A recently discovered universal rank-based matrix method to extract trends
from noisy time series is described in [1] but the formula for the output
matrix elements, implemented there as an open-access supplement MATLAB computer
code, is ${\cal O}(N^4)$, with $N$ the matrix dimension. This can become
prohibitively large for time series with hundreds of sample points or more.
Based on recurrence relations, here we derive a much faster ${\cal O}(N^2)$
algorithm and provide code implementations in MATLAB and in open-source JULIA.
In some cases one has the output matrix and needs to solve an inverse problem
to obtain the input matrix. A fast algorithm and code for this companion
problem, also based on the above recurrence relations, are given. Finally, in
the narrower, but common, domains of (i) trend detection and (ii) parameter
estimation of a linear trend, users require, not the individual matrix
elements, but simply their accumulated mean value. For this latter case we
provide a yet faster ${\cal O}(N)$ heuristic approximation that relies on a
series of rank one matrices. These algorithms are illustrated on a time series
of high energy cosmic rays with $N > 4 \times 10^4$. [1] Universal Rank-Order
Transform to Extract Signals from Noisy Data, Glenn Ierley and Alex Kostinski,
Phys. Rev. X 9 031039 (2019).