Algebraic analysis of V-cycle multigrid and aggregation-based two-grid methods

This thesis treats two essentially different subjects: V-cycle schemes are considered in Chapters 2-4, whereas the aggregation-based coarsening is analysed in Chapters 5-6. As a matter of paradox, these two multigrid ingredients, when combined together, can hardly lead to an optimal algorithm. Indeed, a V-cycle needs more accurate prolongations than the simple piecewise-constant one, associated to aggregation-based coarsening. On the other hand, aggregation-based approaches use almost exclusively piecewise constant prolongations, and therefore need more involved cycling strategies, K-cycle [Num.Lin. Alg.Appl. , vol.15(2008), pp.473-487] being an attractive alternative in this respect.Chapter 2 considers more precisely the well-known V-cycle convergence theories: the approximation property based analyses by Hackbusch (see [Multi-Grid Methods and Applications, 1985, pp.164-167]) and by McCormick [SIAM J.Numer. Anal. , vol.22(1985), pp.634-643] and the successive subspace correction theory, as presented in [SIAM Review, vol.34(1992), pp.581-613] by Xu and in [Acta Numerica, vol.2(1993), pp.285-326. ] by Yserentant. Under the constraint that the resulting upper bound on the convergence rate must be expressed with respect to parameters involving two successive levels at a time, these theories are compared. Unlike [Acta Numerica, vol.2(1993), pp.285-326. ], where the comparison is performed on the basis of underlying assumptions in a particular PDE context, we compare directly the upper bounds. We show that these analyses are equivalent from the qualitative point of view. From the quantitative point of view,we show that the bound due to McCormick is always the best one.When the upper bound on the V-cycle convergence factor involves only two successive levels at a time, it can further be compared with the two-level convergence factor. Such comparison is performed in Chapter 3, showing that a nice two-grid convergence (at every level) leads to an optimal McCormick's bound (the best bound from the previous chapter) if and only if a norm of a given projector is bounded on every level.In Chapter 4 we consider the Fourier analysis setting for scalar PDEs and extend the comparison between two-grid and V-cycle multigrid methods to the smoothing factor. In particular, a two-sided bound involving the smoothing factor is obtained that defines an interval containing both the two-grid and V-cycle convergence rates. This interval is narrow when an additional parameter α is small enough, this latter being a simple function of Fourier components.Chapter 5 provides a theoretical framework for coarsening by aggregation. An upper bound is presented that relates the two-grid convergence factor with local quantities, each being related to a particular aggregate. The bound is shown to be asymptotically sharp for a large class of elliptic boundary value problems, including problems with anisotropic and discontinuous coefficients.In Chapter 6 we consider problems resulting from the discretization with edge finite elements of 3D curl-curl equation. The variables in such discretization are associated with edges. We investigate the performance of the Reitzinger and Schoberl algorithm [Num.Lin. Alg.Appl. , vol.9(2002), pp.223-238], which uses aggregation techniques to construct the edge prolongation matrix. More precisely, we perform a Fourier analysis of the method in two-grid setting, showing its optimality. The analysis is supplemented with some numerical investigations.