Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We present an interpretation of the fast matrix multiplication algorithms of Coppersmith and Winograd as aggregations of tensor contractions. This point of view provides a direct connection to older constructions by Pan and to more recent work on bilinear algorithms for symmetric tensor contraction. Further, we provide a simple explicit approach for exact aggregation of tensor contractions, each one yielding an independent matrix-matrix product. These constructions and border rank adaptations thereof do not come close to improving the best known bounds on $ω$ (the matrix multiplication exponent), but provide explicit moderate-size fast matrix multiplication algorithms that achieve a better exponent than Strassen's algorithm and have potential practical value. These finite constructions improve the multiplication-count bounds of the reference algorithms compared here for selected numbers and dimensions of independent square matrix products. In particular, using $\langle m,m,m\rangle$ to denote the matrix multiplication tensor for matrices of dimension $m$, we obtain constructions that give bounds such as the border rank bound \[ \underline R\!\left(\langle n^2,n^2,n^2\rangle^{\oplus9}\right) \le (n+1)^6+6(n+1)^5, \] and the exact rank bound \[ R\!\left(\langle n^3,n^3,n^3\rangle^{\oplus14}\right)\le (n+1)^9. \] We quantify the accuracy of such constructions in finite precision, and provide border-rank constructions that reduce cost with limiting retained fractions of accuracy at least $1/2$, $1/3$, or $1/4$ relative to the classical matrix-multiplication approach under the stated error model.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Solomonik, Edgar, Bläser, Markus
Language: English
Subfield: Computational Theory and Mathematics
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7223061070