Forward and backward error bounds for a mixed precision preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bake, Thomas, Carson, Erin, Ma, Yuxin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Bake, Thomas
Carson, Erin
Ma, Yuxin
author_facet Bake, Thomas
Carson, Erin
Ma, Yuxin
contents The preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) algorithm is one of the most popular algorithms for solving large-scale linear systems Ax = b, where A is a symmetric positive definite matrix. Rather than computing residuals directly, it updates the residual vectors recursively. Current analyses of the conjugate gradient (CG) algorithm in finite precision typically assume that the norm of the recursively updated residual goes orders of magnitude below the machine precision, focusing mainly on bounding the residual gap thereafter. This work introduces a framework for the PCG algorithm and provides rigorous proofs that the relative backward and forward errors of the computed results of PCG can reach the levels O(u) and O(u)κ(A)^{1/2}, respectively, after a sufficient number of iterations without relying on an assumption concerning the norm of the recursively updated residual, where u represents the unit roundoff and κ(A) is the condition number of A. Our PCG framework further shows that applying preconditioners in low precision does not compromise the accuracy of the final results, provided that reasonable conditions are satisfied. Our theoretical results are illustrated through a set of numerical experiments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_11379
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Forward and backward error bounds for a mixed precision preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm
Bake, Thomas
Carson, Erin
Ma, Yuxin
Numerical Analysis
65F10, 65F08, 65G50, 65Y20
The preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) algorithm is one of the most popular algorithms for solving large-scale linear systems Ax = b, where A is a symmetric positive definite matrix. Rather than computing residuals directly, it updates the residual vectors recursively. Current analyses of the conjugate gradient (CG) algorithm in finite precision typically assume that the norm of the recursively updated residual goes orders of magnitude below the machine precision, focusing mainly on bounding the residual gap thereafter. This work introduces a framework for the PCG algorithm and provides rigorous proofs that the relative backward and forward errors of the computed results of PCG can reach the levels O(u) and O(u)κ(A)^{1/2}, respectively, after a sufficient number of iterations without relying on an assumption concerning the norm of the recursively updated residual, where u represents the unit roundoff and κ(A) is the condition number of A. Our PCG framework further shows that applying preconditioners in low precision does not compromise the accuracy of the final results, provided that reasonable conditions are satisfied. Our theoretical results are illustrated through a set of numerical experiments.
title Forward and backward error bounds for a mixed precision preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm
topic Numerical Analysis
65F10, 65F08, 65G50, 65Y20
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.11379