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Vassilevski, P. S.

Publications and source records attributed to Vassilevski, P. S..

Algebraic Hybridization and Static Condensation with Application to Scalable $H$(div) Preconditioning

We propose here a unified algebraic approach for the practical application and preconditioning of static condensation and hybridization, two popular techniques in finite element discretizations. We demonstrate the use of this algebraic framework for the construction of scalable solvers for problems involving $H$(div)-spaces discretized by conforming (Raviart--Thomas) elements of arbitrary order. We illustrate through numerical experiments the relative performance of the two (in some sense dual) techniques in comparison with a state-of-the-art parallel solver, ADS [T. V. Kolev and P. S. Vassilevski, SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 34 (2012), pp. A3079--A3098], available at http://www.llnl.gov/casc/hypre and http://mfem.org. Based on these results, we recommend the use of the hybridization technique in practice, due to its clearly demonstrated superior performance with increased benefit for higher-order elements.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

The Auxiliary Space Preconditioner for the de Rham Complex

Here we generalize the construction and analysis of auxiliary space preconditioners to the $n$-dimensional finite element subcomplex of the de Rham complex. These preconditioners are based on a generalization of a decomposition of Sobolev space functions into a regular part and a potential. A discrete version is easily established using the tools of finite element exterior calculus. We then discuss the four-dimensional de Rham complex in detail. By identifying forms in four dimensions with simple proxies, form operations are written out in terms of familiar algebraic operations on matrices, vectors, and scalars. This provides the basis for our implementation of the preconditioners in four dimensions. Extensive numerical experiments illustrate their performance, practical scalability, and parameter robustness, all in accordance with the theory.

4D↗

A Nonlinear Algebraic Multigrid Framework for the Power Flow Equations

Multigrid is a highly scalable class of methods most often used for solving large linear systems. In this paper we develop a nonlinear algebraic multigrid framework for the power flow equations, a complex quadratic system of the form ${diag}({v})\overline{Y{v}}={s}$, where $Y$ is approximately a complex scalar rotation of a real graph Laplacian. This is a standard problem that needs to be solved repeatedly during power grid simulations. A key difference between our multigrid framework and typical multigrid approaches is the use of a novel multiplicative coarse-grid correction to enable a dynamic multigrid hierarchy. We also develop a new type of smoother that allows one to coarsen together the different types of nodes that appear in power grid simulations. In developing a specific multigrid method, one must make a number of choices that can significantly affect the method's performance, such as how to construct the restriction and interpolation operators, what smoother to use, and how aggressively to coarsen. In this paper, we make simple but reasonable choices that result in a scalable and robust power flow solver. Experiments demonstrate this scalability and show that it is significantly more robust to poor initial guesses than current state-of-the-art solvers.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Upscaling of Mixed Finite Element Discretization Problems by the Spectral AMGe Method

Here, we propose two multilevel spectral techniques for constructing coarse discretization spaces for saddle-point problems corresponding to PDEs involving a divergence constraint, with a focus on mixed finite element discretizations of scalar self-adjoint second order elliptic equations on general unstructured grids. We use element agglomeration algebraic multigrid (AMGe), which employs coarse elements that can have nonstandard shape since they are agglomerates of fine-grid elements. The coarse basis associated with each agglomerated coarse element is constructed by solving local eigenvalue problems and local mixed finite element problems. This construction leads to stable upscaled coarse spaces and guarantees the inf-sup compatibility of the upscaled discretization. Also, the approximation properties of these upscaled spaces improve by adding more local eigenfunctions to the coarse spaces. The higher accuracy comes at the cost of additional computational effort, as the sparsity of the resulting upscaled coarse discretization (referred to as operator complexity) deteriorates when we introduce additional functions in the coarse space. We also provide an efficient solver for the coarse (upscaled) saddle-point system by employing hybridization, which leads to a symmetric positive definite (s.p.d.) reduced system for the Lagrange multipliers, and to solve the latter s.p.d. system, we use our previously developed spectral AMGe solver. Numerical experiments, in both two and three dimensions, are provided to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed upscaling technique.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A Combined Preconditioning Strategy for Nonsymmetric Systems

Here, we present and analyze a class of nonsymmetric preconditioners within a normal (weighted least-squares) matrix form for use in GMRES to solve nonsymmetric matrix problems that typically arise in finite element discretizations. An example of the additive Schwarz method applied to nonsymmetric but definite matrices is presented for which the abstract assumptions are verified. Variable preconditioner, which combines the original nonsymmetric one and a weighted least-squares version of it, and it is shown to be convergent and provides a viable strategy for using nonsymmetric preconditioners in practice. Numerical results are included to assess the theory and the performance of the proposed preconditioners.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

αAMG based on Weighted Matching for Systems of Elliptic PDEs Arising From Displacement and Mixed Methods

Adaptive Algebraic Multigrid (or Multilevel) Methods (αAMG) are introduced to improve robustness and efficiency of classical algebraic multigrid methods in dealing with problems where no a-priori knowledge or assumptions on the near-null kernel of the underlined matrix are available. Recently we proposed an adaptive (bootstrap) AMG method, αAMG, aimed to obtain a composite solver with a desired convergence rate. Each new multigrid component relies on a current (general) smooth vector and exploits pairwise aggregation based on weighted matching in a matrix graph to define a new automatic, general-purpose coarsening process, which we refer to as “the compatible weighted matching”. In this work, we present results that broaden the applicability of our method to different finite element discretizations of elliptic PDEs. In particular, we consider systems arising from displacement methods in linear elasticity problems and saddle-point systems that appear in the application of the mixed method to Darcy problems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Two-Level Adaptive Algebraic Multigrid for a Sequence of Problems with Slowly Varying Random Coefficients [Adaptive Algebraic Multigrid for Sequence of Problems with Slowly Varying Random Coefficients]

Our paper proposes an adaptive strategy for reusing a previously constructed coarse space by algebraic multigrid to construct a two-level solver for a problem with nearby characteristics. Furthermore, a main target application is the solution of the linear problems that appear throughout a sequence of Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations of subsurface flow with uncertain permeability field. We demonstrate the efficacy of the method with extensive set of numerical experiments.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