Algorithms and software for solving finite element equations on serial and parallel architectures

The primary objective was to compare the performance of state-of-the-art techniques for solving sparse systems with those that are currently available in the Computational Structural Mechanics (MSC) testbed. One of the first tasks was to become familiar with the structure of the testbed, and to install some or all of the SPARSPAK package in the testbed. A brief overview of the CSM Testbed software and its usage is presented. An overview of the sparse matrix research for the Testbed currently employed in the CSM Testbed is given. An interface which was designed and implemented as a research tool for installing and appraising new matrix processors in the CSM Testbed is described. The results of numerical experiments performed in solving a set of testbed demonstration problems using the processor SPK and other experimental processors are contained

Sparse matrix methods research using the CSM testbed software system

Research is described on sparse matrix techniques for the Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM) Testbed. The primary objective was to compare the performance of state-of-the-art techniques for solving sparse systems with those that are currently available in the CSM Testbed. Thus, one of the first tasks was to become familiar with the structure of the testbed, and to install some or all of the SPARSPAK package in the testbed. A suite of subroutines to extract from the data base the relevant structural and numerical information about the matrix equations was written, and all the demonstration problems distributed with the testbed were successfully solved. These codes were documented, and performance studies comparing the SPARSPAK technology to the methods currently in the testbed were completed. In addition, some preliminary studies were done comparing some recently developed out-of-core techniques with the performance of the testbed processor INV

Updating preconditioners for modified least squares problems

[EN] In this paper, we analyze how to update incomplete Cholesky preconditioners to solve least squares problems using iterative methods when the set of linear relations is updated with some new information, a new variable is added or, contrarily, some information or variable is removed from the set. Our proposed method computes a low-rank update of the preconditioner using a bordering method which is inexpensive compared with the cost of computing a new preconditioner. Moreover, the numerical experiments presented show that this strategy gives, in many cases, a better preconditioner than other choices, including the computation of a new preconditioner from scratch or reusing an existing one.Partially supported by Spanish Grants MTM2014-58159-P and MTM2015-68805-REDT.Marín Mateos-Aparicio, J.; Mas Marí, J.; Guerrero-Flores, DJ.; Hayami, K. (2017). Updating preconditioners for modified least squares problems. Numerical Algorithms. 75(2):491-508. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11075-017-0315-zS491508752Alexander, S.T., Pan, C.T., Plemmons, R.J.: Analysis of a recursive least squares hyperbolic rotation algorithm for signal processing. Linear Algebra Appl. 98, 3–40 (1988)Andrew, R., Dingle, N.: Implementing QR factorization updating algorithms on GPUs. Parallel Comput. 40(7), 161–172 (2014). doi: 10.1016/j.parco.2014.03.003 . http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167819114000337 . 7th Workshop on Parallel Matrix Algorithms and ApplicationsBenzi, M., T˚uma, M.: A robust incomplete factorization preconditioner for positive definite matrices. Numer. Linear Algebra Appl. 10(5-6), 385–400 (2003)Benzi, M., Szyld, D.B., Van Duin, A.: Orderings for incomplete factorization preconditioning of nonsymmetric problems. SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 20(5), 1652–1670 (1999)Björck, Å.: Numerical methods for Least Squares Problems. SIAM, Philadelphia (1996)Bru, R., Marín, J., Mas, J., T˚uma, M.: Preconditioned iterative methods for solving linear least squares problems. SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 36(4), A2002–A2022 (2014)Cerdán, J., Marín, J., Mas, J.: Low-rank upyears of balanced incomplete factorization preconditioners. Numer. Algorithms. doi: 10.1007/s11075-016-0151-6 (2016)Chambers, J.M.: Regression updating. J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 66, 744–748 (1971)Davis, T.A., Hu, Y.: The university of florida sparse matrix collection. ACM trans. Math. Software 38(1), 1–25 (2011)Davis, T.A., Hager, W.W.: Modifying a sparse Cholesky factorization. SIAM J. Matrix Anal. Appl. 20, 606–627 (1999)Davis, T.A., Hager, W.W.: Multiple-rank modifications of a sparse Cholesky factorization. SIAM J. Matrix Anal. Appl. 22, 997–1013 (2001)Davis, T.A., Hager, W.W.: Row modification of a sparse Cholesky factorization. SIAM J. Matrix Anal. Appl. 26, 621–639 (2005)Hammarling, S., Lucas, C.: Updating the QR factorization and the least squares problem. Tech. rep., The University of Manchester, http://www.manchester.ac.uk/mims/eprints (2008)Olsson, O., Ivarsson, T.: Using the QR factorization to swiftly upyear least squares problems. Thesis report, Centre for Mathematical Sciences. The Faculty of Engineering at Lund University LTH (2014)Pothen, A., Fan, C.J.: Computing the block triangular form of a sparse matrix. ACM Trans. Math. Software 16, 303–324 (1990)Saad, Y.: ILUT: A dual threshold incomplete LU factorization. Numer. Linear Algebra Appl. 1(4), 387–402 (1994)Saad, Y.: Iterative Methods for Sparse Linear Systems. PWS Publishing Co., Boston (1996

An efficient null space inexact Newton method for hydraulic simulation of water distribution networks

Null space Newton algorithms are efficient in solving the nonlinear equations arising in hydraulic analysis of water distribution networks. In this article, we propose and evaluate an inexact Newton method that relies on partial updates of the network pipes' frictional headloss computations to solve the linear systems more efficiently and with numerical reliability. The update set parameters are studied to propose appropriate values. Different null space basis generation schemes are analysed to choose methods for sparse and well-conditioned null space bases resulting in a smaller update set. The Newton steps are computed in the null space by solving sparse, symmetric positive definite systems with sparse Cholesky factorizations. By using the constant structure of the null space system matrices, a single symbolic factorization in the Cholesky decomposition is used multiple times, reducing the computational cost of linear solves. The algorithms and analyses are validated using medium to large-scale water network models.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, Preprint extension of Abraham and Stoianov, 2015 (https://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001089), September 2015. Includes extended exposition, additional case studies and new simulations and analysi