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# scipy.linalg.cho_factor

`scipy.linalg.``cho_factor`(a, lower=False, overwrite_a=False)

  Compute the Cholesky decomposition of a matrix, to use in cho_solve

  Returns a matrix containing the Cholesky decomposition, `A = L L*` or `A = U* U` of a Hermitian positive-definite matrix a. The return value can be directly used as the first parameter to cho_solve.

  Warning

  The returned matrix also contains random data in the entries not used by the Cholesky decomposition. If you need to zero these entries, use the function cholesky instead.

  Parameters : | a : array, shape (M, M) Matrix to be decomposed lower : boolean Whether to compute the upper or lower triangular Cholesky factorization (Default: upper-triangular) overwrite_a : boolean Whether to overwrite data in a (may improve performance)
  Returns : | c : array, shape (M, M) Matrix whose upper or lower triangle contains the Cholesky factor of a. Other parts of the matrix contain random data. lower : boolean Flag indicating whether the factor is in the lower or upper triangle
  Raises : | LinAlgError : Raised if decomposition fails.

  See also

  `cho_solve`
    Solve a linear set equations using the Cholesky factorization of a matrix.

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