Local convergence of the (exact and inexact) iterative aggregation method for linear systems and Markov operators

Summary. The iterative aggregation method for the solution of linear systems is extended in several directions: to operators on Banach spaces; to the method with inexact correction, i.e., to methods where the (inner) linear system is in turn solved iteratively; and to the problem of finding stationary distributions of Markov operators. Local convergence is shown in all cases. Convergence results apply to the particular case of stochastic matrices. Moreover, an argument is given which suggests why the iterative aggregation method works so well for nearly uncoupled Markov chains, as well as for Markov chains with other zero-nonzero structures. Received May 25, 1991/Revised version received February 23, 1994