Mixed boundary integral methods for Helmholtz transmission problems

In this paper we propose a hybrid between direct and indirect boundary integral methods to solve a transmission problem for the Helmholtz equation in Lipschitz and smooth domains. We present an exhaustive abstract study of the numerical approximation of the resulting system of boundary integral equations by means of Galerkin methods. Some particular examples of convergent schemes in the smooth case in two dimensions are given. Finally, we extend the results to a thermal scattering problem in a half plane with several obstacles and provide numerical results that illustrate the accuracy of our methods depending on the regularity of the interface.     

Finite element methods for optimal control problems governed by integral equations and integro-differential equations

In this paper, we analyze finite-element Galerkin discretizations for a class of constrained optimal control problems that are governed by Fredholm integral or integro-differential equations. The analysis focuses on the derivation of a priori error estimates and a posteriori error estimators for the approximation schemes.Grants, communicated-by lines, or other notes about the article will be placed here between rules. Such notes are optional.     

A posteriori error estimates for elliptic problems with Dirac delta source terms

The aim of this paper is to introduce residual type a posteriori error estimators for a Poisson problem with a Dirac delta source term, in L ^p norm and W^1,p seminorm. The estimators are proved to yield global upper and local lower bounds for the corresponding norms of the error. They are used to guide adaptive procedures, which are experimentally shown to lead to optimal orders of convergence.     

On the numerical solution of a logarithmic integral equation of the first kind for the Helmholtz equation

Summary We describe a quadrature method for the numerical solution of the logarithmic integral equation of the first kind arising from the single-layer approach to the Dirichlet problem for the two-dimensional Helmholtz equation in smooth domains. We develop an error analysis in a Sobolev space setting and prove fast convergence rates for smooth boundary data.     

Sparse second moment analysis for elliptic problems in stochastic domains

We consider the numerical solution of elliptic boundary value problems in domains with random boundary perturbations. Assuming normal perturbations with small amplitude and known mean field and two-point correlation function, we derive, using a second order shape calculus, deterministic equations for the mean field and the two-point correlation function of the random solution for a model Dirichlet problem which are 3rd order accurate in the boundary perturbation size. Using a variational boundary integral equation formulation on the unperturbed, “nominal” boundary and a wavelet discretization, we present and analyze an algorithm to approximate the random solution’s mean and its two-point correlation function at essentially optimal order in essentially work and memory, where N denotes the number of unknowns required for consistent discretization of the boundary of the nominal domain. This work was supported by the EEC Human Potential Programme under contract HPRN-CT-2002-00286, “Breaking Complexity.” Work initiated while HH visited the Seminar for Applied Mathematics at ETH Zürich in the Wintersemester 2005/06 and completed during the summer programme CEMRACS2006 “Modélisation de l’aléatoire et propagation d’incertitudes” in July and August 2006 at the C.I.R.M., Marseille, France.     

Semi-analytic integration of hypersingular Galerkin BIEs for three-dimensional potential problems

An accurate and efficient semi-analytic integration technique is developed for three-dimensional hypersingular boundary integral equations of potential theory. Investigated in the context of a Galerkin approach, surface integrals are defined as limits to the boundary and linear surface elements are employed to approximate the geometry and field variables on the boundary. In the inner integration procedure, all singular and non-singular integrals over a triangular boundary element are expressed exactly as analytic formulae over the edges of the integration triangle. In the outer integration scheme, closed-form expressions are obtained for the coincident case, wherein the divergent terms are identified explicitly and are shown to cancel with corresponding terms from the edge-adjacent case. The remaining surface integrals, containing only weak singularities, are carried out successfully by use of standard numerical cubatures. Sample problems are included to illustrate the performance and validity of the proposed algorithm.     

Stabilized boundary element methods for exterior Helmholtz problems

In this paper we describe and analyze some modified boundary element methods to solve the exterior Dirichlet boundary value problem for the Helmholtz equation. As in classical combined field integral equations also the proposed approach avoids spurious modes. Moreover, the stability of related modified boundary element methods can be shown even in the case of Lipschitz boundaries. The proposed regularization is done based on boundary integral operators which are already included in standard boundary element formulations. Numerical examples are given to compare the proposed approach with other already existing regularized formulations.     

