Jacobi method
Iterative method used to solve a linear system of equations
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Through System of linear equations and Absolute value
Description
Let be a square system of n linear equations, where:
When and are known, and is unknown, we can use the Jacobi method to approximate . The vector denotes our initial guess for (often for ). We denote as the k-th approximation or iteration of , and is the next (or k+1) iteration of .
Matrix-based formula
Then A can be decomposed into a diagonal component D, a lower triangular part L and an upper triangular part U:The solution is then obtained iteratively via
Element-based formula
The element-based formula for each row is thus:The computation of requires each element in except itself. Unlike the Gauss–Seidel method, we cannot overwrite with , as that value will be needed by the rest of the computation. The minimum amount of storage is two vectors of size n.
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Algorithm
<b id="mwOw">Input:</b> <span class="nowrap" about="#mwt28" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"nowrap","href":"./Template:Nowrap"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"initial guess ''x''<sup>(0)</sup> to the solution"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwPA">initial guess <i>x</i><sup>(0)</sup> to the solution</span>, (diagonal dominant) matrix <i id="mwPQ">A</i>, right-hand side vector <i id="mwPg">b</i>, convergence criterion <b id="mwPw">Output:</b> <span class="nowrap" about="#mwt29" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"nowrap","href":"./Template:Nowrap"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"solution when convergence is reached"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwQA">solution when convergence is reached</span> <b id="mwQQ">Comments:</b> pseudocode based on the element-based formula above <span class="nowrap" about="#mwt30" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"nowrap","href":"./Template:Nowrap"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"''k'' = 0"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwQg"><i>k</i> = 0</span> <b id="mwQw">while</b> convergence not reached <b id="mwRA">do</b> <b id="mwRQ">for</b> <i id="mwRg">i</i> := 1 <b id="mwRw">step until</b> n <b id="mwSA">do</b> <span class="nowrap" about="#mwt31" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"nowrap","href":"./Template:Nowrap"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"''σ'' = 0"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwSQ"><i>σ</i> = 0</span> <b id="mwSg">for</b> <i id="mwSw">j</i> := 1 <b id="mwTA">step until</b> n <b id="mwTQ">do</b> <b id="mwTg">if</b> <i id="mwTw">j</i> <span typeof="mw:Entity" id="mwUA">≠</span> <i id="mwUQ">i</i> <b id="mwUg">then</b> <span class="nowrap" about="#mwt32" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw="{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"nowrap","href":"./Template:Nowrap"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"''σ'' = ''σ'' + ''a''<sub>''ij''</sub> ''x''<sub>''j''</sub><sup>(''k'')</sup>"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwUw"><i>σ</i> = <i>σ</i> + <i>a</i><sub><i>ij</i></sub> <i>x</i><sub><i>j</i></sub><sup>(<i>k</i>)</sup></span> <b id="mwVA">end</b> <b id="mwVQ">end</b> <span class="nowrap" about="#mwt33" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw="{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"nowrap","href":"./Template:Nowrap"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"''x''<sub>''i''</sub><sup>(''k''+1)</sup> = (''b''<sub>''i''</sub> − ''σ'') / ''a''<sub>''ii''</sub>"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwVg"><i>x</i><sub><i>i</i></sub><sup>(<i>k</i>+1)</sup> = (<i>b</i><sub><i>i</i></sub> − <i>σ</i>) / <i>a</i><sub><i>ii</i></sub></span> <b id="mwVw">end</b> increment <i id="mwWA">k</i> <b id="mwWQ">end</b>Convergence
The standard convergence condition (for any iterative method) is when the spectral radius of the iteration matrix is less than 1:
A sufficient (but not necessary) condition for the method to converge is that the matrix A is strictly or irreducibly diagonally dominant. Strict row diagonal dominance means that for each row, the absolute value of the diagonal term is greater than the sum of absolute values of other terms:
The Jacobi method sometimes converges even if these conditions are not satisfied.
