An asymptotically superior algorithm for computing the characteristic polynomial of a tridiagonal matrix

The author describes an algorithm for computing the characteristic polynomial of a tridiagonal matrix. It is quite general and consists in the application of the divide-and-conquer technique to the evaluation of a three-term recurrence relation. The algorithm developed requires O(n log/sup 2/n) arithmetic operations as compared to the classical algorithm that requires O(n/sup 2/) arithmetic operations.<
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