  The overlap operator in lattice QCD requires the computation of the sign
function of a matrix, which is non-Hermitian in the presence of a quark
chemical potential. In previous work we introduced an Arnoldi-based Krylov
subspace approximation, which uses long recurrences. Even after the deflation
of critical eigenvalues, the low efficiency of the method restricts its
application to small lattices. Here we propose new short-recurrence methods
which strongly enhance the efficiency of the computational method. Using
rational approximations to the sign function we introduce two variants, based
on the restarted Arnoldi process and on the two-sided Lanczos method,
respectively, which become very efficient when combined with multishift
solvers. Alternatively, in the variant based on the two-sided Lanczos method
the sign function can be evaluated directly. We present numerical results which
compare the efficiencies of a restarted Arnoldi-based method and the direct
two-sided Lanczos approximation for various lattice sizes. We also show that
our new methods gain substantially when combined with deflation.
