`Parallelizing the QR Algorithm for the Unsymmetric Algebraic Eigenvalue Problem: Myths and Reality

Greg Henry
Intel SSD
Intel Corporation
14924 N.W. Greenbrier Pkwy
Beaverton, OR 97006
henry@ssd.intel.com
Robert A. van de Geijn
Department of Computer Sciences
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712
rvdg@cs.utexas.edu

Abstract

Over the last few years, it has been suggested that the popular QR algorithm for the unsymmetric eigenvalue problem does not parallelize. In this paper, we present both positive and negative results on this subject: In theory, asymptotically perfect speedup can be obtained. In practice, reasonable speedup can be obtained on a MIMD distributed memory computer, for a relatively small number of processors. However, we also show theoretically that it is impossible for the standard QR algorithm to be scalable. Performance of a parallel implementation of the LAPACK DLAHQR routine on the Intel Paragon (TM) system is reported.

Greg Henry and Robert van de Geijn, ``Parallelizing the QR Algorithm for the Unsymmetric Algebraic Eigenvalue Problem: Myths and Reality,'' LAPACK Working Note 79 , University of Tennessee, Aug. 1994. Submitted to SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing.