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Linear system solving is one of the main workhorses in applied mathematics. Recently, theoretical computer scientists have contributed sophisticated algorithms for solving linear systems with symmetric diagonally dominant matrices a class to which Laplacian matrices belong in provably nearly-linear time. These algorithms are highly interesting from a theoretical perspective, but there are no published results on how they perform in practice. With this paper we address this gap. We provide the first implementation of the combinatorial solver by [Kelner et al., STOC 2013], which is particularly appealing due to its conceptual simplicity. The algorithm exploits that a Laplacian matrix corresponds to a graph; solving Laplacian linear systems amounts to finding an electrical flow in this graph with the help of cycles induced by a spanning tree with the low-stretch property. The results of our comprehensive experimental study are ambivalent. They confirm a nearly-linear running time, but for reasonable inputs the constant factors make the solver much slower than methods with higher asymptotic complexity. One other aspect predicted by theory is confirmed by our findings: Spanning trees with lower stretch indeed reduce the solver's running time. Yet, simple spanning tree algorithms perform better in practice than those with a guaranteed low stretch.

Is Nearly-linear the Same in Theory and Practice? A Case Study with a Combinatorial Laplacian Solver