Sparse grids for boundary integral equations

Summary. The potential of sparse grid discretizations for solving boundary integral equations is studied for the screen problem on a square in . Theoretical and numerical results on approximation rates, preconditioning, adaptivity and compression for piecewise constant and linear sparse grid spaces are obtained. Received March 17, 1998 / Revised version received September 10, 1998     

Exponential convergence of the hp-version for the boundary element method on open surfaces

Summary. We analyze the boundary element Galerkin method for weakly singular and hypersingular integral equations of the first kind on open surfaces. We show that the hp-version of the Galerkin method with geometrically refined meshes converges exponentially fast for both integral equations. The proof of this fast convergence is based on the special structure of the solutions of the integral equations which possess specific singularities at the corners and the edges of the surface. We show that these singularities can be efficiently approximated by piecewise tensor products of splines of different degrees on geometrically graded meshes. Numerical experiments supporting these results are presented. Received December 19, 1996 / Revised version received September 24, 1997 / Published online August 19, 1999     

Spline collocation for convolutional parabolic boundary integral equations

Summary. We consider spline collocation methods for a class of parabolic pseudodifferential operators. We show optimal order convergence results in a large scale of anisotropic Sobolev spaces. The results cover for example the case of the single layer heat operator equation when the spatial domain is a disc. Received December 15, 1997 / Revised version received November 16, 1998 / Published online September 24, 1999     

Balancing domain decomposition for nonconforming plate elements

Summary. In this paper the balancing domain decomposition method is extended to nonconforming plate elements. The condition number of the preconditioned system is shown to be bounded by , where H measures the diameters of the subdomains, h is the mesh size of the triangulation, and the constant C is independent of H, h and the number of subdomains. Received August 14, 1997     

Domain decomposition iterative procedures for solving scalar waves in the frequency domain

The propagation of dispersive waves can be modeled relevantly in the frequency domain. A wave problem in the frequency domain is difficult to solve numerically. In addition to having a complex–valued solution, the problem is neither Hermitian symmetric nor coercive in a wide range of applications in Geophysics or Quantum–Mechanics. In this paper, we consider a parallel domain decomposition iterative procedure for solving the problem by finite differences or conforming finite element methods. The analysis includes the decomposition of the domain into either the individual elements or larger subdomains ( of finite elements). To accelerate the speed of convergence, we introduce relaxation parameters on the subdomain interfaces and an artificial damping iteration. The convergence rate of the resulting algorithm turns out to be independent on the mesh size and the wave number. Numerical results carried out on an nCUBE2 parallel computer are presented to show the effectiveness of the method. Received October 30, 1995 / Revised version received January 10, 1997     

The h-p version of the coupling of finite element and boundary element methods for transmission problems in polyhedral domains

Summary. This paper analyzes the rate of convergence of the h-p version of the coupling of the finite element and boundary element method for transmission problems with a linear differential operator with variable coefficients in a bounded polyhedral domain and with constant coefficients in the exterior domain . This procedure uses the variational formulation of the differential equation in and involves integral operators on the interface between and . The finite elements are used to obtain approximate solutions of the differential equation in and the boundary elements are used to obtain approximate solutions of the integral equations. For given piecewise analytic data we show that the Galerkin solution of this coupling procedure converges exponentially fast in the energy norm if the h-p version is used both for finite elements and boundary elements. Received February 10, 1996 / Revised version received April 4, 1997     

On the use of rational iterations and domain decomposition methods for the Helmholtz problem

An iterative algorithm for the numerical solution of the Helmholtz problem is considered. It is difficult to solve the problem numerically, in particular, when the imaginary part of the wave number is zero or small. We develop a parallel iterative algorithm based on a rational iteration and a nonoverlapping domain decomposition method for such a non-Hermitian, non-coercive problem. Algorithm parameters (artificial damping and relaxation) are introduced to accelerate the convergence speed of the iteration. Convergence analysis and effective strategies for finding efficient algorithm parameters are presented. Numerical results carried out on an nCUBE2 are given to show the efficiency of the algorithm. To reduce the boundary reflection, we employ a hybrid absorbing boundary condition (ABC) which combines the first-order ABC and the physical $Q$ ABC. Computational results comparing the hybrid ABC with non-hybrid ones are presented. Received May 19, 1994 / Revised version received March 25, 1997     

Wavelet adaptive method for second order elliptic problems: boundary conditions and domain decomposition

