Natural SciencesComputer ScienceMathematicsParallel ComputingMatrix ComputationNumerical AlgorithmsNumerical AnalysisNumerical Linear AlgebraNumerical Methods For Differential EquationsDirect Methods For Linear SystemsDirect SolversLinear System SolversSparse Inverse ProblemsSparse Linear AlgebraSparse Matrix AlgorithmsSparse Matrix ComputationSparse Matrix Techniques
In recent years a number of solvers for the direct solution of large sparse symmetric linear systems of equations have been developed. These include solvers that are designed for the solution of positive definite systems as well as those that are principally intended for solving indefinite problems. In this study, we use performance profiles as a tool for evaluating and comparing the performance of serial sparse direct solvers on an extensive set of symmetric test problems taken from a range of practical applications.