There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

The Theory of Matrices. By F R. Gantmacher. Two volumes, pp. 374 and 276. 1959. (Translated from the Russian by K. A. Hirsch; Chelsea Publishing Company, New York)

Large linear systems of saddle point type arise in a wide variety of applications throughout computational science and engineering. Due to their indefiniteness and often poor spectral properties, such linear systems represent a significant challenge for solver developers. In recent years there has been a surge of interest in saddle point problems, and numerous solution techniques have been proposed for this type of system. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss a large selection of solution methods for linear systems in saddle point form, with an emphasis on iterative methods for large and sparse problems.

/pdf/numerical-solution-of-saddle-point-problems-l583iob5c2.pdf

Numerical solution of saddle point problems

where A represents the magnetic vector potential, is an integral of the hydromagnetic equations. This -integral made it possible to formulate a variational principle for the force-free magnetic fields. The integral expresses the fact that motions cannot transform a given field in an entirely arbitrary different field, if the conductivity of the medium isconsidered infinite. In this paper we shall show that the full set of hydromagnetic equations admit five more integrals, besides the energy integral, if dissipative processes are absent. These integrals, as we shall presently verify, are I2 =fbHvdV, (2)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

General Topology-I

We survey the quadratic eigenvalue problem, treating its many applications, its mathematical properties, and a variety of numerical solution techniques. Emphasis is given to exploiting both the structure of the matrices in the problem (dense, sparse, real, complex, Hermitian, skew-Hermitian) and the spectral properties of the problem. We classify numerical methods and catalogue available software.

/pdf/the-quadratic-eigenvalue-problem-4ozf2mxadi.pdf

The Quadratic Eigenvalue Problem

We present a collection of 52 nonlinear eigenvalue problems in the form of a MATLAB toolbox. The collection contains problems from models of real-life applications as well as ones constructed specifically to have particular properties. A classification is given of polynomial eigenvalue problems according to their structural properties. Identifiers based on these and other properties can be used to extract particular types of problems from the collection. A brief description of each problem is given. NLEVP serves both to illustrate the tremendous variety of applications of nonlinear eigenvalue problems and to provide representative problems for testing, tuning, and benchmarking of algorithms and codes.

/pdf/nlevp-a-collection-of-nonlinear-eigenvalue-problems-1u0atsw4gk.pdf

NLEVP: A Collection of Nonlinear Eigenvalue Problems

Nonlinear eigenvalue problems arise in a variety of science and engineering applications and in the past ten years there have been numerous breakthroughs in the development of numerical methods. This article surveys nonlinear eigenvalue problems associated with matrix-valued functions which depend nonlinearly on a single scalar parameter, with a particular emphasis on their mathematical properties and available numerical solution techniques. Solvers based on Newton's method, contour integration, and sampling via rational interpolation are reviewed. Problems of selecting the appropriate parameters for each of the solver classes are discussed and illustrated with numerical examples. This survey also contains numerous MATLAB code snippets that can be used for interactive exploration of the discussed methods.

/pdf/the-nonlinear-eigenvalue-problem-316eav07xe.pdf

The nonlinear eigenvalue problem

The matrix 1-norm estimation algorithm used in LAPACK and various other software libraries and packages has proved to be a valuable tool. However, it has the limitations that it offers the user no control over the accuracy and reliability of the estimate and that it is based on level 2 BLAS operations. A block generalization of the 1-norm power method underlying the estimator is derived here and developed into a practical algorithm applicable to both real and complex matrices. The algorithm works with n × t matrices, where t is a parameter. For t=1 the original algorithm is recovered, but with two improvements (one for real matrices and one for complex matrices). The accuracy and reliability of the estimates generally increase with t and the computational kernels are level 3 BLAS operations for t > 1. The last t-1 columns of the starting matrix are randomly chosen, giving the algorithm a statistical flavor. As a by-product of our investigations we identify a matrix for which the 1-norm power method takes the maximum number of iterations. As an application of the new estimator we show how it can be used to efficiently approximate 1-norm pseudospectra.

/pdf/a-block-algorithm-for-matrix-1-norm-estimation-with-an-34hi5el08n.pdf

A Block Algorithm for Matrix 1-Norm Estimation, with an Application to 1-Norm Pseudospectra

Pseudospectra associated with the standard and generalized eigenvalue problems have been widely investigated in recent years. We extend the usual definitions in two respects, by treating the polynomial eigenvalue problem and by allowing structured perturbations of a type arising in control theory. We explore connections between structured pseudospectra, structured backward errors, and structured stability radii. Two main approaches for computing pseudospectra are described. One is based on a transfer function and employs a generalized Schur decomposition of the companion form pencil. The other, specific to quadratic polynomials, finds a solvent of the associated quadratic matrix equation and thereby factorizes the quadratic $\lambda$-matrix. Possible approaches for large, sparse problems are also outlined. A collection of examples from vibrating systems, control theory, acoustics, and fluid mechanics is given to illustrate the techniques.

/pdf/structured-pseudospectra-for-polynomial-eigenvalue-problems-3lt4f41cjd.pdf

Françoise Tisseur

Papers

The Quadratic Eigenvalue Problem

NLEVP: A Collection of Nonlinear Eigenvalue Problems

The nonlinear eigenvalue problem

A Block Algorithm for Matrix 1-Norm Estimation, with an Application to 1-Norm Pseudospectra

Structured Pseudospectra for Polynomial Eigenvalue Problems, with Applications