Finite element methods with numerical quadrature for elliptic problems with smooth interfaces

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of the numerical quadrature on the finite element approximation to the exact solution of elliptic equations with discontinuous coefficients. Due to low global regularity of the solution, it seems difficult to achieve optimal order of convergence with classical finite element methods [Z. Chen, J. Zou, Finite element methods and their convergence for elliptic and parabolic interface problems, Numer. Math. 79 (1998) 175-202]. We derive error estimates in finite element method with quadrature for elliptic interface problems in a two-dimensional convex polygonal domain. Optimal order error estimates in L² and H¹ norms are shown to hold even if the regularity of the solution is low on the whole domain. Finally, numerical experiment for two dimensional test problem is presented in support of our theoretical findings.     

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     

A collocation method for high-frequency scattering by convex polygons

We consider the problem of scattering of a time-harmonic acoustic incident plane wave by a sound soft convex polygon. For standard boundary or finite element methods, with a piecewise polynomial approximation space, the computational cost required to achieve a prescribed level of accuracy grows linearly with respect to the frequency of the incident wave. Recently Chandler–Wilde and Langdon proposed a novel Galerkin boundary element method for this problem for which, by incorporating the products of plane wave basis functions with piecewise polynomials supported on a graded mesh into the approximation space, they were able to demonstrate that the number of degrees of freedom required to achieve a prescribed level of accuracy grows only logarithmically with respect to the frequency. Here we propose a related collocation method, using the same approximation space, for which we demonstrate via numerical experiments a convergence rate identical to that achieved with the Galerkin scheme, but with a substantially reduced computational cost.     

A primal mixed formulation for exterior transmission problems in ${\bf R}^2$

Summary.   We combine a primal mixed finite element approach with a Dirichlet-to-Neumann mapping (arising from the boundary integral equation method) to study the weak solvability and Galerkin approximations of a class of linear exterior transmission problems in potential theory. Our results are mainly based on the Babuska-Brezzi theory for variational problems with constraints. We establish the uniqueness of solution for the continuous and discrete formulations, and show that finite element subspac es of Lagrange type satisfy the discrete compatibility conditions. In addition, we provide the error analysis, including polygonal approximations of the domain, and prove strong convergence of the Galerkin solutions. Moreover, under additional regularity assumptions on the solution of the continuous formulation, we obtain the asymptotic rate of convergence O(h). Received August 25, 1998 / Revised version received March 8, 2000 / Published online October 16, 2000     

Multilevel algorithms for ill-posed problems

Summary In this paper new multilevel algorithms are proposed for the numerical solution of first kind operator equations. Convergence estimates are established for multilevel algorithms applied to Tikhonov type regularization methods. Our theory relates the convergence rate of these algorithms to the minimal eigenvalue of the discrete version of the operator and the regularization parameter. The algorithms and analysis are presented in an abstract setting that can be applied to first kind integral equations.Dedicated to Jim Bramble on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday     

On polynomial collocation for Cauchy singular integral equations with fixed singularities

In this paper we consider a polynomial collocation method for the numerical solution of Cauchy singular integral equations with fixed singularities over the interval, where the fixed singularities are supposed to be of Mellin convolution type. For the stability and convergence of this method in weightedL ² spaces, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions.     

On the coupling of MIXED-FEM and BEM for an exterior Helmholtz problem in the plane

Summary This paper deals with an elliptic boundary value problem posed in the plane, with variable coefficients, but whose restriction to the exterior of a bounded domain reduces to a Helmholtz equation. We consider a mixed variational formulation in a bounded domain that contains the heterogeneous medium, coupled with a boundary integral method applied to the Helmholtz equation in . We utilize suitable auxiliary problems, duality arguments, and Fredholm alternative to show that the resulting formulation of the problem is well posed. Then, we define a corresponding Galerkin scheme by using rotated Raviart-Thomas subspaces and spectral elements (on the interface). We show that the discrete problem is uniquely solvable and convergent and prove optimal error estimates. Finally we illustrate our analysis with some results from computational experiments.     

