Shouldn't `bunchkaufman` be actually named `ldlt`?

zdenek_hurak
Wed, 09 Mar 2022 16:26:48 +0000
Numerics

I am just musing over the choise of the name bunchkaufman for the bunkaufman function. If I understand it correctly, the function provides an implementation of an algorithm for LDLᵀ factorization of a symmetric and in general indefinite matrix. The thing is that there is a dedicated function for performing the LDLᵀ factorization – it is named ldlt. It seems to me that the only difference is that ldlt function works for either dense tridiagonal or sparse matrices, while bunchkaufman works for dense (symmetric) matrices. Am I right? If yes, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to keep just ldlt function and dispatch on the type of a matrix?

It seems to me that it is more common to reflect in the name of the function the type of factorization (WHAT) rather than the method (HOW). We have lu, qr, svd, … It seems to me that bunchkaufman is the only one among the matrix factorization functions in the standard LinearAlgebra library that tells HOW instead of WHAT. Am I right? If find it a bit confusing, the more so that the other ldlt function exists.

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