Note that the Jacobi method does not converge for every symmetric positive-definite matrix. For example,
Examples
Example question
A linear system of the form with initial estimate is given by
We use the equation , described above, to estimate . First, we rewrite the equation in a more convenient form , where and . From the known values we determine as Further, is found as With and calculated, we estimate as : The next iteration yields This process is repeated until convergence (i.e., until is small). The solution after 25 iterations is
Example question 2
Suppose we are given the following linear system:
If we choose (0, 0, 0, 0) as the initial approximation, then the first approximate solution is given by Using the approximations obtained, the iterative procedure is repeated until the desired accuracy has been reached. The following are the approximated solutions after five iterations.
The exact solution of the system is (1, 2, −1, 1).
Python example
<span id="mwuQ"></span><span class="linenos" data-line="1" id="mwug"></span><span class="kn" id="mwuw">import</span><span class="w" id="mwvA"> </span><span class="nn" id="mwvQ">numpy</span><span class="w" id="mwvg"> </span><span class="k" id="mwvw">as</span><span class="w" id="mwwA"> </span><span class="nn" id="mwwQ">np</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="2" id="mwwg"></span> <span class="linenos" data-line="3" id="mwww"></span><span class="n" id="mwxA">ITERATION_LIMIT</span> <span class="o" id="mwxQ">=</span> <span class="mi" id="mwxg">1000</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="4" id="mwxw"></span> <span class="linenos" data-line="5" id="mwyA"></span><span class="c1" id="mwyQ"># initialize the matrix</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="6" id="mwyg"></span><span class="n" id="mwyw">A</span> <span class="o" id="mwzA">=</span> <span class="n" id="mwzQ">np</span><span class="o" id="mwzg">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwzw">array</span><span class="p" id="mw0A">([[</span><span class="mf" id="mw0Q">10.</span><span class="p" id="mw0g">,</span> <span class="o" id="mw0w">-</span><span class="mf" id="mw1A">1.</span><span class="p" id="mw1Q">,</span> <span class="mf" id="mw1g">2.</span><span class="p" id="mw1w">,</span> <span class="mf" id="mw2A">0.</span><span class="p" id="mw2Q">],</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="7" id="mw2g"></span> <span class="p" id="mw2w">[</span><span class="o" id="mw3A">-</span><span class="mf" id="mw3Q">1.</span><span class="p" id="mw3g">,</span> <span class="mf" id="mw3w">11.</span><span class="p" id="mw4A">,</span> <span class="o" id="mw4Q">-</span><span class="mf" id="mw4g">1.</span><span class="p" id="mw4w">,</span> <span class="mf" id="mw5A">3.</span><span class="p" id="mw5Q">],</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="8" id="mw5g"></span> <span class="p" id="mw5w">[</span><span class="mf" id="mw6A">2.</span><span class="p" id="mw6Q">,</span> <span class="o" id="mw6g">-</span><span class="mf" id="mw6w">1.</span><span class="p" id="mw7A">,</span> <span class="mf" id="mw7Q">10.</span><span class="p" id="mw7g">,</span> <span class="o" id="mw7w">-</span><span class="mf" id="mw8A">1.</span><span class="p" id="mw8Q">],</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="9" id="mw8g"></span> <span class="p" id="mw8w">[</span><span class="mf" id="mw9A">0.0</span><span class="p" id="mw9Q">,</span> <span class="mf" id="mw9g">3.</span><span class="p" id="mw9w">,</span> <span class="o" id="mw-A">-</span><span class="mf" id="mw-Q">1.</span><span class="p" id="mw-g">,</span> <span class="mf" id="mw-w">8.</span><span class="p" id="mw_A">]])</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="10" id="mw_Q"></span><span class="c1" id="mw_g"># initialize the RHS vector</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="11" id="mw_w"></span><span class="n" id="mwAQA">b</span> <span class="o" id="mwAQE">=</span> <span class="n" id="mwAQI">np</span><span class="o" id="mwAQM">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAQQ">array</span><span class="p" id="mwAQU">([</span><span class="mf" id="mwAQY">6.</span><span class="p" id="mwAQc">,</span> <span class="mf" id="mwAQg">25.