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Performance of low-rank QR approximation of the finite element Biot-Savart law

Journal Article · · IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

In this paper we present a low-rank QR method for evaluating the discrete Biot-Savart law. Our goal is to develop an algorithm that is easily implemented on parallel computers. It is assumed that the known current density and the unknown magnetic field are both expressed in a finite element expansion, and we wish to compute the degrees-of-freedom (DOF) in the basis function expansion of the magnetic field. The matrix that maps the current DOF to the field DOF is full, but if the spatial domain is properly partitioned the matrix can be written as a block matrix, with blocks representing distant interactions being low rank and having a compressed QR representation. While an octree partitioning of the matrix may be ideal, for ease of parallel implementation we employ a partitioning based on number of processors. The rank of each block (i.e. the compression) is determined by the specific geometry and is computed dynamically. In this paper we provide the algorithmic details and present computational results for large-scale computations.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
907870
Report Number(s):
UCRL-JRNL-225446
Journal Information:
IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Magnetics Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 43; ISSN IEMGAQ; ISSN 0018-9464
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English