Asymptotic estimation for the condition numbers in BEM

Summary. We apply the boundary element methods (BEM) to the interior Dirichlet problem of the two dimensional Laplace equation, and its discretization is carried out with the collocation method using piecewise linear elements. In this paper, some precise asymptotic estimations for the discretization matrix (where denotes the division number) are investigated. We show that the maximum norm of and the condition number of have the forms: and , respectively, as , where the constants and are explicitly given in the proof. Although these estimates indicate illconditionedness of this numerical computation, the -convergence of this scheme with maximum norm is proved as an application of the main results. Received January 25, 1993 / Revised version received March 13, 1995     

Fully discrete spectral boundary integral methods for Helmholtz problems on smooth closed surfaces in ${\mathbb R}^3$

Summary. In this paper we describe and analyse a class of spectral methods, based on spherical polynomial approximation, for second-kind weakly singular boundary integral equations arising from the Helmholtz equation on smooth closed 3D surfaces diffeomorphic to the sphere. Our methods are fully discrete Galerkin methods, based on the application of special quadrature rules for computing the outer and inner integrals arising in the Galerkin matrix entries. For the outer integrals we use, for example, product-Gauss rules. For the inner integrals, a variant of the classical product integration procedure is employed to remove the singularity arising in the kernel. The key to the analysis is a recent result of Sloan and Womersley on the norm of discrete orthogonal projection operators on the sphere. We prove that our methods are stable for continuous data and superalgebraically convergent for smooth data. Our theory includes as a special case a method closely related to one of those proposed by Wienert (1990) for the fast computation of direct and inverse acoustic scattering in 3D. Received May 29, 2000 / Revised version received March 26, 2001/ Published online December 18, 2001     

Explicit expressions for three-dimensional boundary integrals in linear elasticity

On employing isoparametric, piecewise linear shape functions over a flat triangle, exact formulae are derived for all surface potentials involved in the numerical treatment of three-dimensional singular and hyper-singular boundary integral equations in linear elasticity. These formulae are valid for an arbitrary source point in space and are represented as analytical expressions along the edges of the integration triangle. They can be employed to solve integral equations defined on triangulated surfaces via a collocation method or may be utilized as analytical expressions for the inner integrals in a Galerkin technique. A numerical example involving a unit triangle and a source point located at various distances above it, as well as sample problems solved by a collocation boundary element method for the Lamé equation are included to validate the proposed formulae.     

Stability and accuracy of adapted finite element methods for singularly perturbed problems

The stability and accuracy of a standard finite element method (FEM) and a new streamline diffusion finite element method (SDFEM) are studied in this paper for a one dimensional singularly perturbed connvection-diffusion problem discretized on arbitrary grids. Both schemes are proven to produce stable and accurate approximations provided that the underlying grid is properly adapted to capture the singularity (often in the form of boundary layers) of the solution. Surprisingly the accuracy of the standard FEM is shown to depend crucially on the uniformity of the grid away from the singularity. In other words, the accuracy of the adapted approximation is very sensitive to the perturbation of grid points in the region where the solution is smooth but, in contrast, it is robust with respect to perturbation of properly adapted grid inside the boundary layer. Motivated by this discovery, a new SDFEM is developed based on a special choice of the stabilization bubble function. The new method is shown to have an optimal maximum norm stability and approximation property in the sense that where u _N is the SDFEM approximation in linear finite element space V ^N of the exact solution u. Finally several optimal convergence results for the standard FEM and the new SDFEM are obtained and an open question about the optimal choice of the monitor function for the moving grid method is answered. This work was supported in part by NSF DMS-0209497 and NSF DMS-0215392 and the Changjiang Professorship through Peking University.     

Analysis of the cell boundary element methods for convection dominated convection-diffusion equations

We introduce two kinds of the cell boundary element (CBE) methods for convection dominated convection-diffusion equations: one is the CBE method with the exact bubble function and the other with inexact bubble functions. The main focus of this paper is on inexact bubble CBE methods. For inexact bubble CBE methods we introduce a family of numerical methods depending on two parameters, one for control of interior layers and the other for outflow boundary layers. Stability and convergence analysis are provided and numerical tests for inexact bubble CBEs with various choices of parameters are presented.     

Sinc-collocation methods for weakly singular Fredholm integral equations of the second kind

In this paper we propose new numerical methods for linear Fredholm integral equations of the second kind with weakly singular kernels. The methods are developed by means of the Sinc approximation with smoothing transformations, which is an effective technique against the singularities of the equations. Numerical examples show that the methods achieve exponential convergence, and in this sense the methods improve conventional results where only polynomial convergence have been reported so far.