</span><span class="p" id="mwAQk">,</span> <span class="o" id="mwAQo">-</span><span class="mf" id="mwAQs">11.</span><span class="p" id="mwAQw">,</span> <span class="mf" id="mwAQ0">15.</span><span class="p" id="mwAQ4">])</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="12" id="mwAQ8"></span> <span class="linenos" data-line="13" id="mwARA"></span><span class="c1" id="mwARE"># prints the system</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="14" id="mwARI"></span><span class="nb" id="mwARM">print</span><span class="p" id="mwARQ">(</span><span class="s2" id="mwARU">"System:"</span><span class="p" id="mwARY">)</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="15" id="mwARc"></span><span class="k" id="mwARg">for</span> <span class="n" id="mwARk">i</span> <span class="ow" id="mwARo">in</span> <span class="nb" id="mwARs">range</span><span class="p" id="mwARw">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAR0">A</span><span class="o" id="mwAR4">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAR8">shape</span><span class="p" id="mwASA">[</span><span class="mi" id="mwASE">0</span><span class="p" id="mwASI">]):</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="16" id="mwASM"></span> <span class="n" id="mwASQ">row</span> <span class="o" id="mwASU">=</span> <span class="p" id="mwASY">[</span><span class="sa" id="mwASc">f</span><span class="s2" id="mwASg">"</span><span class="si" id="mwASk">{</span><span class="n" id="mwASo">A</span><span class="p" id="mwASs">[</span><span class="n" id="mwASw">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAS0">,</span><span class="w" id="mwAS4"> </span><span class="n" id="mwAS8">j</span><span class="p" id="mwATA">]</span><span class="si" id="mwATE">}</span><span class="s2" id="mwATI">*x</span><span class="si" id="mwATM">{</span><span class="n" id="mwATQ">j</span><span class="w" id="mwATU"> </span><span class="o" id="mwATY">+</span><span class="w" id="mwATc"> </span><span class="mi" id="mwATg">1</span><span class="si" id="mwATk">}</span><span class="s2" id="mwATo">"</span> <span class="k" id="mwATs">for</span> <span class="n" id="mwATw">j</span> <span class="ow" id="mwAT0">in</span> <span class="nb" id="mwAT4">range</span><span class="p" id="mwAT8">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAUA">A</span><span class="o" id="mwAUE">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAUI">shape</span><span class="p" id="mwAUM">[</span><span class="mi" id="mwAUQ">1</span><span class="p" id="mwAUU">])]</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="17" id="mwAUY"></span> <span class="nb" id="mwAUc">print</span><span class="p" id="mwAUg">(</span><span class="sa" id="mwAUk">f</span><span class="s1" id="mwAUo">'</span><span class="si" id="mwAUs">{</span><span class="s2" id="mwAUw">" + "</span><span class="o" id="mwAU0">.</span><span class="n" id="mwAU4">join</span><span class="p" id="mwAU8">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAVA">row</span><span class="p" id="mwAVE">)</span><span class="si" id="mwAVI">}</span><span class="s1" id="mwAVM"> = </span><span class="si" id="mwAVQ">{</span><span class="n" id="mwAVU">b</span><span class="p" id="mwAVY">[</span><span class="n" id="mwAVc">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAVg">]</span><span class="si" id="mwAVk">}</span><span class="s1" id="mwAVo">'</span><span class="p" id="mwAVs">)</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="18" id="mwAVw"></span><span class="nb" id="mwAV0">print</span><span class="p" id="mwAV4">()</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="19" id="mwAV8"></span> <span class="linenos" data-line="20" id="mwAWA"></span><span class="n" id="mwAWE">x</span> <span class="o" id="mwAWI">=</span> <span class="n" id="mwAWM">np</span><span class="o" id="mwAWQ">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAWU">zeros_like</span><span class="p" id="mwAWY">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAWc">b</span><span class="p" id="mwAWg">)</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="21" id="mwAWk"></span><span class="k" id="mwAWo">for</span> <span class="n" id="mwAWs">it_count</span> <span class="ow" id="mwAWw">in</span> <span class="nb" id="mwAW0">range</span><span class="p" id="mwAW4">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAW8">ITERATION_LIMIT</span><span class="p" id="mwAXA">):</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="22" id="mwAXE"></span> <span class="k" id="mwAXI">if</span> <span class="n" id="mwAXM">it_count</span> <span class="o" id="mwAXQ">!