[Matrix-SIG] Adding a Sparse matrix object

[Travis Oliphant]

I had the necessity of iteratively inverting a large linear system with
the conjugate gradient method and wanted to use Python, but there is only
rudimentary sparse matrix support.  (I couldn't find anything to solve my
problem (without extra coding in C)).  So I had to use MATLAB, which has a
rather nice sparse matrix implementation.

Is there an interest in developing a sparse matrix object with appropriate
methods and functions defined to complement the array object?  I
suppose to be symmetric it should be a sparse array object... I'm
interested in generating some discussion on this topic if there are any
takers.

Thanks,

Travis Oliphant