qr

QR decomposition

Syntax

R = qr(A)

[Q,R] = qr(A)

[Q,R,P] = qr(A)

[___] = qr(A,"econ")

[Q,R,P] = qr(A,outputForm)

[___] = qr(A,0)

[C,R] = qr(S,B)

[C,R,P] = qr(S,B)

[___] = qr(S,B,"econ")

[C,R,P] = qr(S,B,outputForm)

[___] = qr(S,B,0)

Description

R = qr(A) returns the upper-triangular R factor of the QR decomposition A = Q*R.

[Q,R] = qr(A) performs a QR decomposition on m-by-n matrix A such that A = Q*R. The factor R is an m-by-n upper-triangular matrix, and the factor Q is an m-by-m orthogonal matrix.

[Q,R,P] = qr(A) additionally returns a permutation matrix P such that A*P = Q*R. If A is full, the permutation matrix is chosen so that abs(diag(R)) is decreasing.

[___] = qr(A,"econ") produces an economy-size decomposition using any of the previous output argument combinations. The size of the outputs depends on the size of m-by-n matrix A:

• If m > n, then qr computes only the first n columns of Q and the first n rows of R.

• If m <= n, then the economy-size decomposition is the same as the regular decomposition.

[Q,R,P] = qr(A,outputForm) specifies whether to return the permutation information P as a matrix or a vector. For example, if outputForm is "vector", then A(:,P) = Q*R. The default value of outputForm is "matrix" such that A*P = Q*R.

[___] = qr(A,0) is equivalent to qr(A,"econ","vector"). The use of this syntax is not recommended. Use the "econ" option instead.

[C,R] = qr(S,B) computes C = Q'*B and the upper-triangular factor R. You can use C and R to compute a least-squares solution to the sparse linear system S*X = B with X = R\C.

[C,R,P] = qr(S,B) additionally returns a permutation matrix P that is chosen to reduce fill-in in R. You can use C, R, and P to compute a least-squares solution to the sparse linear system S*X = B with X = P*(R\C).

[___] = qr(S,B,"econ") produces an economy-size decomposition using any of the previous output argument combinations. The size of the outputs depends on the size of m-by-n sparse matrix S:

• If m > n, then qr computes only the first n rows of C and R.

• If m <= n, then the economy-size decomposition is the same as the regular decomposition.

[C,R,P] = qr(S,B,outputForm) specifies whether to return the permutation information P as a matrix or vector. For example, if outputForm is "vector", then the least-squares solution to S*X = B is X(P,:) = R\C. The default value of outputForm is "matrix" such that the least-squares solution to S*X = B is X = P*(R\C).

[___] = qr(S,B,0) is equivalent to qr(S,B,"econ","vector"). The use of this syntax is not recommended. Use the "econ" option instead.

Examples

Q-Less QR Decomposition

Find the QR decomposition of the 5-by-5 magic square matrix. Specify one output argument to return just the upper-triangular factor.

A = magic(5);
R = qr(A)

R = 5×5

  -32.4808  -26.6311  -21.3973  -23.7063  -25.8615
         0   19.8943   12.3234    1.9439    4.0856
         0         0  -24.3985  -11.6316   -3.7415
         0         0         0  -20.0982   -9.9739
         0         0         0         0  -16.0005

Full QR Decomposition of Matrix

Compute the full QR decomposition of a magic square test matrix by specifying two output arguments.

A = magic(5);
[Q,R] = qr(A)

Q = 5×5

   -0.5234    0.5058    0.6735   -0.1215   -0.0441
   -0.7081   -0.6966   -0.0177    0.0815   -0.0800
   -0.1231    0.1367   -0.3558   -0.6307   -0.6646
   -0.3079    0.1911   -0.4122   -0.4247    0.7200
   -0.3387    0.4514   -0.4996    0.6328   -0.1774

R = 5×5

  -32.4808  -26.6311  -21.3973  -23.7063  -25.8615
         0   19.8943   12.3234    1.9439    4.0856
         0         0  -24.3985  -11.6316   -3.7415
         0         0         0  -20.0982   -9.9739
         0         0         0         0  -16.0005

Verify that $\mathit{A}=\mathrm{QR}$, within machine precision.

norm(A-Q*R)

ans = 
9.5562e-15

Permuted QR Decomposition

Specify three output arguments to return a permutation matrix or vector that reduces fill-in in the R factor of the QR decomposition.

