Templates for the Solution of Linear Systems: Building Blocks for the Iterative Methods

Book Description

In this book, which focuses on the use of iterative methods for solving large sparse systems of linear equations, templates are introduced to meet the needs of both the traditional user and the high-performance specialist. Templates, a description of a general algorithm rather than the executable object or source code more commonly found in a conventional software library, offer whatever degree of customization the user may desire.

Templates have three distinct advantages: they are general and reusable, they are not language specific, and they exploit the expertise of both the numerical analyst, who creates a template reflecting in-depth knowledge of a specific numerical technique, and the computational scientist, who then provides "value-added" capability to the general template description, customizing it for specific needs. For each template that is presented, the authors provide a mathematical description of the flow of the algorithm, discussion of convergence and stopping criteria to use in the iteration, suggestions for applying a method to special matrix types, advice for tuning the template, tips on parallel implementations, and hints as to when and why a method is useful./p>

Reviews From AMAZON.COM

Good, but available online for free

The templates are simple to code and work well.
The book can be downloaded for free online.
The download version is 2nd edition, whereas this
is only the 1st addition.

Definitely worth it.

An excellent, concise book for the iterative solution of linear systems by a entire plethora of current researchers in the field. It not only quickly introduces the various iterative methods, stationary and non-stationary, e.g. Jacobi, SOR, Gauss-Seidel, Conjugate Gradient etc, but briefly analyses them in terms of current research whether unpreconditioned or preconditioned. In addition it considers other more specialised techniques involving domain decomposition and fast solvers. All round excellent although the book is available for free from the website. Definitely worth it.