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Solving linear least squares problems by Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization

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Abstract

A general analysis of the condition of the linear least squares problem is given. The influence of rounding errors is studied in detail for a modified version of the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization to obtain a factorizationA=QR of a givenm×n matrixA, whereR is upper triangular andQ T Q=I. Letx be the vector which minimizes ‖bAx2 andr=bAx. It is shown that if inner-products are accumulated in double precision then the errors in the computedx andr are less than the errors resulting from some simultaneous initial perturbation δA, δb such that

$$\parallel \delta A\parallel _E /\parallel A\parallel _E \approx \parallel \delta b\parallel _2 /\parallel b\parallel _2 \approx 2 \cdot n^{3/2} machine units.$$

No reorthogonalization is needed and the result is independent of the pivoting strategy used.

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Björck, Å. Solving linear least squares problems by Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization. BIT 7, 1–21 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01934122

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01934122

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