A uniformly convergent numerical method for a coupled system of two singularly perturbed linear reaction-diffusion problems

A coupled system of two singularly perturbed linear reaction–diffusiontwo-point boundary value problems is examined. The leading termof each equation is multiplied by a small positive parameter,but these parameters may have different magnitudes. The solutionsto the system have boundary layers that overlap and interact.The structure of these layers is analysed, and this leads tothe construction of a piecewise-uniform mesh that is a variantof the usual Shishkin mesh. On this mesh central differencingis proved to be almost first-order accurate, uniformly in bothsmall parameters. Supporting numerical results are presentedfor a test problem.     

The sdfem on Shishkin meshes for linear convection-diffusion problems

Summary. We consider singularly perturbed linear elliptic problems in two dimensions. The solutions of such problems typically exhibit layers and are difficult to solve numerically. The streamline diffusion finite element method (SDFEM) has been proved to produce accurate solutions away from any layers on uniform meshes, but fails to compute the boundary layers precisely. Our modified SDFEM is implemented with piecewise linear functions on a Shishkin mesh that resolves boundary layers, and we prove that it yields an accurate approximation of the solution both inside and outside these layers. The analysis is complicated by the severe nonuniformity of the mesh. We give local error estimates that hold true uniformly in the perturbation parameter , provided only that , where mesh points are used. Numerical experiments support these theoretical results. Received February 19, 1999 / Revised version received January 27, 2000 / Published online August 2, 2000     

On the relations between B2V Ms and Runge-Kutta collocation methods

The principal aim of this paper is a rigorous analysis of the relations between Block Boundary Value Methods (B₂V Ms) with minimal blocksize defined over a suitable nonuniform finer mesh and well-known Runge-Kutta collocation methods. Moreover, a further aspect that will be briefly investigated is the construction of an extended finer mesh for building B₂V Ms with nonminimal blocksize. Some advantages that may arise from the use of the so-obtained methods will be also discussed.     

Adaptive pseudospectral solution of a diffuse interface model

A diffuse interface type model, using an energy-based variational formulation with a free energy that is a function of the density and its gradients is presented. All of the boundary terms are retained and related to external surface forces, which can be of particular interest when considering the fluid–fluid–solid region. The numerical solution of these types of problems can be troublesome if a thin transition layer is desired. Here, Chebyshev pseudospectral methods with mesh adaptation for the solution of diffuse interface type problems are studied. A mesh adaptation algorithm based in the equidistribution principle following a continuation process is derived. In order to achieve high precision for problems exhibiting thin transition layers, a modified version of the arc-length monitor function is proposed which yields a sufficiently smooth coordinate transformation. At every step of the continuation process, a fixed number of iterations is implemented, so that the equidistribution equations are not solved completely at each step, which saves a considerable amount of computational effort. Numerical results for the static phase field model exhibiting thin transition layers are presented.     

A numerical method for singularly perturbed weakly coupled system of two second order ordinary differential equations with discontinuous source term

In this paper, a numerical method based on finite difference scheme and Shishkin mesh for singularly perturbed two second order weakly coupled system of ordinary differential equations with discontinuous source term is presented. An error estimate is derived to show that the method is uniformly convergent with respect to the singular perturbation parameter. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Interior penalty discontinuous approximations of convection–diffusion problems with parabolic layers

Summary A nonsymmetric discontinuous Galerkin finite element method with interior penalties is considered for two–dimensional convection–diffusion problems with regular and parabolic layers. On an anisotropic Shishkin–type mesh with bilinear elements we prove error estimates (uniformly in the perturbation parameter) in an integral norm associated with this method. On different types of interelement edges we derive the values of discontinuity–penalization parameters. Numerical experiments complement the theoretical results.     

Parameter range reduction for ODE models using cumulative backward differentiation formulas

We consider fitting an ODE model to time series data of the system variables. We assume that the parameters of the model have some initial range of possible values and the goal is to reduce these ranges to produce a smaller parameter region from which to start a global nonlinear optimization algorithm. We introduce the class of cumulative backward differentiation formulas (CBDFs) and show that they inherit the accuracy and stability properties of their generating backward differentiation formulas (BDFs). Discretizing the system with these CBDFs and applying consistency conditions results in reductions of the parameter ranges. We show that these reductions are better than can be obtained simply using BDFs. In addition CBDFs inherit any monotonicity properties with respect to the parameters that the vector field possesses, and we exploit these properties to make the consistency checking more efficient. We illustrate with several examples, analyze some of the behavior of our range reduction method, and discuss how the method could be extended and improved.     

Numerical analysis of a multiscale finite element scheme for the resolution of the stationary Schrödinger equation

A numerical method for the resolution of the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation with open boundary conditions was presented in N. Ben Abdallah and O. Pinaud (Multiscale simulation of transport in an open quantum system: resonances and WKB interpolation. J. Comp. Phys. 213(1), 288–310 (2006)). The main attribute of this method is a significant reduction of the computational cost for a desired accuracy. It is based particularly on the derivation of WKB basis functions, better suited for the approximation of highly oscillating wave functions than the standard polynomial interpolation functions. The present paper is concerned with the numerical analysis of this method. Consistency and stability results are presented. An error estimate in terms of the mesh size and independent on the wavelength λ is established. This property illustrates the importance of this method, as multiwavelength grids can be chosen to get accurate results, reducing by this manner the simulation time.     

A multiresolution finite volume scheme for two-dimensional hyperbolic conservation laws

In this paper, high-resolution finite volume schemes are combined with an adaptive mesh technique inspired by multiresolution analysis to improve the computational efficiency for two-dimensional hyperbolic conservation laws. The method is conservative. Moreover, it is stable which is proven numerically in this paper. The computational grid is dynamically adapted so that higher spatial resolution is automatically allocated to regions where strong gradients are observed. Using this proposed scheme, we compute several two-dimensional model problems and a compressive rate ranging from about 5–10 is observed in all simulations.     

Robust convergence of a compact fourth-order finite difference scheme for reaction–diffusion problems

We consider a singularly perturbed one-dimensional reaction–diffusion problem with strong layers. The problem is discretized using a compact fourth order finite difference scheme. Altough the discretization is not inverse monotone we are able to establish its maximum-norm stability and to prove its pointwise convergence on a Shishkin mesh. The convergence is uniform with respect to the perturbation parameter. Numerical experiments complement our theoretical results.     

An elliptic singularly perturbed problem with two parameters II: Robust finite element solution

In this paper we consider a singularly perturbed elliptic model problem with two small parameters posed on the unit square. The problem is solved numerically by the finite element method using piecewise linear or bilinear elements on a layer-adapted Shishkin mesh. We prove that method with bilinear elements is uniformly convergent in an energy norm. Numerical results confirm our theoretical analysis.     

A self-adaptive moving mesh method for the Camassa-Holm equation

A self-adaptive moving mesh method is proposed for the numerical simulations of the Camassa-Holm equation. It is an integrable scheme in the sense that it possesses the exact N-soliton solution. It is named a self-adaptive moving mesh method, because the non-uniform mesh is driven and adapted automatically by the solution. Once the non-uniform mesh is evolved, the solution is determined by solving a tridiagonal linear system. Due to these two superior features of the method, several test problems give very satisfactory results even if by using a small number of grid points.     

Efficient simulation of a slow-fast dynamical system using multirate finite difference schemes

We consider a system of ordinary differential equations describing a slow-fast dynamical system, in particular, a predator-prey system that is highly susceptible to local time variations. This model exhibits coexistence of predatorprey dynamics in the case when the prey population grows much faster than that of the predators with a quite diversified time response. For particular parametric values their interactions show a stable relaxation oscillation in the positive octant. Such characteristics are di?cult to mimic using conventional time integrators that are used to solve systems of ordinary di?erential equations. To resolve this, we design and analyze multirate time integration methods to solve a mathematical model for a slow-fast dynamical system. Proposed methods are based on using extrapolation multirate discretisation algorithms. Through these methods, we reduce the integration time by integrating the slow sub-system with a larger step length than the fast sub-system. This allows us to efficiently solve multiscale ordinary differential equations. Besides theoretical results, we provide thorough numerical experiments which confirm that these multirate schemes outperform corresponding single-rate schemes substantially both in terms of computational work and CPU times.     

A uniformly convergent scheme for a system of reaction–diffusion equations

In this work a system of two parabolic singularly perturbed equations of reaction–diffusion type is considered. The asymptotic behaviour of the solution and its partial derivatives is given. A decomposition of the solution in its regular and singular parts has been used for the asymptotic analysis of the spatial derivatives. To approximate the solution we consider the implicit Euler method for time stepping and the central difference scheme for spatial discretization on a special piecewise uniform Shishkin mesh. We prove that this scheme is uniformly convergent, with respect to the diffusion parameters, having first-order convergence in time and almost second-order convergence in space, in the discrete maximum norm. Numerical experiments illustrate the order of convergence proved theoretically.     

