Computational parametric Willmore flow

We propose a new algorithm for the computation of Willmore flow. This is the L ²-gradient flow for the Willmore functional, which is the classical bending energy of a surface. Willmore flow is described by a highly nonlinear system of PDEs of fourth order for the parametrization of the surface. The spatially discrete numerical scheme is stable and consistent. The discretization relies on an adequate calculation of the first variation of the Willmore functional together with a derivation of the second variation of the area functional which is well adapted to discretization techniques with finite elements. The algorithm uses finite elements on surfaces. We give numerical examples and tests for piecewise linear finite elements. A convergence proof for the full algorithm remains an open question.     

Willmore flow of planar networks

Geometric gradient flows for elastic energies of Willmore type play an important role in mathematics and in many applications. The evolution of elastic curves has been studied in detail both for closed as well as for open curves. Although elastic flows for networks also have many interesting features, they have not been studied so far from the point of view of mathematical analysis. So far it was not even clear what are appropriate boundary conditions at junctions. In this paper we give a well-posedness result for Willmore flow of networks in different geometric settings and hence lay a foundation for further mathematical analysis. A main point in the proof is to check whether different proposed boundary conditions lead to a well posed problem. In this context one has to check the Lopatinskii–Shapiro condition in order to apply the Solonnikov theory for linear parabolic systems in Hölder spaces which is needed in a fixed point argument. We also show that the solution we get is unique in a purely geometric sense.     

The Willmore boundary problem

We consider the Euler–Lagrange equation of the Willmore functional coupled with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions on a given curve. We prove existence of a branched solution, and for Willmore energy < 8π, we prove the existence of a smooth, embedded solution.     

A non-overlapping domain decomposition dual reciprocity method for solving the forward–backward heat equation in two-dimension

We apply a boundary element dual reciprocity method (DRBEM) to the numerical solution of the forward–backward heat equation in a two-dimensional case. The method is employed for the spatial variable via the fundamental solution of the Laplace equation and the Crank–Nicolson finite difference scheme is utilized to treat the time variable. The physical domain is divided into two non-overlapping subdomains resulting in two standard forward and backward parabolic equations. The subproblems are then treated by the underlying method assuming a virtual boundary in the interface and starting with an initial approximate solution on this boundary followed by updating the solution by an iterative procedure. In addition, we show that the time discrete scheme is unconditionally stable and convergent using the energy method. Furthermore, some computational aspects will be suggested to efficiently deal with the formulation of the proposed method. Finally, two forward–backward problems, for which the exact solution is available, will be numerically solved for two different domains to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.     

Local well‐posedness for volume‐preserving mean curvature and Willmore flows with line tension

We show the short‐time existence and uniqueness of solutions for the motion of an evolving hypersurface in contact with a solid container driven by the volume‐preserving mean curvature flow (MCF) taking line tension effects on the boundary into account. Difficulties arise due to dynamic boundary conditions and due to the contact angle and the non‐local nature of the resulting second order, nonlinear PDE. In addition, we prove the same result for the Willmore flow with line tension, which results in a nonlinear PDE of fourth order. For both flows we will use a curvilinear cordinate system due to Vogel to write the flows as graphs over a fixed reference hypersurface.     

A Variational Analysis for the Moving Finite Element Method for Gradient Flows

By using the Onsager principle as an approximation tool, we give a novel derivation for the moving finite element method for gradient flow equations. We show that the discretized problem has the same energy dissipation structure as the continuous one. This enables us to do numerical analysis for the stationary solution of a nonlinear reaction diffusion equation using the approximation theory of free-knot piecewise polynomials. We show that under certain conditions the solution obtained by the moving finite element method converges to a local minimizer of the total energy when time goes to infinity. The global minimizer, once it is detected by the discrete scheme, approximates the continuous stationary solution in optimal order. Numerical examples for a linear diffusion equation and a nonlinear Allen-Cahn equation are given to verify the analytical results.     

Energy identity of the heat flow of H-systems at finite singular time

It is well known that there exists a global solution to the heat flow of H-systems.If the solution satisfies a certain energy inequality,it is global regular with at most finitely many singularities. Under the same energy inequality,we can show the energy identity of the heat flow of H-systems at finite singular time.The most interesting thing in our proof is that we find the singular points can only occur in the interior of the set in some sense.     

