Arnoldi Preconditioning for Solving Large Linear Biomedical Systems

Simulations of biomedical systems often involve solving large, sparse, linear systems of the form Ax = b. In initial value problems, this system is solved at every time step, so a quick solution is essential for tractability. Iterative solvers, especially preconditioned conjugate gradient, are attractive since memory demands are minimized compared to direct methods, albeit at a cost of solution speed. A proper preconditioner can drastically reduce computation and remains an area of active research. In this paper, we propose a novel preconditioner based on system order reduction using the Arnoldi method. Systems of orders up to a million, generated from a finite element method formulation of the elliptic portion of the bidomain equations, are solved with the new preconditioner and performance is compared with that of other preconditioners. Results indicate that the new method converges considerably faster, often within a single iteration. It also uses less memory than an incomplete LU decomposition (ILU). For solving a system repeatedly, the Arnoldi transformation must be continually recomputed, unlike ILU, but this can be done quickly. In conclusion, for solving a system once, the Arnoldi preconditioner offers a greatly reduced solution time, and for repeated solves, will still be faster than an ILU preconditioner