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A. Frommer

Publications and source records attributed to A. Frommer.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

An adaptive aggregation based domain decomposition multilevel method for the lattice wilson dirac operator: multilevel results

In lattice QCD computations a substantial amount of work is spent in solving linear systems arising in Wilson's discretization of the Dirac equations. We show first numerical results of the extension of the two-level DD-αAMG method to a true multilevel method based on our parallel MPI-C implementation. Using additional levels pays off, allowing to cut down the core minutes spent on one system solve by a factor of approximately 700 compared to standard Krylov subspace methods and yielding another speed-up of a factor of 1.7 over the two-level approach.

hep-lat

2-norm error bounds and estimates for Lanczos approximations to linear systems and rational matrix functions

The Lanczos process constructs a sequence of orthonormal vectors v_m spanning a nested sequence of Krylov subspaces generated by a hermitian matrix A and some starting vector b. In this paper we show how to cheaply recover a secondary Lanczos process starting at an arbitrary Lanczos vector v_m. This secondary process is then used to efficiently obtain computable error estimates and error bounds for the Lanczos approximations to the action of a rational matrix function on a vector. This includes, as a special case, the Lanczos approximation to the solution of a linear system Ax = b. Our approach uses the relation between the Lanczos process and quadrature as developed by Golub and Meurant. It is different from methods known so far because of its use of the secondary Lanczos process. With our approach, it is now in particular possible to efficiently obtain {\em upper bounds} for the error in the {\em 2-norm}, provided a lower bound on the smallest eigenvalue of $A$ is known. This holds in particular for a large class of rational matrix functions including best rational approximations to the inverse square root and the sign function. We compare our approach to other existing error estimates and bounds known from the literature and include results of several numerical experiments.

hep-lat

A Bootstrap Algebraic Multilevel method for Markov Chains

This work concerns the development of an Algebraic Multilevel method for computing stationary vectors of Markov chains. We present an efficient Bootstrap Algebraic Multilevel method for this task. In our proposed approach, we employ a multilevel eigensolver, with interpolation built using ideas based on compatible relaxation, algebraic distances, and least squares fitting of test vectors. Our adaptive variational strategy for computation of the state vector of a given Markov chain is then a combination of this multilevel eigensolver and associated multilevel preconditioned GMRES iterations. We show that the Bootstrap AMG eigensolver by itself can efficiently compute accurate approximations to the state vector. An additional benefit of the Bootstrap approach is that it yields an accurate interpolation operator for many other eigenmodes. This in turn allows for the use of the resulting AMG hierarchy to accelerate the MLE steps using standard multigrid correction steps. The proposed approach is applied to a range of test problems, involving non-symmetric stochastic M-matrices, showing promising results for all problems considered.

math.NA

QPACE -- a QCD parallel computer based on Cell processors

QPACE is a novel parallel computer which has been developed to be primarily used for lattice QCD simulations. The compute power is provided by the IBM PowerXCell 8i processor, an enhanced version of the Cell processor that is used in the Playstation 3. The QPACE nodes are interconnected by a custom, application optimized 3-dimensional torus network implemented on an FPGA. To achieve the very high packaging density of 26 TFlops per rack a new water cooling concept has been developed and successfully realized. In this paper we give an overview of the architecture and highlight some important technical details of the system. Furthermore, we provide initial performance results and report on the installation of 8 QPACE racks providing an aggregate peak performance of 200 TFlops.

hep-lat

Numerical Methods for the QCD Overlap Operator IV: Hybrid Monte Carlo

The extreme computational costs of calculating the sign of the Wilson matrix within the overlap operator have so far prevented four dimensional dynamical overlap simulations on realistic lattice sizes, because the computational power required to invert the overlap operator, the time consuming part of the Hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm, is too high. In this series of papers we introduced the optimal approximation of the sign function and have been developing preconditioning and relaxation techniques which reduce the time needed for the inversion of the overlap operator by over a factor of four, bringing the simulation of dynamical overlap fermions on medium-size lattices within the range of Teraflop-computers. In this paper we adapt the HMC algorithm to overlap fermions. We approximate the matrix sign function using the Zolotarev rational approximation, treating the smallest eigenvalues of the Wilson operator exactly within the fermionic force. We then derive the fermionic force for the overlap operator, elaborating on the problem of Dirac delta-function terms from zero crossings of eigenvalues of the Wilson operator. The crossing scheme proposed shows energy violations which are better than O($Δτ^2$) and thus are comparable with the violations of the standard leapfrog algorithm over the course of a trajectory. We explicitly prove that our algorithm satisfies reversibility and area conservation. Finally, we test our algorithm on small $4^4$, $6^4$, and $8^4$ lattices at large masses.

