Subdivision Schemes for Positive Definite Matrices

The class of symmetric positive definite matrices is an important class both in theory and application. Although this class is well studied, little is known about how to efficiently interpolate such data within the class. We extend the 4-point interpolatory subdivision scheme, as a method of interpolation, to data consisting of symmetric positive definite matrices. This extension is based on an explicit formula for calculating a binary “geodetic average”. Our method generates a smooth curve of matrices, which retain many important properties of the interpolated matrices. Furthermore, the scheme is robust and easy to implement.