Implementation of a variable block Davidson method with deflation for solving large sparse eigenproblems

The Davidson method is a preconditioned eigenvalue technique aimed at computing a few of the extreme (i.e., leftmost or rightmost) eigenpairs of large sparse symmetric matrices. This paper describes a software package which implements a deflated and variable-block version of the Davidson method. Information on how to use the software is provided. Guidelines for its upgrading or for its incorporation into existing packages are also included. Various experiments are performed on an SGI Power Challenge and comparisons with ARPACK are reported. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.