Summary. Wavelet methods allow to combine high order accuracy, multilevel preconditioning techniques and adaptive approximation, in order to solve efficiently elliptic operator equations. One of the main difficulty in this context is the efficient treatment of non-homogeneous boundary conditions. In this paper, we propose a strategy that allows to append such conditions in the setting of space refinement (i.e. adaptive) discretizations of second order problems. Our method is based on the use of compatible multiscale decompositions for both the domain and its boundary, and on the possibility of characterizing various function spaces from the numerical properties of these decompositions. In particular, this allows the construction of a lifting operator which is stable for a certain range of smoothness classes, and preserves the compression of the solution in the wavelet basis. An explicit construction of the wavelet bases and the lifting is proposed on fairly general domains, based on conforming domain decomposition techniques. Received November 2, 1998 / Published online April 20, 2000     

Local a-posteriori error indicators for the Galerkin discretization of boundary integral equations

In this paper we present local a-posteriori error indicators for the Galerkin discretization of boundary integral equations. These error indicators are introduced and investigated by Babuška-Rheinboldt [3] for finite element methods. We transfer them from finite element methods onto boundary element methods and show that they are reliable and efficient for a wide class of integral operators under relatively weak assumptions. These local error indicators are based on the computable residual and can be used for controlling the adaptive mesh refinement. Received March 4, 1996 / Revised version received September 25, 1996     

Integration of singular Galerkin-type boundary element integrals for 3D elasticity problems

Summary. A Galerkin approximation of both strongly and hypersingular boundary integral equation (BIE) is considered for the solution of a mixed boundary value problem in 3D elasticity leading to a symmetric system of linear equations. The evaluation of Cauchy principal values (v. p.) and finite parts (p. f.) of double integrals is one of the most difficult parts within the implementation of such boundary element methods (BEMs). A new integration method, which is strictly derived for the cases of coincident elements as well as edge-adjacent and vertex-adjacent elements, leads to explicitly given regular integrand functions which can be integrated by the standard Gauss-Legendre and Gauss-Jacobi quadrature rules. Problems of a wide range of integral kernels on curved surfaces can be treated by this integration method. We give estimates of the quadrature errors of the singular four-dimensional integrals. Received June 25, 1995 / Revised version received January 29, 1996     

Localization of the Aronszajn-Slobodeckij norm and application to adaptive boundary element methods Part II. The three-dimensional case

Summary. In this paper we introduce new local a-posteriori error indicators for the Galerkin discretization of three-dimensional boundary integral equations. These error indicators are efficient and reliable for a wide class of integral operators, in particular for operators of negative order. They are based on local norms of the computable residual and can be used for controlling the adaptive refinement. The proofs of efficiency and reliability are based on the result that the Aronszajn-Slobodeckij norm (given by a double integral for a non-integer ) is localizable for certain functions. Neither inverse estimates nor saturation properties are needed. In this paper, we extend the two-dimensional results of a previous paper to the three-dimensional case. Received March 20, 2000 / Published online November 15, 2001     

Wavelet approximations for first kind boundary integral equations on polygons

Summary. An elliptic boundary value problem in the interior or exterior of a polygon is transformed into an equivalent first kind boundary integral equation. Its Galerkin discretization with degrees of freedom on the boundary with spline wavelets as basis functions is analyzed. A truncation strategy is presented which allows to reduce the number of nonzero elements in the stiffness matrix from to entries. The condition numbers are bounded independently of the meshwidth. It is proved that the compressed scheme thus obtained yields in operations approximate solutions with the same asymptotic convergence rates as the full Galerkin scheme in the boundary energy norm as well as in interior points. Numerical examples show the asymptotic error analysis to be valid already for moderate values of . Received March 12, 1994 / Revised version received January 9, 1995     

High order convergence for collocation of second kind boundary integral equations on polygons

We propose collocation methods with smoothest splines to solve the integral equation of the second kind on a plane polygon. They are based on the bijectivity of the double layer potential between spaces of Sobolev type with arbitrary high regularity and involving the singular functions generated by the corners. If splines of order are used, we get quasi-optimal estimates in -norm and optimal order convergence for the -norm if . Numerical experiments are presented. Received November 20, 1996 / Accepted March 10, 1997     

Multilevel diagonal scaling preconditioners for boundary element equations on locally refined meshes

