[R-sig-ME] Why do lme() models runs so fast and converge as compared to lmer()?

[Santosh Srinivas]

Hi, I am running the following similar models using lme() and lmer():

f = y ~ x + year * post_event + (year|user_id)

where,

  *   year (integer) ranges from 0 (for the year 2010) to 10 (for the year2020);
  *   post_event (factor variable) is 1 for years 2013 onwards, and 0 otherwise;
  *   Number of Observations: 3586633; and
  *   Number of Groups: 1109.

The lme4's lmer() runs for several minutes and never succeeds to converge with any optimizer I try, whereas the former seems to converge in a few minutes.

Not sure if I am doing anything wrong, or whether such convergence and performances are generally expected of lme().

Request your help.

Thanks & regards,
sbs




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