=</span> <span class="mi" id="mwAXU">0</span><span class="p" id="mwAXY">:</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="23" id="mwAXc"></span> <span class="nb" id="mwAXg">print</span><span class="p" id="mwAXk">(</span><span class="sa" id="mwAXo">f</span><span class="s2" id="mwAXs">"Iteration </span><span class="si" id="mwAXw">{</span><span class="n" id="mwAX0">it_count</span><span class="si" id="mwAX4">}</span><span class="s2" id="mwAX8">: </span><span class="si" id="mwAYA">{</span><span class="n" id="mwAYE">x</span><span class="si" id="mwAYI">}</span><span class="s2" id="mwAYM">"</span><span class="p" id="mwAYQ">)</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="24" id="mwAYU"></span> <span class="n" id="mwAYY">x_new</span> <span class="o" id="mwAYc">=</span> <span class="n" id="mwAYg">np</span><span class="o" id="mwAYk">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAYo">zeros_like</span><span class="p" id="mwAYs">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAYw">x</span><span class="p" id="mwAY0">)</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="25" id="mwAY4"></span> <span class="linenos" data-line="26" id="mwAY8"></span> <span class="k" id="mwAZA">for</span> <span class="n" id="mwAZE">i</span> <span class="ow" id="mwAZI">in</span> <span class="nb" id="mwAZM">range</span><span class="p" id="mwAZQ">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAZU">A</span><span class="o" id="mwAZY">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAZc">shape</span><span class="p" id="mwAZg">[</span><span class="mi" id="mwAZk">0</span><span class="p" id="mwAZo">]):</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="27" id="mwAZs"></span> <span class="n" id="mwAZw">s1</span> <span class="o" id="mwAZ0">=</span> <span class="n" id="mwAZ4">np</span><span class="o" id="mwAZ8">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAaA">dot</span><span class="p" id="mwAaE">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAaI">A</span><span class="p" id="mwAaM">[</span><span class="n" id="mwAaQ">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAaU">,</span> <span class="p" id="mwAaY">:</span><span class="n" id="mwAac">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAag">],</span> <span class="n" id="mwAak">x</span><span class="p" id="mwAao">[:</span><span class="n" id="mwAas">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAaw">])</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="28" id="mwAa0"></span> <span class="n" id="mwAa4">s2</span> <span class="o" id="mwAa8">=</span> <span class="n" id="mwAbA">np</span><span class="o" id="mwAbE">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAbI">dot</span><span class="p" id="mwAbM">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAbQ">A</span><span class="p" id="mwAbU">[</span><span class="n" id="mwAbY">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAbc">,</span> <span class="n" id="mwAbg">i</span> <span class="o" id="mwAbk">+</span> <span class="mi" id="mwAbo">1</span><span class="p" id="mwAbs">:],</span> <span class="n" id="mwAbw">x</span><span class="p" id="mwAb0">[</span><span class="n" id="mwAb4">i</span> <span class="o" id="mwAb8">+</span> <span class="mi" id="mwAcA">1</span><span class="p" id="mwAcE">:])</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="29" id="mwAcI"></span> <span class="n" id="mwAcM">x_new</span><span class="p" id="mwAcQ">[</span><span class="n" id="mwAcU">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAcY">]</span> <span class="o" id="mwAcc">=</span> <span class="p" id="mwAcg">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAck">b</span><span class="p" id="mwAco">[</span><span class="n" id="mwAcs">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAcw">]</span> <span class="o" id="mwAc0">-</span> <span class="n" id="mwAc4">s1</span> <span