We focus on inverse preconditioners based on minimizing F(X)=1−cos(XA,I), where XA is the preconditioned matrix
and A is symmetric and positive definite. We present and analyze
gradient-type methods to minimize F(X)
on a suitable compact set. For that we use the geometrical properties of the
non-polyhedral
cone of symmetric and positive definite matrices, and also the special
properties of F(X) on the feasible set.
Preliminary and encouraging numerical results are also presented
in which dense and sparse approximations are included