An almost fourth order uniformly convergent difference scheme for a semilinear singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion problem

Summary. This paper is concerned with a high order convergent discretization for the semilinear reaction-diffusion problem: , for , subject to , where . We assume that on , which guarantees uniqueness of a solution to the problem. Asymptotic properties of this solution are discussed. We consider a polynomial-based three-point difference scheme on a simple piecewise equidistant mesh of Shishkin type. Existence and local uniqueness of a solution to the scheme are analysed. We prove that the scheme is almost fourth order accurate in the discrete maximum norm, uniformly in the perturbation parameter . We present numerical results in support of this result. Received February 25, 1994     

Incomplete block factorization preconditioning for indefinite elliptic problems

Summary. The application of the finite difference method to approximate the solution of an indefinite elliptic problem produces a linear system whose coefficient matrix is block tridiagonal and symmetric indefinite. Such a linear system can be solved efficiently by a conjugate residual method, particularly when combined with a good preconditioner. We show that specific incomplete block factorization exists for the indefinite matrix if the mesh size is reasonably small, and that this factorization can serve as an efficient preconditioner. Some efforts are made to estimate the eigenvalues of the preconditioned matrix. Numerical results are also given. Received November 21, 1995 / Revised version received February 2, 1998 / Published online July 28, 1999     

Qualocation for a singularly perturbed boundary value problem

A singularly perturbed one-dimensional two point boundary value problem of reaction–convection–diffusion type is considered. We generate a C⁰$C^0$-collocation-like method by combining Galerkin with an adapted quadrature rule. Using Lobatto quadrature and splines of degree r$r$, we prove on a Shishkin mesh for the qualocation method the same error estimate as for the Galerkin technique. The result is also important for the practical realization of finite element methods on Shishkin meshes using quadrature formulas. We report the results of numerical experiments that support the theoretical findings.     

A fourth/second order accurate collocation method for singularly perturbed two-point boundary value problems using tension splines

Summary.   The collocation tension spline is considered as a numerical solution of a singularly perturbed two-point boundary value problem: . The collocation points are chosen as a generalization of the classical Gaussian points. Unlike the traditional approach, we employ the B-spline representation in the analysis. This leads to global quadratic convergence of the method for small perturbation parameters, and, for large values, the order of convergence is four. Received October 4, 1996 / Revised version received September 23, 1999 / Published online October 16, 2000     

Adaptive data distribution for concurrent continuation

Summary Continuation methods compute paths of solutions of nonlinear equations that depend on a parameter. This paper examines some aspects of the multicomputer implementation of such methods. The computations are done on a mesh connected multicomputer with 64 nodes.One of the main issues in the development of concurrent programs is load balancing, achieved here by using appropriate data distributions. In the continuation process, many linear systems have to be solved. For nearby points along the solution path, the corresponding system matrices are closely related to each other. Therefore, pivots which are good for theLU-decomposition of one matrix are likely to be acceptable for a whole segment of the solution path. This suggests to choose certain data distributions that achieve good load balancing. In addition, if these distributions are used, the resulting code is easily vectorized.To test this technique, the invariant manifold of a system of two identical nonlinear oscillators is computed as a function of the coupling between them. This invariant manifold is determined by the solution of a system of nonlinear partial differential equations that depends on the coupling parameter. A symmetry in the problem reduces this system to one single equation, which is discretized by finite differences. The solution of the discrete nonlinear system is followed as the coupling parameter is changed.This material is based upon work supported by the NSF under Cooperative Agreement No. CCR-8809615. The government has certain rights in this material.     

Correction of finite element eigenvalues for problems with natural or periodic boundary conditions

Recent results of Andrew and Paine for a regular Sturm-Liouville problem with essential boundary conditions are extended to problems with natural or periodic boundary conditions. These results show that a simple asymptotic correction technique of Paine, de Hoog and Anderssen reduces the error in the estimate of thekth eigenvalue obtained by the finite element method, with linear hat functions and mesh lengthh, fromO(k ⁴ h ²) toO(kh ²). Numerical results show the correction to be useful even for low values ofk.