On Willmore Legendrian surfaces in $$\mathbb {S}^5$$ and the contact stationary Legendrian Willmore surfaces

In this paper we study Willmore Legendrian surfaces (that is Legendrian surfaces which are critical points of the Willmore functional). We use an equality proved in Luo (arXiv:1211.4227v6) to get a relation between Willmore Legendrian surfaces and contact stationary Legendrian surfaces in \(\mathbb {S}^5\), and then we use this relation to prove a classification result for Willmore Legendrian spheres in \(\mathbb {S}^5\). We also get an integral inequality for Willmore Legendrian surfaces and in particular we prove that if the square length of the second fundamental form of a Willmore Legendrian surface in \(\mathbb {S}^5\) belongs to [0, 2], then it must be 0 and L is totally geodesic or 2 and L is a flat minimal Legendrian tori, which generalizes the result of Yamaguchi et al. (Proc Am Math Soc 54:276–280, 1976). We also study variation of the Willmore functional among Legendrian surfaces in 5-dimensional Sasakian manifolds. Let \(\Sigma \) be a closed surface and \((M,\alpha ,g_\alpha ,J)\) a 5-dimensional Sasakian manifold with a contact form \(\alpha \), an associated metric \(g_\alpha \) and an almost complex structure J. Assume that \(f:\Sigma \mapsto M\) is a Legendrian immersion. Then f is called a contact stationary Legendrian Willmore surface (in short, a csL Willmore surface) if it is a critical point of the Willmore functional under contact deformations. To investigate the existence of csL Willmore surfaces we introduce a higher order flow which preserves the Legendre condition and decreases the Willmore energy. As a first step we prove that this flow is well posed if \((M,\alpha ,g_\alpha ,J)\) is a Sasakian Einstein manifold, in particular \(\mathbb {S}^5\).     

Solution of double nonlinear problems in porous media by a combined finite volume–finite element algorithm

The combined finite volume–finite element scheme for a double nonlinear parabolic convection-dominated diffusion equation which models the variably saturated flow and contaminant transport problems in porous media is extended. Whereas the convection is approximated by a finite volume method (Multi-Point Flux Approximation), the diffusion is approximated by a finite element method. The scheme is fully implicit and involves a relaxation-regularized algorithm. Due to monotonicity and conservation properties of the approximated scheme and in view of the compactness theorem we show the convergence of the numerical scheme to the weak solution. Our scheme is applied for computing two dimensional examples with different degrees of complexity. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed scheme gives good performance in convergence and accuracy.     

Finite element analysis of parabolic integro-differential equations of Kirchhoff type

The aim of this paper is to study parabolic integro-differential equations of Kirchhoff type. We prove the existence and uniqueness of the solution for this problem via Galerkin method. Semidiscrete formulation for this problem is presented using conforming finite element method. As a consequence of the Ritz–Volterra projection, we derive error estimates for both semidiscrete solution and its time derivative. To find the numerical solution of this class of equations, we develop two different types of numerical schemes, which are based on backward Euler–Galerkin method and Crank–Nicolson–Galerkin method. A priori bounds and convergence estimates in spatial as well as temporal direction of the proposed schemes are established. Finally, we conclude this work by implementing some numerical experiments to confirm our theoretical results.     

A Roe-type scheme with low Mach number preconditioning for a two-phase compressible flow model with pressure relaxation

We describe two-phase compressible flows by a hyperbolic six-equation single-velocity two-phase flow model with stiff mechanical relaxation. In particular, we are interested in the simulation of liquid-gas mixtures such as cavitating flows. The model equations are numerically approximated via a fractional step algorithm, which alternates between the solution of the homogeneous hyperbolic portion of the system through Godunov-type finite volume schemes, and the solution of a system of ordinary differential equations that takes into account the pressure relaxation terms. When used in this algorithm, classical schemes such as Roe’s or HLLC prove to be very efficient to simulate the dynamics of transonic and supersonic flows. Unfortunately, these methods suffer from the well known difficulties of loss of accuracy and efficiency for low Mach number regimes encountered by upwind finite volume discretizations. This issue is particularly critical for liquid-gasmixtures due to the large and rapid variation in the flow of the acoustic impedance. To cure the problem of loss of accuracy at low Mach number, in this work we apply to our original Roe-type scheme for the two-phase flow model the Turkel’s preconditioning technique studied by Guillard–Viozat [Computers & Fluids, 28, 1999] for the Roe’s scheme for the classical Euler equations.We present numerical results for a two-dimensional liquid-gas channel flow test that show the effectiveness of the resulting Roe-Turkel method for the two-phase system.     

