Smooth factorizations of matrix valued functions and their derivatives

Summary In this paper we study the numerical factorization of matrix valued functions in order to apply them in the numerical solution of differential algebraic equations with time varying coefficients. The main difficulty is to obtain smoothness of the factors and a numerically accessible form of their derivatives. We show how this can be achieved without numerical differentiation if the derivative of the given matrix valued function is known. These results are then applied in the numerical solution of differential algebraic Riccati equations. For this a numerical algorithm is given and its properties are demonstrated by a numerical example.