Nested Dissection: A survey and comparison of various nested dissection algorithms

Methods for solving sparse linear systems of equations can be categorized under two broad classes direct and iterative. Direct methods are methods based on gaussian elimination. This report discusses one such direct method namely Nested dissection. Nested Dissection, originally proposed by Alan George, is a technique for solving sparse linear systems efficiently. This report is a survey of some of the work in the area of nested dissection and attempts to put it together using a common framework. This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Contract No. CCR-9016641. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing official policies, either expressed or implied, of the National Science Foundation or the U.S. Government.

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