Parallelization of multi-grid methods based on domain decomposition ideas

Michael F. Jung · 1998

In the paper, the parallelization of multi-grid methods for solving second-order elliptic boundary value problems in two-dimensional domains is discussed. The parallelization strategy is based on a non-overlapping domain decomposition data structure such that the algorithm is well-suited for an implementation on a parallel machine with MIMD architecture. For getting an algorithm with a good parallel performance it is necessary to have as few communication as possible between the processors. In our implementation, communication is only needed within the smoothing procedures and the coarse-grid solver. The interpolation and restriction procedures can be performed without any communication. New variants of smoothers of Gauss-Seidel type having the same communication cost as Jacobi smoothers are presented. For solving the coarse-grid systems iterative methods are proposed that are applied to the corresponding Schur complement system. Three numerical examples, namely a Poisson equation, a magnetic field problem, and a plane linear elasticity problem, demonstrate the efficiency of the parallel multi-grid algorithm.

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