Journal of Applied Crystallography

Volume 35, Part 2 (April 2002)

research papers

J. Appl. Cryst. (2002). 35, 191-195 [ doi:10.1107/S0021889802000109 ]

Parallel processing for Rietveld refinement

T. R. Zeitler and B. H. Toby

Abstract: A method for speeding Rietveld refinements using parallel computing is presented. The method can be applied to most, if not all, Rietveld refinement programs. An example implementation for the Los Alamos General Structure Analysis System (GSAS) package is described. Using a cluster with seven processors, least-squares refinements are completed 2.5 to 5 times faster than on an equivalent single-processor computer.

Keywords: parallel processing; Rietveld refinement; least-squares minimization.