The scalability of parallel computers for sparse QR factorisation

Abstract

Sparse linear systems occur in areas such as finite element methods and statistics. These systems are often solved on parallel computers due to their size. In this paper a theoretical analysis of parallel sparse QR factorisation using a multifrontal method is undertaken. The analysis is quantified by some estimates of parallel speeds up for various parallel computers. These estimates show that only moderate parallel speedups can be attained.