Algebraic analysis of V-cycle multigrid and aggregation-based two-grid methods

This thesis treats two essentially different subjects: V-cycle schemes are considered in Chapters 2-4, whereas the aggregation-based coarsening is analysed in Chapters 5-6. As a matter of paradox, these two multigrid ingredients, when combined together, can hardly lead to an optimal algorithm. Indeed, a V-cycle needs more accurate prolongations than the simple piecewise-constant one, associated to aggregation-based coarsening. On the other hand, aggregation-based approaches use almost exclusively piecewise constant prolongations, and therefore need more involved cycling strategies, K-cycle <a href=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/114286660/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0>[Num.Lin.Alg.Appl. vol.15(2008), pp.473-487]</a> being an attractive alternative in this respect.<p><br><p><br><p>Chapter 2 considers more precisely the well-known V-cycle convergence theories: the approximation property based analyses by Hackbusch (see [Multi-Grid Methods and Applications, 1985, pp.164-167]) and by McCormick [SIAM J.Numer.Anal. vol.22(1985), pp.634-643] and the successive subspace correction theory, as presented in [SIAM Review, vol.34(1992), pp.581-613] by Xu and in [Acta Numerica, vol.2(1993), pp.285-326.] by Yserentant. Under the constraint that the resulting upper bound on the convergence rate must be expressed with respect to parameters involving two successive levels at a time, these theories are compared. Unlike [Acta Numerica, vol.2(1993), pp.285-326.], where the comparison is performed on the basis of underlying assumptions in a particular PDE context, we compare directly the upper bounds. We show that these analyses are equivalent from the qualitative point of view. From the quantitative point of view,<p>we show that the bound due to McCormick is always the best one.<p><br><p><br><p>When the upper bound on the V-cycle convergence factor involves only two successive levels at a time, it can further be compared with the two-level convergence factor. Such comparison is performed in Chapter 3, showing that a nice two-grid convergence (at every level) leads to an optimal McCormick's bound (the best bound from the previous chapter) if and only if a norm of a given projector is bounded on every level.<p><br><p><br><p>In Chapter 4 we consider the Fourier analysis setting for scalar PDEs and extend the comparison between two-grid and V-cycle multigrid methods to the smoothing factor. In particular, a two-sided bound involving the smoothing factor is obtained that defines an interval containing both the two-grid and V-cycle convergence rates. This interval is narrow when an additional parameter α is small enough, this latter being a simple function of Fourier components.<p><br><p><br><p>Chapter 5 provides a theoretical framework for coarsening by aggregation. An upper bound is presented that relates the two-grid convergence factor with local quantities, each being related to a particular aggregate. The bound is shown to be asymptotically sharp for a large class of elliptic boundary value problems, including problems with anisotropic and discontinuous coefficients.<p><br><p><br><p>In Chapter 6 we consider problems resulting from the discretization with edge finite elements of 3D curl-curl equation. The variables in such discretization are associated with edges. We investigate the performance of the Reitzinger and Schöberl algorithm [Num.Lin.Alg.Appl. vol.9(2002), pp.223-238], which uses aggregation techniques to construct the edge prolongation matrix. More precisely, we perform a Fourier analysis of the method in two-grid setting, showing its optimality. The analysis is supplemented with some numerical investigations.Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur