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@INPROCEEDINGS{diNapoli:15613,
author = {di Napoli, E. and Bientinesi, Paolo},
title = {{S}equences of generalized eigenproblems in {DFT}},
reportid = {PreJuSER-15613},
year = {2011},
note = {Record converted from VDB: 12.11.2012},
comment = {10th IMACS International Symposium on Iterative Methods in
Scientific Computing},
booktitle = {10th IMACS International Symposium on
Iterative Methods in Scientific
Computing},
abstract = {Research in several branches of chemistry and material
science relies on large numerical simulations. Many of these
simulations are based on Density Functional Theory (DFT)
models that lead to sequences of generalized eigenproblems
$\{P^{(i)}\}$. Every simulation normally requires the
solution of hundreds of sequences, each comprising dozens of
large and dense eigenproblems; in addition, the problems at
iteration $i+1$ of $\{P^{(i)}\}$ are constructed
manipulating the solution of the problems at iteration $i$.
The size of each problem ranges from 10 to 40 thousand and
the interest lays in the eigenpairs corresponding to the
lower 10-30\\% part of the spectrum. Due to the dense nature
of the eigenproblems and the large portion of the spectrum
requested, iterative solvers are not competitive; as a
consequence, current simulation codes uniquely use direct
methods. In this talk we present a study that highlights how
eigenproblems in successive iterations are strongly
correlated to one another. In order to understand this
result, we need to stress the importance of the basis wave
functions, which constitute the building blocks of any DFT
scheme. Indeed, the matrix entries of each problem in
$\{P^{(i)}\}$ are calculated through superposition integrals
of a set of basis wave functions. Moreover, the state wave
functions---describing the quantum states of the
material---are linear combinations of basis wave functions
with coefficients given by the eigenvectors of the problem.
Since a new set of basis wave functions is determined at
each iteration of the simulation, the eigenvectors between
adjacent iterations are only loosely linked with one
another. In light of these considerations it is surprising
to find such a deep correlation between the eigenvectors of
successive problems. We set up a mechanism to track the
evolution over iterations $i=1,\dots,n$ of the angle between
eigenvectors $x^{(i)}$ and $x^{(i+1)}$ corresponding to the
$j^{th}$ eigenvalue. In all cases the angles decrease
noticeably after the first few iterations and become almost
negligible, even though the overall simulation is not close
to convergence. Even the state of the art direct
eigensolvers cannot exploit this behavior in the solutions.
In contrast, we propose a 2-step approach in which the use
of direct methods is limited to the first few iterations,
while iterative methods are employed for the rest of the
sequence. The choice of the iterative solver is dictated by
the large number of eigenpairs required in the simulation.
For this reason we envision the Subspace Iterations
Method---despite its slow convergence rate---to be the
method of choice. Nested at the core of the method lays an
inner loop $V \leftarrow A V$; due to the observed
correlation between eigenvectors, the convergence is reached
in a limited number of steps. In summary, we propose
evidence in favor of a mixed solver in which direct and
iterative methods are combined together.},
month = {May},
date = {2011-05-18},
organization = {Marrakech, Morocco, 18 May 2011},
cin = {JSC},
cid = {I:(DE-Juel1)JSC-20090406},
pnm = {Scientific Computing / Simulation and Data Laboratory
Quantum Materials (SDLQM) (SDLQM)},
pid = {G:(DE-Juel1)FUEK411 / G:(DE-Juel1)SDLQM},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)6},
url = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/15613},
}