Power Iteration

In mathematics, the power iteration is an eigenvalue algorithm: given a matrix A, the algorithm will produce a number λ (the eigenvalue) and a nonzero vector v (the eigenvector), such that Av = λv. The algorithm is also known as the Von Mises iteration.

The power iteration is a very simple algorithm. It does not compute a matrix decomposition, and hence it can be used when A is a very large sparse matrix. However, it will find only one eigenvalue (the one with the greatest absolute value) and it may converge only slowly.

Read more about Power Iteration:  The Method, Analysis, Applications, See Also

Famous quotes containing the word power:

    So immense are the claims on a mother, physical claims on her bodily and brain vigor, and moral claims on her heart and thoughts, that she cannot ... meet them all and find any large margin beyond for other cares and work. She serves the community in the very best and highest way it is possible to do, by giving birth to healthy children, whose physical strength has not been defrauded, and to whose moral and mental nature she can give the whole of her thoughts.
    —Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904)