Problem with rectangular matrices

[Matthew Knepley]

On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 2:10 PM, Jed Brown <jed at 59a2.org> wrote:

> Matthew Knepley wrote:
>
> > Yes, I want to go into the code and every place we query the diagonal
> > block, replace cMap by rMap. This is the only thing that makes sense
> > to me. By my definitions, diagonal blocks are disjoint, so they must
> > be square. Since we normally own rows, it makes sense to use row
> > blocking to define them.
>
> This seems very wrong to me.  The diagonal block is the part of the
> matrix that is applied to a local part of the vector.  In other words,
> it's the A part of Mat_MPIAIJ and the off-diagonal part is the B part.
> It doesn't make any sense to me to redefine these based only on the row
> map.
>
> Maybe I'm misunderstanding you though.  In any case, the actual diagonal
> of a non-square matrix has very little to do with the distribution (it's
> not in the A block), and I don't see where it's terribly useful.  What
> specifically are you suggesting to change?
>
>
> > I think there is an inconsistency in our definitions. If you create a
> matrix which
> > is 4x8 on 2 procs, then you end up with a row and column map like this:
> >
> >     rowMap           colMap
> >   [0..2) [2..4)      [0..4) [4..8)
> >
> > However, we use the column map for queries which then give nonsense. The
> most
> > damaging is in MatSetValues(). If I give a value for (2,2) on proc 1,
> then since
> > 2 < cstart = 4, this value is considered "off-diagonal"
>
> I think this is correct.  When we apply to a vector, entry 2 (owned by
> rank 0) must be gathered, thus it is in mpiaij->B (the diagonal block is
> mpiaij->A).  Setting (2,4) on proc 1 should go in the diagonal block.
> Is this usage inconsistent?


I am fine with this too, which is option 1 in my original mail. However,
this means that
when users preallocate, they must understand the column layout. I guess this
is better
than changing the code unless I can think of a case where is plainly does
not apply.

   Matt


>
> Jed
>
> --
What most experimenters take for granted before they begin their experiments
is infinitely more interesting than any results to which their experiments
lead.
-- Norbert Wiener
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