Numerical Linear Algebra
where the algebra stops being the arithmetic
Ladder

Algebraic multigrid — the ladder

2 distinct arguments against one idea, from the one that introduces it to the one that assumes the rest.
  1. the grid the operator came froman edge is a coupling the matrix calls strongkeptinterpolatedwhat the entries decidedcoupling ratio, x against y0.001strong couplings across x0strong couplings along y110rows kept or dropped whole1111×11 grid, θ = 0.25the coarse grid, from the matrix alone

    The coarse grid the matrix chooses

    Given a tridiagonal matrix and no information about a grid, the coarsening keeps every other point and derives the weights ½, 1, ½ — the operators the geometric method was handed. Given the anisotropic operator, it discovers semi-coarsening, in the right direction, without a coordinate.

    rung 1 · iterative
  2. 01234567110¹10²levelstored entries per rowalgebraicgeometrictwo complexities, one hierarchygrid complexity3.1operator complexity18geometric, for comparison1.5a ring plus random chords — nothing is anywherelevel 6 is 100% dense

    A hierarchy with no grid behind it

    On a graph Laplacian the algebraic V-cycle converges at 0.199 a cycle, its grid complexity is an unremarkable 3.05, and its operator complexity is 17.7 — one level of forty-one unknowns is entirely dense. The number people quote is the one that does not measure the work.

    rung 2 · iterative

All ladders