NITSOL: A Newton Iterative Solver for Nonlinear Systems

Abstract

We introduce a well-developed Newton iterative (truncated Newton) algorithm for solving large-scale nonlinear systems. The framework is an inexact Newton method globalized by backtracking. Trial steps are obtained using one of several Krylov subspace methods. The algorithm is implemented in a Fortran solver called NITSOL that is robust yet easy to use and provides a number of useful options and features. The structure offers the user great flexibility in addressing problem specificity through preconditioning and other means and allows easy adaptation to parallel environments. Features and capabilities are illustrated in numerical experiments.