Compute the QR decomposition of the west0479 sparse matrix. Specify three outputs to return a permutation matrix that satisfies $\mathrm{AP}=\mathrm{QR}$.

load west0479
A = west0479;
[Q,R,P] = qr(A);

Verify that A*P = Q*R for the permutation matrix P, within machine precision.

norm(A*P-Q*R,"fro")

ans = 
3.5451e-10

Now specify the "vector" option to return p as a permutation vector.

[Q,R,p] = qr(A,"vector");

Verify that A(:,p) = Q*R for the permutation vector p, within machine precision.

norm(A(:,p) - Q*R,"fro")

ans = 
3.5451e-10

Verify that the use of a permutation matrix or permutation vector in the decomposition results in an R factor with fewer nonzeros for sparse inputs compared to a nonpermuted decomposition.

[Q1,R1] = qr(A);
spy(R1)

spy(R)

The results show that the permuted decomposition produces an R factor with substantially fewer nonzeros.

Solve Linear System with Economy-Size QR Factors

Use the economy-size QR decomposition of a coefficient matrix to solve the linear system $\mathrm{Ax}=\mathit{b}$.

Create a 10-by-5 coefficient matrix by using the first five columns of magic(10). For the right-hand side of the linear equation $\mathrm{Ax}=\mathit{b}$, use the row sums of the matrix. With this setup, the solution to the equation $\mathit{x}$ should be a vector of ones.

A = magic(10);
A = A(:,1:5)

A = 10×5

    92    99     1     8    15
    98    80     7    14    16
     4    81    88    20    22
    85    87    19    21     3
    86    93    25     2     9
    17    24    76    83    90
    23     5    82    89    91
    79     6    13    95    97
    10    12    94    96    78
    11    18   100    77    84

b = sum(A,2)

b = 10×1

   215
   215
   215
   215
   215
   290
   290
   290
   290
   290

Compute the economy-size QR decomposition of A. Then solve the linear system $\mathrm{QRx}=\mathit{b}$ with x(p,:) = R\(Q'*b). Because Q is orthogonal, this equation is the same as x(p,:) = R\(Q\b) but is computed faster.

[Q,R,p] = qr(A,"econ","vector")

Q = 10×5

   -0.0050   -0.4775   -0.0504    0.5193    0.0399
   -0.0349   -0.5001   -0.0990   -0.1954   -0.2006
   -0.4384    0.1059   -0.4660    0.4464    0.0628
   -0.0947   -0.4151   -0.2923   -0.2542    0.5274
   -0.1246   -0.4117   -0.2812   -0.1326   -0.4130
   -0.3787    0.0209    0.2702    0.4697    0.0390
   -0.4085   -0.0017    0.2217   -0.2450   -0.2015
   -0.0648   -0.3925    0.6939    0.0669    0.1225
   -0.4683    0.0833    0.0283   -0.3038    0.5265
   -0.4982    0.0867    0.0394   -0.1822   -0.4138

R = 5×5

 -200.7112  -55.5026 -167.6040  -84.7237 -168.7997
         0 -192.1053  -40.3557 -152.4040  -39.2814
         0         0  101.3180  -89.4254   96.0172
         0         0         0   41.0248  -14.9083
         0         0         0         0   24.6386

p = 1×5

     3     1     5     2     4

x(p,:) = R\(Q'*b)

x = 5×1

    1.0000
    1.0000
    1.0000
    1.0000
    1.0000

Make a semilog plot of the diagonal of R to confirm that the permuted decomposition produces an R factor with abs(diag(R)) decreasing. Plot the singular values of A in the same plot for comparison. In practice, the diagonal values of R behave in a similar way to the singular values of A. Therefore, you can use the diagonal values of R as a measure for how close to singular the matrix A is.

semilogy(abs(diag(R)),"-o")
hold on
semilogy(svd(A),"r-o")
legend("Diagonal of R","Singular Values of A")

Solve Sparse Linear System

Solve a sparse linear system and use the results to see how much of vector b lies in the column space of S.

