RALPAR-LIB: A Multilevel partitioning library

This report describes the multilevel partitioning methods which have been implemented in the software package Ralpar. Such methods address the problem of nding an e cient partitioning of a mesh for parallel processing in a reasonable time. A graph representation of the connectivity of a mesh is condensed through a number of levels to give a smaller problem that can be partitioned quickly. Kernighan and Lin re nement is used to improve the partition on intermediate levels. A library interface to these partitioning routines is described, the Ralpar multilevel library (RPMLL). Some examples are given to illustrate the performance of this implmentation of multilevel methods. A copy of this report can be found at the Department's web site (http://www.dci.clrc.ac.uk/) under page Group.asp?DCICSEMSW or anonymous ftp server www.inf.rl.ac.uk under the directory pub/mathsoft/publications Mathematical Software Group Department for Computation and Information Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Chilton, DIDCOT Oxfordshire OX11 0QX