Initial commit: Matrix alignment prototype for HPC performance demonstration

- Add C implementation demonstrating memory alignment effects (matrix_alignment_prototype.c)
- Include cache-blocked matrix multiplication with AVX SIMD optimizations
- Add automated benchmarking framework (run_all_tests.sh, run_benchmark_sizes.sh)
- Add Python visualization scripts (generate_plots.py)
- Include Makefile for building with AVX support
- Add benchmark results and generated plots
- Add README with build and usage instructions
- Configure .gitignore for C/Python project files

Makefile

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# Makefile for HPC Matrix Alignment Prototype
+# Demonstrates memory alignment optimization impact
+
+CC = gcc
+CFLAGS = -Wall -Wextra -O3 -march=native -std=c11 -ffast-math -mavx -mfma
+LDFLAGS = -lm
+TARGET = matrix_alignment_prototype
+SOURCE = matrix_alignment_prototype.c
+
+# Default target
+all: $(TARGET)
+
+# Build the prototype
+$(TARGET): $(SOURCE)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(TARGET) $(SOURCE) $(LDFLAGS)
+
+# Run the prototype
+run: $(TARGET)
+	./$(TARGET)
+
+# Clean build artifacts
+clean:
+	rm -f $(TARGET) *.o
+
+# Debug build
+debug: CFLAGS += -g -DDEBUG
+debug: $(TARGET)
+
+.PHONY: all run clean debug
+