IRKA is a Riemannian Gradient Descent Method

Abstract: The iterative rational Krylov algorithm (IRKA) is a commonly used fixed-point iteration developed to minimize the $\mathcal{H}_2$ model order reduction error. In this work, IRKA is recast as a Riemannian gradient descent method with a fixed step size over the manifold of rational functions having fixed degree. This interpretation motivates the development of a Riemannian gradient descent method utilizing as a natural extension variable step size and line search. Comparisons made between IRKA and this extension on a few examples demonstrate significant benefits.