Multiplication algorithm

A multiplication algorithm is an algorithm (or method) to multiply two numbers. Depending on the size of the numbers, different algorithms are in use. Efficient multiplication algorithms have been around since the advent of the decimal system.

Long multiplication

If a positional numeral system is used, a natural way of multiplying numbers is taught in grade schools as long multiplication, sometimes called grade-school multiplication: multiply the multiplicand by each digit of the multiplier and then add up all the properly shifted results. It requires memorization of the multiplication table for single digits.

Humans usually use this algorithm in base 10, computers in base 2 (where multiplying by the single digit of the multiplier reduces to a simple series of logical AND operations). Humans will write down all the products and then add them together; computers (and abacus operators) will sum the products as soon as each one is computed. Some chips implement this algorithm for various integer and floating-point sizes in hardware or in microcode. To multiply two numbers with n digits using this method, one needs about n² operations. More formally: using a natural size metric of number of digits, the time complexity of multiplying two n-digit numbers using long multiplication is Θ(n²).

When implemented in software, long multiplication algorithms have to deal with overflow during additions, which can be expensive. For this reason, a typical approach is to represent the number in a small base b such that, for example, 8b² is a representable machine integer (for example Richard Brent used this approach in his Fortran package MP); we can then perform several additions before having to deal with overflow. When the number becomes too large, we add part of it to the result or carry and map the remaining part back to a number less than b; this process is called normalization.

Example

This example uses long multiplication to multiply 23,958,233 (multiplicand) by 5,830 (multiplier) and arrives at 139,676,498,390 for the result (product).

        23958233
            5830 ×
    ------------
        00000000 (= 23,958,233 ×     0)
       71874699  (= 23,958,233 ×    30)
     191665864   (= 23,958,233 ×   800)
    119791165    (= 23,958,233 × 5,000)
    ------------
    139676498390 (= 139,676,498,390)

Space complexity

Let n be the total number of bits in the two input numbers. Long multiplication has the advantage that it can easily be formulated as a log space algorithm; that is, an algorithm that only needs working space proportional to the logarithm of the number of digits in the input (Θ(log n)). This is the double logarithm of the numbers being multiplied themselves (log log N). We don't include the input or output bits in this measurement, since that would trivially make the space requirement linear; instead we make the input bits read-only and the output bits write-only.

The method is simple: we add the columns right-to-left, keeping track of the carry as we go. We don't have to store the columns to do this. To show this, let the ith bit from the right of the first and second operands be denoted a_i and b_i respectively, both starting at i=0, and let r_i be the ith bit from the right of the result. Then:

$r_{i}=c+\sum _{j+k=i}a_{j}b_{k},$

where c is the carry from the previous column. Provided neither c nor the total sum exceed log space, we can implement this formula in log space, since the indexes j and k each have O(log n) bits.

A simple inductive argument shows that the carry can never exceed n and the total sum for r_i can never exceed 2n: the carry into the first column is zero, and for all other columns, there are at most n bits in the column, and a carry of at most n coming in from the previous column (by the induction hypothesis). Their sum is at most 2n, and the carry to the next column is at most half of this, or n. Thus both these values can be stored in O(log n) bits.

In pseudocode, the log-space algorithm is:

multiply(a[0..n-1], b[0..n-1]) // Arrays representing the binary representations
    x ← 0
    for i from 0 to 2n-1
        for j from 0 to i
            k ← i - j
            x ← x + (a[j] × b[k])
        result[i] ← x mod 2
        x ← floor(x/2)

Lattice multiplication

First, set up the grid by marking its rows and columns with the numbers to be multiplied. Then, fill in the boxes with tens digits in the top triangles and units digits on the bottom.

Finally, sum along the diagonal tracts and carry as needed to get the answer

Lattice, or sieve, multiplication is algorithmically equivalent to long multiplication. It requires the preparation of a lattice (a grid drawn on paper) which guides the calculation and separates all the multiplications from the additions. It was introduced to Europe in 1202 in Fibonacci's Liber Abaci. Leonardo described the operation as mental, using his right and left hands to carry the intermediate calculations. Napier's bones, or Napier's rods also used this method, as published by Napier in 1617, the year of his death.

As shown in the example, the multiplicand and multiplier are written above and to the right of a lattice, or a sieve. It is found in Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi's "Arithmetic", one of Leonardo's sources mentioned by Sigler, author of "Fibonacci's Liber Abaci", 2002.

• During the multiplication phase, the lattice is filled in with two-digit products of the corresponding digits labeling each row and column: the tens digit goes in the top-left corner.
• During the addition phase, the lattice is summed on the diagonals.
• Finally, if a carry phase is necessary, the answer as shown along the left and bottom sides of the lattice is converted to normal form by carrying ten's digits as in long addition or multiplication.