Summary. We study a multilevel preconditioner for the Galerkin boundary element matrix arising from a symmetric positive-definite bilinear form. The associated energy norm is assumed to be equivalent to a Sobolev norm of positive, possibly fractional, order m on a bounded (open or closed) surface of dimension d, with . We consider piecewise linear approximation on triangular elements. Successive levels of the mesh are created by selectively subdividing elements within local refinement zones. Hanging nodes may be created and the global mesh ratio can grow exponentially with the number of levels. The coarse-grid correction consists of an exact solve, and the correction on each finer grid amounts to a simple diagonal scaling involving only those degrees of freedom whose associated nodal basis functions overlap the refinement zone. Under appropriate assumptions on the choice of refinement zones, the condition number of the preconditioned system is shown to be bounded by a constant independent of the number of degrees of freedom, the number of levels and the global mesh ratio. In addition to applying to Galerkin discretisation of hypersingular boundary integral equations, the theory covers finite element methods for positive-definite, self-adjoint elliptic problems with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Received October 5, 2001 / Revised version received December 5, 2001 / Published online April 17, 2002 The support of this work through Visiting Fellowship grant GR/N21970 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of Great Britain is gratefully acknowledged. The second author was also supported by the Australian Research Council     

Additive Schwarz algorithms for the p version of the Galerkin boundary element method

Summary. We study some additive Schwarz algorithms for the version Galerkin boundary element method applied to some weakly singular and hypersingular integral equations of the first kind. Both non-overlapping and overlapping methods are considered. We prove that the condition numbers of the additive Schwarz operators grow at most as independently of h, where p is the degree of the polynomials used in the Galerkin boundary element schemes and h is the mesh size. Thus we show that additive Schwarz methods, which were originally designed for finite element discretisation of differential equations, are also efficient preconditioners for some boundary integral operators, which are non-local operators. Received June 15, 1997 / Revised version received July 7, 1998 / Published online February 17, 2000     

The condition number of the Schur complement in domain decomposition

Summary. It is shown that for elliptic boundary value problems of order 2m the condition number of the Schur complement matrix that appears in nonoverlapping domain decomposition methods is of order , where d measures the diameters of the subdomains and h is the mesh size of the triangulation. The result holds for both conforming and nonconforming finite elements. Received: January 15, 1998     

Qualocation methods for elliptic boundary integral equations

Summary. The qualocation methods developed in this paper, with spline trial and test spaces, are suitable for classes of boundary integral equations with convolutional principal part, on smooth closed curves in the plane. Some of the methods are suitable for all strongly elliptic equations; that is, for equations in which the even symbol part of the operator dominates. Other methods are suitable when the odd part dominates. Received December 27, 1996 / Revised version received April 14, 1997     

Multigrid for the mortar element method for P1 nonconforming element

In this paper, a multigrid algorithm is presented for the mortar element method for P1 nonconforming element. Based on the theory developed by Bramble, Pasciak, Xu in [5], we prove that the W-cycle multigrid is optimal, i.e. the convergence rate is independent of the mesh size and mesh level. Meanwhile, a variable V-cycle multigrid preconditioner is constructed, which results in a preconditioned system with uniformly bounded condition number. Received May 11, 1999 / Revised version received April 1, 2000 / Published online October 16, 2000     

An additive Schwarz preconditioner for p-version boundary element approximation of the hypersingular operator in three dimensions

Summary. Additive Schwarz preconditioners are developed for the p-version of the boundary element method for the hypersingular integral equation on surfaces in three dimensions. The principal preconditioner consists of decomposing the subspace into local spaces associated with the element interiors supplemented with a wirebasket space associated with the the element interfaces. The wirebasket correction involves inverting a diagonal matrix. If exact solvers are used on the element interiors then theoretical analysis shows that growth of the condition number of the preconditioned system is bounded by for an open surface and for a closed surface. A modified form of the preconditioner only requires the inversion of a diagonal matrix but results in a further degradation of the condition number by a factor . Received December 15, 1998 / Revised version received March 26, 1999 / Published online March 16, 2000     

An iterative substructuring method for the p-version of the boundary element method for hypersingular integral operators in three dimensions

Summary. We study preconditioners for the -version of the boundary element method for hypersingular integral equations in three dimensions. The preconditioners are based on iterative substructuring of the underlying ansatz spaces which are constructed by using discretely harmonic basis functions. We consider a so-called wire basket preconditioner and a non-overlapping additive Schwarz method based on the complete natural splitting, i.e. with respect to the nodal, edge and interior functions, as well as an almost diagonal preconditioner. In any case we add the space of piecewise bilinear functions which eliminate the dependence of the condition numbers on the mesh size. For all these methods we prove that the resulting condition numbers are bounded by . Here, is the polynomial degree of the ansatz functions and is a constant which is independent of and the mesh size of the underlying boundary element mesh. Numerical experiments supporting these results are reported. Received July 8, 1996 / Revised version received January 8, 1997