CRPC-TR99800-S						September 1999

Title: Developing a Derivative-Enhanced Object-Oriented Toolkit for
Scientific Computations.

Authors: Paul Hovland, Boyana Norris, Lucas Roh, and Barry Smith

Submitted November 1999

Abstract:

We describe the development of a differentiated version of PETSc, an
object-oriented toolkit for the parallel solution of scientific problems
modeled by partial differential equations. Traditionally, automatic
differentiation tools are applied to scientific applications to produce
derivative-augmented code, which can then be used for sensitivity
analysis, optimization, or parameter estimation.  Scientific toolkits play
an increasingly important role in developing large-scale scientific
applications.  By differentiating PETSc, we provide accurate derivative
computations in applications implemented using the toolkit.  In addition
to using automatic differentiation to generate a derivative enhanced
version of PETSc, we exploit the component-based organization of the
toolkit, applying high-level mathematical insight to increase the accuracy
and efficiency of derivative computations.

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Paul Hovland
hovland@mcs.anl.gov
Mathematics and Computer Science Division
Argonne National Laboratory

Boyana Norris
norris@mcs.anl.gov
Mathematics and Computer Science Division
Argonne National Laboratory

Lucas Roh
Mathematics and Computer Science Division
Argonne National Laboratory

Barry Smith
bsmith@mcs.anl.gov
Mathematics and Computer Science Division
Argonne National Laboratory