Well-posedness and finite element approximation of time dependent generalized bioconvective flow

We consider the finite element approximation of a time dependent generalized bioconvective flow. The underlying system of partial differential equations consists of incompressible Navier–Stokes type convection equations coupled with an equation describing the transport of micro-organisms. The viscosity of the fluid is assumed to be a function of the concentration of the micro-organisms. We show the existence and uniqueness of the weak solution of the system in two dimensions and construct numerical approximations based on the finite element method, for which we obtain error estimates. In addition, we conduct several numerical experiments to demonstrate the accuracy of the numerical method and perform simulations of the bioconvection pattern formations based on realistic model parameters to demonstrate the validity of the proposed numerical algorithm.     

Finite element method for two‐phase immiscible flow

An explicit finite element method for numerically solving the two‐phase, immiscible, incompressible flow in a porous medium in two space dimensions is analyzed. The method is based on the use of a mixed finite element method for the approximation of the velocity and pressure a discontinuous upwinding finite element method for the approximation of the saturation. The mixed method gives an approximate velocity field in the precise form needed by the discontinuous method, which is trivially conservative and fully parallelizable in computation. It is proven that it converges to the exact solution. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 15: 407–416, 1999     

曲率流的参数化有限元逼近

许多物理现象可以在数学上描述为受曲率驱动的自由界面运动,例如薄膜和泡沫的演变、晶体生长,等等.这些薄膜和界面的运动常依赖于其表面曲率,从而可以用相应的曲率流来描述,其相关自由界面问题的数值计算和误差分析一直是计算数学领域中的难点.参数化有限元法是曲率流的一类有效计算方法,已经能够成功模拟一些曲面在几类基本的曲率流下的演化过程.本文重点讨论曲率流的参数化有限元逼近,它的产生、发展和当前的一些挑战.     

Minimizers of the Willmore functional with a small area constraint

We show the existence of a smooth spherical surface minimizing the Willmore functional subject to an area constraint in a compact Riemannian three-manifold, provided the area is small enough. Moreover, we partially classify complete surfaces of Willmore type with positive mean curvature in Riemannian three-manifolds.     

A priori error analysis of the mortar finite element method for variational inequalities

The mortar finite element method is a special domain decomposition method, which can handle the situation where meshes on different subdomains need not align across the interface. In this article, we will apply the mortar element method to general variational inequalities of free boundary type, such as free seepage flow, which may show different behaviors in different regions. We prove that if the solution of the original variational inequality belongs to H²(D), then the mortar element solution can achieve the same order error estimate as the conforming P₁ finite element solution. Application of the mortar element method to a free surface seepage problem and an obstacle problem verifies not only its convergence property but also its great computational efficiency. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2008     

Energy identity of the heat flow of H -systems at finite singular time

It is well known that there exists a global solution to the heat flow of H-systems. If the solution satisfies a certain energy inequality, it is global regular with at most finitely many singularities. Under the same energy inequality, we can show the energy identity of the heat flow of H-systems at finite singular time. The most interesting thing in our proof is that we find the singular points can only occur in the interior of the set in some sense. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10531020) and the Program of 985 Innovation Engineering on Information in Xiamen University (2004-2007) and New Century Excellent Talents of Xiamen Uiversity     

Curvature driven flow of a family of interacting curves with applications

In this paper, we investigate a system of geometric evolution equations describing a curvature-driven motion of a family of planar curves with mutual interactions that can have local as well as nonlocal character, and the entire curve may influence evolution of other curves. We propose a direct Lagrangian approach for solving such a geometric flow of interacting curves. We prove local existence, uniqueness, and continuation of classical Hölder smooth solutions to the governing system of nonlinear parabolic equations. A numerical solution to the governing system has been constructed by means of the method of flowing finite volumes. We also discuss various applications of the motion of interacting curves arising in nonlocal geometric flows of curves as well as an interesting physical problem of motion of two interacting dislocation loops in the material science.     

The fluted fragment with transitive relations

The fluted fragment is a fragment of first-order logic (without equality) in which, roughly speaking, the order of quantification of variables coincides with the order in which those variables appear as arguments of predicates. It is known that this fragment has the finite model property. We consider extensions of the fluted fragment with various numbers of transitive relations, as well as the equality predicate. In the presence of one transitive relation (together with equality), the finite model property is lost; nevertheless, we show that the satisfiability and finite satisfiability problems for this extension remain decidable. We also show that the corresponding problems in the presence of two transitive relations (with equality) or three transitive relations (without equality) are undecidable, even for the two-variable sub-fragment.