Example

The pictures on the right show how to calculate 345 × 12 using lattice multiplication. As a more complicated example, consider the picture below displaying the computation of 23,958,233 multiplied by 5,830 (multiplier); the result is 139,676,498,390. Notice 23,958,233 is along the top of the lattice and 5,830 is along the right side. The products fill the lattice and the sum of those products (on the diagonal) are along the left and bottom sides. Then those sums are totaled as shown.

2 3 9 5 8 2 3 3 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+- |1 /|1 /|4 /|2 /|4 /|1 /|1 /|1 /| | / | / | / | / | / | / | / | / | 5 01|/ 0|/ 5|/ 5|/ 5|/ 0|/ 0|/ 5|/ 5| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+- |1 /|2 /|7 /|4 /|6 /|1 /|2 /|2 /| | / | / | / | / | / | / | / | / | 8 02|/ 6|/ 4|/ 2|/ 0|/ 4|/ 6|/ 4|/ 4| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+- |0 /|0 /|2 /|1 /|2 /|0 /|0 /|0 /| | / | / | / | / | / | / | / | / | 3 17|/ 6|/ 9|/ 7|/ 5|/ 4|/ 6|/ 9|/ 9| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+- |0 /|0 /|0 /|0 /|0 /|0 /|0 /|0 /| | / | / | / | / | / | / | / | / | 0 24|/ 0|/ 0|/ 0|/ 0|/ 0|/ 0|/ 0|/ 0| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+- 26 15 13 18 17 13 09 00

01 002 0017 00024 000026 0000015 00000013 000000018 0000000017 00000000013 000000000009 0000000000000 ============= 139676498390

= 139,676,498,390

• Video of a simple multiplication
• A Powerpoint presentation about ancient math

Peasant or binary multiplication

Main article: Peasant multiplication

In base 2, long multiplication reduces to a nearly trivial operation. For each '1' bit in the multiplier, shift the multiplicand an appropriate amount and then sum the shifted values. Depending on computer processor architecture and choice of multiplier, it may be faster to code this algorithm using hardware bit shifts and adds rather than depend on multiplication instructions, when the multiplier is fixed and the number of adds required is small.

This algorithm is also known as Peasant multiplication, because it has been widely used among those who are unschooled and thus have not memorized the multiplication tables required by long multiplication. The algorithm was also in use in ancient Egypt.

On paper, write down in one column the numbers you get when you repeatedly halve the multiplier, ignoring the remainder; in a column beside it repeatedly double the multiplicand. Cross out each row in which the last digit of the first number is even, and add the remaining numbers in the second column to obtain the product.

The main advantages of this method are that it can be taught in the time it takes to read aloud the preceding paragraph, no memorization is required, and it can be performed using tokens such as poker chips if paper and pencil are not available. It does however take more steps than long multiplication so it can be unwieldy when large numbers are involved.

Examples

This example uses peasant multiplication to multiply 11 by 3 to arrive at a result of 33.

11   3
5    6
2   12
1   24
   ---
    33

Describing the steps explicitly:

• 11 and 3 are written at the top
• 11 is halved (5.5) and 3 is doubled (6). The fractional portion is discarded (5.5 becomes 5).
• 5 is halved (2.5) and 6 is doubled (12). The fractional portion is discarded (2.5 becomes 2). The figure in the left column (2) is even, so the figure in the right column (12) is discarded.
• 2 is halved (1) and 12 is doubled (24).
• All not-scratched-out values are summed: 3 + 6 + 24 = 33.

The method works because multiplication is distributive, so:

$3\times 11$	$=3\times (1\times 2^{0}+1\times 2^{1}+0\times 2^{2}+1\times 2^{3})$
	$=3\times (1+2+8)$
	$=(3+6+24)\,$
	$=33\,$

A more complicated example, using the figures from the earlier examples (23,958,233 and 5,830):

5830  23958233
2915  47916466
1457  95832932
728  191665864
364  383331728
182  766663456
91  1533326912
45  3066653824
22  6133307648
11 12266615296
5  24533230592
2  49066461184
1  98132922368
  ------------
  139676498390

• Video of a simple multiplication

Multiplication algorithms for computer algebra

Karatsuba multiplication

Main article: Karatsuba algorithm

For systems that need to multiply numbers in the range of several thousand digits, such as computer algebra systems and bignum libraries, long multiplication is too slow. These systems may employ Karatsuba multiplication, which was discovered in 1960 (published in 1962). The heart of Karatsuba's method lies in the observation that two-digit multiplication can be done with only three rather than the four multiplications classically required. Suppose we want to multiply two 2-digit numbers: x₁x₂· y₁y₂:

