Random multipliers numerically stabilize Gaussian and block Gaussian elimination: Proofs and an extension to low-rank approximation

Abstract

We study two applications of standard Gaussian random multipliers. At first we prove that with a probability close to 1 such a multiplier is expected to numerically stabilize Gaussian elimination with no pivoting as well as block Gaussian elimination. Then, by extending our analysis, we prove that such a multiplier is also expected to support low-rank approximation of a matrix without customary oversampling. Our test results are in good accordance with this formal study. The results remain similar when we replace Gaussian multipliers with random circulant or Toeplitz multipliers, which involve fewer random parameters and enable faster multiplication. We formally support the observed efficiency of random structured multipliers applied to approximation, but we still continue our research in the case of elimination. We specify a narrow class of unitary inputs for which Gaussian elimination with no pivoting is numerically unstable and then prove that, with a probability close to 1, a Gaussian random circulant multiplier does not fix numerical stability problems for such inputs. We also prove that the power of the random circulant preprocessing increases if we also include random permutations.