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Pivot Element

1. The pivot element is the element in a matrix, array, or other data structure that is selected first by an algorithm like Gaussian elimination or Quicksort to perform calculations on. 2. Pivoting involves selecting a pivot element and possibly rearranging rows or columns to place the pivot element in a fixed position to allow the algorithm to proceed successfully and reduce errors. 3. Choosing a pivot element with a larger absolute value improves numerical stability in Gaussian elimination. Complete pivoting considers all elements to select the most accurate pivot but is more computationally expensive than partial pivoting.

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287 views

Pivot Element

1. The pivot element is the element in a matrix, array, or other data structure that is selected first by an algorithm like Gaussian elimination or Quicksort to perform calculations on. 2. Pivoting involves selecting a pivot element and possibly rearranging rows or columns to place the pivot element in a fixed position to allow the algorithm to proceed successfully and reduce errors. 3. Choosing a pivot element with a larger absolute value improves numerical stability in Gaussian elimination. Complete pivoting considers all elements to select the most accurate pivot but is more computationally expensive than partial pivoting.

Uploaded by

Pawan Singh
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pivot element

Pivot element
The pivot or pivot element is the element of a matrix, an array, or some other kind of finite set, which is selected first by an algorithm (e.g. Gaussian elimination, Quicksort, Simplex algorithm, etc.), to do certain calculations. In the case of matrix algorithms, a pivot entry is usually required to be at least distinct from zero, and often distant from it; in this case finding this element is called pivoting. Pivoting may be followed by an interchange of rows or columns to bring the pivot to a fixed position and allow the algorithm to proceed successfully, and possibly to reduce round-off error. Pivoting might be thought of as swapping or sorting rows or columns in a matrix, and thus it can be represented as multiplication by permutation matrices. However, algorithms rarely move the matrix elements because this would cost too much time; instead, they just keep track of the permutations. The pivot element in quicksort is the element that is selected as the boundary for partitioning. Quicksort sorts all elements "left" and "right" of the pivot element recursively. Overall, pivoting adds more operations to the computational cost of an algorithm. These additional operations are sometimes necessary for the algorithm to work at all. Other times these additional operations are worthwhile because they add numerical stability to the final result.

Examples of systems that require pivoting


In the case of Gaussian elimination, the algorithm requires that pivot elements not be zero. Interchanging rows or columns in the case of a zero pivot element is necessary. The system below requires the interchange of rows 2 and 3 to perform elimination.

The system that results from pivoting is as follows and will allow the elimination algorithm and backwards substitution to output the solution to the system.

Furthermore, in Gaussian elimination it is generally desirable to choose a pivot element with large absolute value. This improves the numerical stability. The following system is dramatically affected by round-off error when Gaussian elimination and backwards substitution are performed.

This system has the exact solution of x1 = 10.00 and x2 = 1.000, but when the elimination algorithm and backwards substitution are performed using four-digit arithmetic, the small value of a11 causes small round-off errors to be propagated. The algorithm without pivoting yields the approximation of x1 9873.3 and x2 4. In this case it is desirable that we interchange the two rows so that a21 is in the pivot position

Considering this system, the elimination algorithm and backwards substitution using four-digit arithmetic yield the correct values x1 = 10.00 and x2 = 1.000.

Pivot element

Partial and complete pivoting


In partial pivoting, the algorithm selects the entry with largest absolute value from the column of the matrix that is currently being considered as the pivot element. Partial pivoting is generally sufficient to adequately reduce round-off error. However for certain systems and algorithms, complete pivoting (or maximal pivoting) may be required for acceptable accuracy. Complete pivoting considers all entries in the whole matrix, interchanging rows and columns to achieve the highest accuracy. Complete pivoting is usually not necessary to ensure numerical stability and, due to the additional computations it introduces, it may not always be the most appropriate pivoting strategy.

Scaled pivoting
A variation of the partial pivoting strategy is scaled partial pivoting. In this approach, the algorithm selects as the pivot element the entry that is largest relative to the entries in its row. This strategy is desirable when entries' large differences in magnitude lead to the propagation of round-off error. Scaled pivoting should be used in a system like the one below where a row's entries vary greatly in magnitude. In the example below, it would be desirable to interchange the two rows because the current pivot element 30 is larger than 5.291 but it is relatively small compared with the other entries in its row. Without row interchange in this case, rounding errors will be propagated as in the previous example.

References
This article incorporates material from Pivoting on PlanetMath, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. R. L. Burden, J. D. Faires, Numerical Analysis, 8th edition, Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2005. ISBN 0-534-39200-8 G. H. Golub, C. F. Loan, Matrix Computations, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins, 1996. ISBN 0-8018-5414-8. Fukuda, Komei; Terlaky, Tams (1997). ThomasM. Liebling and Dominique deWerra. ed. "Criss-cross methods: A fresh view on pivot algorithms". Mathematical Programming: SeriesB (Amsterdam: North-Holland PublishingCo.) 79 (Papers from the16th International Symposium on Mathematical Programming held in Lausanne,1997): 369395. doi:10.1016/S0025-5610(97)00062-2. MR1464775. Postscript preprint [1]. Terlaky, Tams; Zhang, ShuZhong (1993). "Pivot rules for linear programming: A Survey on recent theoretical developments". Annals of Operations Research (Springer Netherlands) 4647 (1): 203233. doi:10.1007/BF02096264. ISSN0254-5330. MR1260019. PDF file of (1991) preprint [2].

References
[1] http:/ / www. cas. mcmaster. ca/ ~terlaky/ files/ crisscross. ps [2] http:/ / citeseerx. ist. psu. edu/ viewdoc/ download?doi=10. 1. 1. 36. 7658& rep=rep1& type=pdf

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors


Pivot element Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=490886570 Contributors: 777sms, Ann Stouter, Bcbowmanrob, CBM, Cybercobra, Dsmithsmithy, Dwhitam, Furrykef, Giftlite, Ginsengbomb, Headbomb, Jitse Niesen, K.menin, Kiefer.Wolfowitz, Maksim343, Marc van Leeuwen, MovGP0, Ms2ger, Ncmvocalist, Ocolon, PV=nRT, Pinethicket, RJS1987, Rjwilmsi, Sayginer, SensuiShinobu1234, Takerukoushirou, Tinctorius, 33 anonymous edits

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