1. compute x₁ · y₁, call the result A
2. compute x₂ · y₂, call the result B
3. compute (x₁ + x₂) · (y₁ + y₂), call the result C
4. compute C − A − B,call the result "K"; this number is equal to x₁ · y₂ + x₂ · y₁.
5. compute A · 100 + K · 10 + B

Bigger numbers x₁x₂ can be split into two parts x₁ and x₂. Then the method works analogously. To compute these three products of m-digit numbers, we can employ the same trick again, effectively using recursion. Once the numbers are computed, we need to add them together (step 5.), which takes about n operations.

Karatsuba multiplication has a time complexity of Θ$(n^{\log _{2}3})$. The number $(\log _{2}3)$ is approximately 1.585, so this method is significantly faster than long multiplication. Because of the overhead of recursion, Karatsuba's multiplication is slower than long multiplication for small values of n; typical implementations therefore switch to long multiplication if n is below some threshold.

Later the Karatsuba method was called ‘divide and conquer’, the other names of this method, used at the present, are ‘binary splitting’ and ‘dichotomy principle’.

The appearance of the method ‘divide and conquer’ was the starting point of the theory of fast multiplications. A number of authors (among them Toom, Cook and Schönhage) continued to look for an algorithm of multiplication with the complexity close to the optimal one, and 1971 saw the construction of the Schönhage-Strassen algorithm, which has the best known (at present) upper bound for M(n).

The Karatsuba ‘divide and conquer’ is the most fundamental and general fast method. Hundreds of different algorithms are constructed on its basis. Among these algorithms the most well known are the algorithms based on Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Fast Matrix Multiplication.

Toom-Cook

Main article: Toom-Cook multiplication

Another method of multiplication is called Toom-Cook or Toom3. The Toom-Cook method splits each number to be multiplied into multiple parts. The Toom-Cook method is one of the generalizations of the Karatsuba method. A three-way Toom-Cook can do a size-N³ multiplication for the cost of five size-N multiplications, improvement by a factor of 9/5 compared to the Karatsuba method's improvement by a factor of 4/3.

Although using more and more parts can reduce the time spent on recursive multiplications further, the overhead from additions and digit management also grows. For this reason, the method of Fourier transforms is typically faster for numbers with several thousand digits, and asymptotically faster for even larger numbers.

Fourier transform methods

The idea, due to Strassen (1968), is the following: We choose the largest integer w that will not cause overflow during the process outlined below. Then we split the two numbers into groups of w bits :

$a=\sum _{i=0}^{m}{2^{wi}a_{i}}$ and $b=\sum _{j=0}^{m}{2^{wj}b_{j}}.$

We can then say that

$ab=\sum _{i=0}^{m}\sum _{j=0}^{m}2^{w(i+j)}a_{i}b_{j}=\sum _{k=0}^{2m}2^{wk}\sum _{i=0}^{k}a_{i}b_{k-i}=\sum _{k=0}^{2m}2^{wk}c_{k}$

by setting b_j=0 and a_i=0 for j, i > m, k=i+j and {c_k} as the convolution of {a_i} and {b_j}. Using the convolution theorem ab can be computed by

1. Computing the fast Fourier transforms of {a_i} and {b_j},
2. Multiplying the two results entry by entry,
3. Computing the inverse Fourier transform and
4. Adding the part of c_k that is greater than 2^w to c_k+1

The fastest known method based on this idea was described in 1971 by Schönhage and Strassen (Schönhage-Strassen algorithm) and has a time complexity of Θ(n ln(n) ln(ln(n))).

Applications of this algorithm includes GIMPS.

Using number-theoretic transforms instead of discrete Fourier transforms avoids rounding error problems by using modular arithmetic instead of complex numbers.

Polynomial multiplication

All the above multiplication algorithms can also be expanded to multiply polynomials.

Instruction for conceptual understanding

Some reform mathematics textbooks dispense with standard methods, and use new methods which help conceptual understanding. For example, the first edition of TERC, an elementary method, asks students to color in multiples on a chart of 100 numbers rather than memorize the multiplication table or learn a standard method.

See also

• Binary numeral system
• Slide rule
• Strassen algorithm
• Prosthaphaeresis
• Binary multiplier
• Trachtenberg system
• Vedic mathematics

External links

• Multiplication Algorithms used by GMP

• Step By Step Long Polynomial Multiplication WebGraphing.com

• Online Calculator implementing the Karatsuba multiplication Algorithm (GPL)