class="o" id="mwAc8">-</span> <span class="n" id="mwAdA">s2</span><span class="p" id="mwAdE">)</span> <span class="o" id="mwAdI">/</span> <span class="n" id="mwAdM">A</span><span class="p" id="mwAdQ">[</span><span class="n" id="mwAdU">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAdY">,</span> <span class="n" id="mwAdc">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAdg">]</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="30" id="mwAdk"></span> <span class="k" id="mwAdo">if</span> <span class="n" id="mwAds">x_new</span><span class="p" id="mwAdw">[</span><span class="n" id="mwAd0">i</span><span class="p" id="mwAd4">]</span> <span class="o" id="mwAd8">==</span> <span class="n" id="mwAeA">x_new</span><span class="p" id="mwAeE">[</span><span class="n" id="mwAeI">i</span><span class="o" id="mwAeM">-</span><span class="mi" id="mwAeQ">1</span><span class="p" id="mwAeU">]:</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="31" id="mwAeY"></span> <span class="k" id="mwAec">break</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="32" id="mwAeg"></span> <span class="linenos" data-line="33" id="mwAek"></span> <span class="k" id="mwAeo">if</span> <span class="n" id="mwAes">np</span><span class="o" id="mwAew">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAe0">allclose</span><span class="p" id="mwAe4">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAe8">x</span><span class="p" id="mwAfA">,</span> <span class="n" id="mwAfE">x_new</span><span class="p" id="mwAfI">,</span> <span class="n" id="mwAfM">atol</span><span class="o" id="mwAfQ">=</span><span class="mf" id="mwAfU">1e-10</span><span class="p" id="mwAfY">,</span> <span class="n" id="mwAfc">rtol</span><span class="o" id="mwAfg">=</span><span class="mf" id="mwAfk">0.</span><span class="p" id="mwAfo">):</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="34" id="mwAfs"></span> <span class="k" id="mwAfw">break</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="35" id="mwAf0"></span> <span class="linenos" data-line="36" id="mwAf4"></span> <span class="n" id="mwAf8">x</span> <span class="o" id="mwAgA">=</span> <span class="n" id="mwAgE">x_new</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="37" id="mwAgI"></span> <span class="linenos" data-line="38" id="mwAgM"></span><span class="nb" id="mwAgQ">print</span><span class="p" id="mwAgU">(</span><span class="s2" id="mwAgY">"Solution: "</span><span class="p" id="mwAgc">)</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="39" id="mwAgg"></span><span class="nb" id="mwAgk">print</span><span class="p" id="mwAgo">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAgs">x</span><span class="p" id="mwAgw">)</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="40" id="mwAg0"></span><span class="n" id="mwAg4">error</span> <span class="o" id="mwAg8">=</span> <span class="n" id="mwAhA">np</span><span class="o" id="mwAhE">.</span><span class="kp" id="mwAhI">dot</span><span class="p" id="mwAhM">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAhQ">A</span><span class="p" id="mwAhU">,</span> <span class="n" id="mwAhY">x</span><span class="p" id="mwAhc">)</span> <span class="o" id="mwAhg">-</span> <span class="n" id="mwAhk">b</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="41" id="mwAho"></span><span class="nb" id="mwAhs">print</span><span class="p" id="mwAhw">(</span><span class="s2" id="mwAh0">"Error:"</span><span class="p" id="mwAh4">)</span> <span class="linenos" data-line="42" id="mwAh8"></span><span class="nb" id="mwAiA">print</span><span class="p" id="mwAiE">(</span><span class="n" id="mwAiI">error</span><span class="p" id="mwAiM">)</span>Weighted Jacobi method
The weighted Jacobi iteration uses a parameter to compute the iteration as
with being the usual choice. From the relation , this may also be expressed as
where is the algebraic residual at iteration .
Convergence in the symmetric positive definite case
If the system matrix is symmetric positive-definite, one can show convergence.
Let be the iteration matrix. Then, convergence is guaranteed for
where is the maximal eigenvalue.
The spectral radius can be minimized for a particular choice of as follows where is the matrix condition number.

