A uniform object-oriented solution to the eigenvalue problem for real symmetric and Hermitian matrices Original Research Article

We present a system of classes, SHMatrix, to deal in a unified way with the computation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors in real symmetric and Hermitian matrices. Thus, two descendant classes, one for the real symmetric and other for the Hermitian cases, override the abstract methods defined in a base class. The use of the inheritance relationship and polymorphism allows handling objects of any descendant class using a single reference of the base class. The system of classes is intended to be the core element of more sophisticated methods to deal with large eigenvalue problems, as those arising in the variational treatment of realistic quantum mechanical problems. The present system of classes allows computing a subset of all the possible eigenvalues and, optionally, the corresponding eigenvectors. Comparison with well established solutions for analogous eigenvalue problems, as those included in LAPACK, shows that the present solution is competitive against them.