hep-lat

An iterative method to compute the sign function of a non-Hermitian matrix and its application to the overlap Dirac operator at nonzero chemical potential

The overlap Dirac operator in lattice QCD requires the computation of the sign function of a matrix. While this matrix is usually Hermitian, it becomes non-Hermitian in the presence of a quark chemical potential. We show how the action of the sign function of a non-Hermitian matrix on an arbitrary vector can be computed efficiently on large lattices by an iterative method. A Krylov subspace approximation based on the Arnoldi algorithm is described for the evaluation of a generic matrix function. The efficiency of the method is spoiled when the matrix has eigenvalues close to a function discontinuity. This is cured by adding a small number of critical eigenvectors to the Krylov subspace, for which we propose two different deflation schemes. The ensuing modified Arnoldi method is then applied to the sign function, which has a discontinuity along the imaginary axis. The numerical results clearly show the improved efficiency of the method. Our modification is particularly effective when the action of the sign function of the same matrix has to be computed many times on different vectors, e.g., if the overlap Dirac operator is inverted using an iterative method.

hep-lat

Dynamical overlap simulations using HMC

We apply the Hybrid Monte Carlo method to the simulation of overlap fermions. We give the fermionic force for the molecular dynamics update. We present early results on a small dynamical chiral ensemble.

hep-lat

Improving Inversions of the Overlap Operator

We present relaxation and preconditioning techniques which accelerate the inversion of the overlap operator by a factor of four on small lattices, with larger gains as the lattice size increases. These improvements can be used in both propagator calculations and dynamical simulations.

hep-lat

Numerical Methods for the QCD Overlap Operator: II. Optimal Krylov Subspace Methods

We investigate optimal choices for the (outer) iteration method to use when solving linear systems with Neuberger's overlap operator in QCD. Different formulations for this operator give rise to different iterative solvers, which are optimal for the respective formulation. We compare these methods in theory and practice to find the overall optimal one.For the first time, we apply the so-called SUMR method of Jagels and Reichel to the shifted unitary version of Neuberger's operator, and show that this method is in a sense the optimal choice for propagator computations. When solving the ``squared'' equations in a dynamical simulation with two degenerate flavours, it turns out that the CG method should be used.

hep-lat

Numerical Methods for the QCD Overlap Operator: I. Sign-Function and Error Bounds

The numerical and computational aspects of the overlap formalism in lattice quantum chromodynamics are extremely demanding due to a matrix-vector product that involves the sign function of the hermitian Wilson matrix. In this paper we investigate several methods to compute the product of the matrix sign-function with a vector, in particular Lanczos based methods and partial fraction expansion methods. Our goal is two-fold: we give realistic comparisons between known methods together with novel approaches and we present error bounds which allow to guarantee a given accuracy when terminating the Lanczos method and the multishift-CG solver, applied within the partial fraction expansion methods.

hep-lat

A comparative study of numerical methods for the overlap Dirac operator--a status report

Improvements of various methods to compute the sign function of the hermitian Wilson-Dirac matrix within the overlap operator are presented. An optimal partial fraction expansion (PFE) based on a theorem of Zolotarev is given. Benchmarks show that this PFE together with removal of converged systems within a multi-shift CG appears to approximate the sign function times a vector most efficiently. A posteriori error bounds are given.

hep-lat

A Preconditioner for Improved Fermion Actions

SSOR preconditioning of fermion matrix inversions which is parallelized using a locally-lexicographic lattice sub-division, has been shown to be very efficient for standard Wilson fermions. We demonstrate here the power of this method for the Sheikholeslami-Wohlert improved fermion action and for a renormalization group improved action incorporating couplings of the lattice fermion fields up to the diagonal in the unit hypercube.

