Is it a "standard" Math/Numerical-Analysis hack to add a relatively small number e.g. 1*10E-5 to the diagonal of a squared matrix to ensure LU Decomposition (or whichever decomposition algorithm is applicable)? As opposed to "partially/totally pivoting"?

Annie French

Annie French

Answered question

2022-11-11

Is it a "standard" Math/Numerical-Analysis hack to add a relatively small number e.g. 1*10E-5 to the diagonal of a squared matrix to ensure LU Decomposition (or whichever decomposition algorithm is applicable)? As opposed to "partially/totally pivoting"?

Answer & Explanation

Regan Holloway

Regan Holloway

Beginner2022-11-12Added 17 answers

For the LU decomposition to happen, you need the leading principal minors of every order to be non zero.
Since the eighenvalues of the matrix A are really close to the ones of the matrix B = A + α I for α close to 0, using B instead of Aas a first step in the decomposition, helps preventing errors at a minimum cost.

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