Comparing the methods of alternating and simultaneous projections for two subspaces (Q6146685)

The best approximation problem for two linear subspaces \(A\) and \(B\) of \(\mathbb R^d\) is to find a point in the intersection \(A \cap B\) which is the closest to any given starting point \(x \in \mathbb R^d\). In this paper, the authors investigate two well known methods for solving this problem, the method of alternating projections and the method of simultaneous projections. The main results are to provide a set of conditions under which the former converges faster than the latter and to provide a different set of conditions under which the opposite behaviour can be observed. The Friedrichs angle between the two subspaces \(A\) and \(B\) plays an important role, but it is not sufficient to provide a complete characterization. To this end, the authors utilize the (more general) concept of principal angles.