hep-lat

Preconditioning of Improved and ``Perfect'' Fermion Actions

We construct a locally-lexicographic SSOR preconditioner to accelerate the parallel iterative solution of linear systems of equations for two improved discretizations of lattice fermions: the Sheikholeslami-Wohlert scheme where a non-constant block-diagonal term is added to the Wilson fermion matrix and renormalization group improved actions which incorporate couplings beyond nearest neighbors of the lattice fermion fields. In case (i) we find the block llssor-scheme to be more effective by a factor about 2 than odd-even preconditioned solvers in terms of convergence rates, at beta=6.0. For type (ii) actions, we show that our preconditioner accelerates the iterative solution of a linear system of hypercube fermions by a factor of 3 to 4.

hep-lat

SSOR Preconditioning of Improved Actions

We generalize local lexicographic SSOR preconditioning for the Sheikholeslami-Wohlert improved Wilson fermion action and the truncated perfect free fermion action. In our test implementation we achieve performance gains as known from SSOR preconditioning of the standard Wilson fermion action.

hep-lat

A Parallel SSOR Preconditioner for Lattice QCD

A parallelizable SSOR preconditioning scheme for Krylov subspace iterative solvers in lattice QCD applications involving Wilson fermions is presented. In actual Hybrid Monte Carlo and quark propagator calculations it helps to reduce the number of iterations by a factor of 2 compared to conventional odd-even preconditioning. This corresponds to a gain in cpu-time of 30\% - 70\% over odd-even preconditioning.

hep-lat

How to compute Green's Functions for entire Mass Trajectories within Krylov Solvers

The availability of efficient Krylov subspace solvers play a vital role for the solution of a variety of numerical problems in computational science. Here we consider lattice field theory. We present a new general numerical method to compute many Green's functions for complex non-singular matrices within one iteration process. Our procedure applies to matrices of structure $A=D-m$, with $m$ proportional to the unit matrix, and can be integrated within any Krylov subspace solver. We can compute the derivatives $x^{(n)}$ of the solution vector $x$ with respect to the parameter $m$ and construct the Taylor expansion of $x$ around $m$. We demonstrate the advantages of our method using a minimal residual solver. Here the procedure requires $1$ intermediate vector for each Green's function to compute. As real life example, we determine a mass trajectory of the Wilson fermion matrix for lattice QCD. Here we find that we can obtain Green's functions at all masses $\geq m$ at the price of one inversion at mass $m$.

hep-lat

A Parallel SSOR Preconditioner for Lattice QCD

We present a parallelizable SSOR preconditioning scheme for Krylov subspace iterative solvers which proves to be efficient in lattice QCD applications involving Wilson fermions. Our preconditioner is based on a locally lexicographic ordering of the lattice points. In actual hybrid Monte Carlo applications with the bi-conjugate gradient stabilized method BiCGstab, we achieve a gain factor of about 2 in the number of iterations compared to conventional odd-even preconditioning. Whether this translates into similar reductions in run time will depend on the parallel computer in use. We discuss implementation issues using the `Eisenstat-trick' and machine specific advantages of the method for the APE100/Quadrics parallel computer. In a full QCD simulation with Wilson fermions on a 512-processor Quadrics QH4 we find a gain in cpu-time of a factor of 1.7 over odd-even preconditioning for a 24^3 x 40 lattice.

hep-lat

Accelerating Wilson Fermion Matrix Inversions by Means of the Stabilized Biconjugate Gradient Algorithm

The stabilized biconjugate gradient algorithm BiCGStab recently presented by van der Vorst is applied to the inversion of the lattice fermion operator in the Wilson formulation of lattice Quantum Chromodynamics. Its computational efficiency is tested in a comparative study against the conjugate gradient and minimal residual methods. Both for quenched gauge configurations at beta= 6.0 and gauge configurations with dynamical fermions at beta=5.4, we find BiCGStab to be superior to the other methods. BiCGStab turns out to be particularly useful in the chiral regime of small quark masses.

hep-lat