Create a random 500-by-20 sparse matrix with 10% density and a vector of ones. Use qr to factorize the matrix into the factors R and C = Q'*b.

S = sprand(500,20,0.1);
b = ones(500,1);
[C,R] = qr(S,b,"econ");

Use the results to solve $\mathrm{Sx}=\mathit{b}$ with x = R\C.

x = R\C;

Consider the identity${\Vert \mathit{b}\Vert }^2={\Vert \mathrm{Sx}-\mathit{b}\Vert }^2+{\Vert \mathit{C}\Vert }^2$.

Dividing through by the norm of b, you get a new identity that shows how much of b lies in the column space of S:

$\frac{{\Vert \mathrm{Sx}-\mathit{b}\Vert }^2}{{\Vert \mathit{b}\Vert }^2}+\frac{{\Vert \mathit{C}\Vert }^2}{{\Vert \mathit{b}\Vert }^2}=1$.

The first term tells how much of b does not lie in the column space of S, while the second term tells how much of b does lie in the column space of S.

t1 = norm(S*x-b)^2/norm(b)^2

t1 = 
0.4000

t2 = norm(C)^2/norm(b)^2

t2 = 
0.6000

Solve Rectangular Sparse Linear System

Use qr to solve the matrix equation $\mathrm{Sx}=\mathit{B}$ with a rectangular sparse coefficient matrix $\mathit{S}$.

Load the west0479 sparse matrix and use the first 200 columns as the rectangular coefficient matrix in a linear system. For the right-hand side of the equation, use the row sums of $\mathit{S}$. With this setup, the solution to $\mathrm{Sx}=\mathit{B}$ is a vector of ones.

load west0479
S = west0479(:,1:200);
B = sum(S,2);

Solve $\mathrm{Sx}=\mathit{B}$ using qr with two inputs and three outputs. The solution to the linear system is x = P*(R\C).

[C,R,P] = qr(S,B);
x = P*(R\C);

Verify that $\mathrm{Sx}-\mathit{B}=0$, within machine precision.

norm(S*x-B)

ans = 
8.3874e-11

Note: To calculate the upper-triangular factor R and permutation matrix P, but avoid computing the orthogonal matrix Q (which is often the most computationally expensive part of a call to qr), you can specify B as an empty matrix:

emptyB = zeros(size(S,1),0);
[~,R,P] = qr(S,emptyB);

Input Arguments

A — Input matrix

matrix

Input matrix, specified as a full or sparse matrix.

Data Types: single | double
Complex Number Support: Yes

S — Input coefficient matrix

matrix

Input coefficient matrix, specified as a sparse matrix. With two input matrices, qr computes a least-squares solution to the linear system S*X = B.

Data Types: single | double
Complex Number Support: Yes

B — Right-hand side matrix

matrix

Right-hand side matrix, specified as a full or sparse matrix. With two input matrices, qr computes C = Q'*B, which you can use to solve the linear system S*X = B.

Data Types: single | double
Complex Number Support: Yes

outputForm — Shape of permutation output

"matrix" (default) | "vector"

Shape of permutation output, specified as "matrix" or "vector". This flag controls whether the permutation output P is returned as a permutation matrix or permutation vector. You must specify three output arguments to qr to use this option.

• If outputForm is "vector", then P is a permutation vector that satisfies A(:,P) = Q*R.

• The default value of outputForm is "matrix" such that A*P = Q*R.

Example: [Q,R,P] = qr(A,"vector")

Output Arguments

Q — Orthogonal factor

matrix

Orthogonal factor, returned as a matrix that satisfies A = Q*R for an m-by-n matrix A.

• For full decompositions, qr(A) returns Q as an m-by-m orthogonal matrix satisfying $$Q^{H}Q=Q{Q}^H=I_m$$.

