AbstractIn this work, we apply the ideas of domain decomposition and multi‐grid methods to PDE‐based eigenvalue problems represented in two equivalent variational formulations. To find the lowest eigenpair, we use a “subspace correction” framework for deriving the multiplicative algorithm for minimizing the Rayleigh quotient of the current iteration. By considering an equivalent minimization formulation proposed by Mathew and Reddy, we can use the theory of multiplicative Schwarz algorithms for non‐linear optimization developed by Tai and Espedal to analyse the convergence properties of the proposed algorithm. We discuss the application of the multiplicative algorithm to the problem of simultaneous computation of several eigenfunctions also formulated in a variational form. Numerical results are presented. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.