Matrix multiplication I/O-complexity by path routing

We apply a novel technique based on path routings to obtain optimal I/O-complexity lower bounds for all Strassenlike fast matrix multiplication algorithms computed in serial or in parallel, assuming no reuse of nontrivial intermediate linear combinations. Given fast memory of size M, we prove an I/O-complexity lower bound of Ω ((n/√)^ω0. M) for any Strassen-like matrix multiplication algorithm applied to n × n matrices of arithmetic complexity Ω(n^ω0) with ^ω0 < 3 under this assumption. This generalizes an approach by Ballard, Demmel, Holtz, and Schwartz that provides a tight lower bound for Strassen's matrix multiplication algorithm but which does not apply to algorithms with disconnected encoding or decoding components of the underlying computation graph or algorithms with multiply copied values. We overcome these challenges via a new graphtheoretical approach for proving I/O-complexity lower bounds without the use of edge expansions.