• For rectangular A with m > n, the economy-sized decomposition qr(A,"econ") computes only the first n columns of Q and first n rows of R. The columns of Q form an orthonormal basis for the column space of A.

Different machines and releases of MATLAB^® can produce different columns in Q that are still numerically accurate. Corresponding rows and columns in Q and R can flip their signs, since this does not affect the value of the expression A = Q*R.

R — Upper-triangular factor

matrix

Upper-triangular factor, returned as a matrix that satisfies A = Q*R. The diagonal of R is in decreasing order when A is full and three outputs are specified, [Q,R,P] = qr(A).

P — Permutation information

matrix | vector

Permutation information, returned as a matrix or vector. The shape of P depends on the value of outputForm. Also, qr selects P to satisfy different criteria depending on whether the first input matrix is full or sparse:

• Full — qr selects P so that abs(diag(R)) is decreasing.

• Sparse — qr selects P to reduce fill-in in R.

C — Linear system factor

matrix

Linear system factor, returned as a matrix that satisfies C = Q'*B. The least-squares solution to S*X = B is X = R\C. If the permutation output P is specified, then the solution is either X = P*(R\C) or X(P,:) = R\C, depending on the value of outputForm:

• If outputForm is "vector", then the least-squares solution to S*X = B is X(P,:) = R\C.

• The default value of outputForm is "matrix" such that the least-squares solution to S*X = B is X = P*(R\C).

Tips

• To solve multiple linear systems involving the same coefficient matrix, use decomposition objects.

• For the syntax [C,R] = qr(S,B), the value of X = R\C is a least-squares solution to S*X = B only when S does not have low rank.

References

[1] Anderson, E., ed. LAPACK Users’ Guide. 3rd ed. Software, Environments, Tools. Philadelphia: Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1137/1.9780898719604.

[2] Davis, Timothy A. “Algorithm 915, SuiteSparseQR: Multifrontal Multithreaded Rank-Revealing Sparse QR Factorization.” ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software 38, no. 1 (November 2011): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/2049662.2049670.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation

Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Usage notes and limitations:

• Code generation does not support sparse matrix inputs for this function.

GPU Code Generation

Generate CUDA® code for NVIDIA® GPUs using GPU Coder™.

Usage notes and limitations:

• Code generation does not support sparse matrix inputs for this function.

• Code generation might return a different QR factorization than MATLAB. You can verify the Q and R values by using the equation Q*R = A.

Thread-Based Environment

Run code in the background using MATLAB® backgroundPool or accelerate code with Parallel Computing Toolbox™ ThreadPool.

This function fully supports thread-based environments. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions in Thread-Based Environment.

GPU Arrays

Accelerate code by running on a graphics processing unit (GPU) using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

The qr function supports GPU array input with these usage notes and limitations:

• Sparse inputs are not supported.

For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions on a GPU (Parallel Computing Toolbox).

Distributed Arrays

Partition large arrays across the combined memory of your cluster using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

Usage notes and limitations:

• The input A must be nonsparse.

For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions with Distributed Arrays (Parallel Computing Toolbox).

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

R2025a: Specify single-precision sparse input argument

You can specify the input coefficient matrix S as single precision. If S is single, the output arguments are also single except those that are related to indexing, such as ordering and permutation vectors.

R2022b: "0" syntax not recommended for economy-size decompositions

The syntaxes [___] = qr(A,0) and [___] = qr(S,B,0) will continue to be supported, but are no longer recommended. Use the "econ" option to perform economy-size decompositions instead.

R2022a: Option for economy-size decompositions

Use the "econ" option to calculate economy-size decompositions with qr. The functionality is the same as qr(A,0) unless a third output is specified.

R2022a: One-output syntax always returns upper-triangular factor

The syntax R = qr(A) always returns R as an upper-triangular matrix, regardless of whether A is full or sparse. Previously, for full A, the one-output syntax returned an R matrix with Householder vectors located in the lower-triangular portion of the matrix. These vectors partially defined the Q matrix.