Fast Linear Algebra for Data Science

Project Description

Numerical linear algebra studies algorithms for problems related to matrices -- such as solving linear systems of equations, computing eigenvectors, and computing matrix decompositions like the SVD. It is one of the most important subfields of algorithms, with applications across the sciences, engineering, and data sciences. Turing Award winner Michael Stonebraker has commented that "If you open up the codes that are underneath [most data science applications] this is all linear algebra on arrays."

In recent years, the field has been challenged by the need to solve problems involving massive matrices arising in data science applications. To address this challenge, the field has turned to *randomized algorithms*, which offer the potential for significant running time gains, at the cost of small approximation error. 

This project will study random sampling methods for solving basic linear algebraic problems on very large matrices. We will focus on *sublinear time algorithms*, that do not even read the full input matrix, but estimate its properties from a small random sample of its entries, or of its rows/columns. We will empirically test different sampling approaches for estimating the matrix eigenvalues and related properties, and when possible try to develop a theoretical analysis of our algorithms, using tools from  theoretical computer science and random matrix.

Learning Objectives:

1. Ability to perform matrix computations efficiently using a common language, such as Matlab and Python. 

2. Basic understanding of different algorithmic paradigms in linear algebra (direct methods, iterative methods, randomized methods). 

3. Ability to perform rigorous empirical evaluation of algorithm performance. 

Skills needed:

• basic background in linear algebra

• ability of writing code in Python and willingness to learn