicit computation of so-called periodic discrete prolate spheroidal sequences, while the second algorithm is purely algebraic and only implicitly based on the theory

On the numerical stability of Fourier extensions

An effective means to approximate an analytic, nonperiodic function on a bounded interval is by using a Fourier series on a larger domain. When constructed appropriately, this so-called Fourier extension is known to converge geometrically fast in the truncation parameter. Unfortunately, computing a Fourier extension requires solving an ill-conditioned linear system, and hence one might expect such rapid convergence to be destroyed when carrying out computations in finite precision. The purpose of this paper is to show that this is not the case. Specifically, we show that Fourier extensions are actually numerically stable when implemented in finite arithmetic, and achieve a convergence rate that is at least superalgebraic. Thus, in this instance, ill-conditioning of the linear system does not prohibit a good approximation. In the second part of this paper we consider the issue of computing Fourier extensions from equispaced data. A result of Platte, Trefethen & Kuijlaars states that no method for this problem can be both numerically stable and exponentially convergent. We explain how Fourier extensions relate to this theoretical barrier, and demonstrate that they are particularly well suited for this problem: namely, they obtain at least superalgebraic convergence in a numerically stable manner

Paved with Good Intentions: Analysis of a Randomized Block Kaczmarz Method

The block Kaczmarz method is an iterative scheme for solving overdetermined least-squares problems. At each step, the algorithm projects the current iterate onto the solution space of a subset of the constraints. This paper describes a block Kaczmarz algorithm that uses a randomized control scheme to choose the subset at each step. This algorithm is the first block Kaczmarz method with an (expected) linear rate of convergence that can be expressed in terms of the geometric properties of the matrix and its submatrices. The analysis reveals that the algorithm is most effective when it is given a good row paving of the matrix, a partition of the rows into well-conditioned blocks. The operator theory literature provides detailed information about the existence and construction of good row pavings. Together, these results yield an efficient block Kaczmarz scheme that applies to many overdetermined least-squares problem