A non‐standard finite difference scheme for an advection‐diffusion‐reaction equation

In this note, a non‐standard finite difference (NSFD) scheme is proposed for an advection‐diffusion‐reaction equation with nonlinear reaction term. We first study the diffusion‐free case of this equation, that is, an advection‐reaction equation. Two exact finite difference schemes are constructed for the advection‐reaction equation by the method of characteristics. As these exact schemes are complicated and are not convenient to use, an NSFD scheme is derived from the exact scheme. Then, the NSFD scheme for the advection‐reaction equation is combined with a finite difference space‐approximation of the diffusion term to provide a NSFD scheme for the advection‐diffusion‐reaction equation. This new scheme could preserve the fixed points, the positivity, and the boundedness of the solution of the original equation. Numerical experiments verify the validity of our analytical results. Copyright © 2014 JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonstandard finite difference schemes for a class of generalized convection–diffusion–reaction equations

In this work, a class of nonstandard finite difference (NSFD) schemes are proposed to approximate the solutions of a class of generalized convection–diffusion–reaction equations. First, in the case of no diffusion, two exact finite difference schemes are presented using the method of characteristics. Based on these two exact schemes, a class of exact schemes are presented by introducing a parameter α. Second, since the forms of these exact schemes are so complicated that they are not convenient to use, a class of NSFD schemes are derived from the exact schemes using numerical approximations. It follows that, under certain conditions about denominator function of time‐step sizes, these NSFD schemes are elementary stable and the solutions are positive and bounded. Third, by means of the Mickens' technique of subequations, a new class of implicit NSFD schemes are constructed for the full convection–diffusion–reaction equations. It is shown that, under certain parameters set, these NSFD schemes are capable of preserving the non‐negativity and boundedness of the analytical solutions. Finally, some numerical simulations are provided to verify the validity of our analytical results. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 31: 1288–1309, 2015     

Understanding Saul'yev‐type unconditionally stable schemes from exponential splitting

Saul'yev‐type asymmetric schemes have been widely used in solving diffusion and advection equations. In this work, we show that Saul'yev‐type schemes can be derived from the exponential splitting of the semidiscretized equation which fundamentally explains their unconditional stability. Furthermore, we show that optimal schemes are obtained by forcing each scheme's amplification factor to match that of the exact amplification factor. A new second‐order explicit scheme is found for solving the advection equation with the identical amplification factor as the implicit Crank–Nicolson algorithm. Other new schemes for solving the advection–diffusion equation are also derived.© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 1961–1983, 2014     

An upwind finite volume scheme and its maximum‐principle‐preserving ADI splitting for unsteady‐state advection‐diffusion equations

We develop an upwind finite volume (UFV) scheme for unsteady‐state advection‐diffusion partial differential equations (PDEs) in multiple space dimensions. We apply an alternating direction implicit (ADI) splitting technique to accelerate the solution process of the numerical scheme. We investigate and analyze the reason why the conventional ADI splitting does not satisfy maximum principle in the context of advection‐diffusion PDEs. Based on the analysis, we propose a new ADI splitting of the upwind finite volume scheme, the alternating‐direction implicit, upwind finite volume (ADFV) scheme. We prove that both UFV and ADFV schemes satisfy maximum principle and are unconditionally stable. We also derive their error estimates. Numerical results are presented to observe the performance of these schemes. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 19: 211–226, 2003     

On the stability of alternating‐direction explicit methods for advection‐diffusion equations

Alternating‐Direction Explicit (A.D.E.) finite‐difference methods make use of two approximations that are implemented for computations proceeding in alternating directions, e.g., from left to right and from right to left, with each approximation being explicit in its respective direction of computation. Stable A.D.E. schemes for solving the linear parabolic partial differential equations that model heat diffusion are well‐known, as are stable A.D.E. schemes for solving the first‐order equations of fluid advection. Several of these are combined here to derive A.D.E. schemes for solving time‐dependent advection‐diffusion equations, and their stability characteristics are discussed. In each case, it is found that it is the advection term that limits the stability of the scheme. The most stable of the combinations presented comprises an unconditionally stable approximation for computations carried out in the direction of advection of the system, from left to right in this case, and a conditionally stable approximation for computations proceeding in the opposite direction. To illustrate the application of the methods and verify the stability conditions, they are applied to some quasi‐linear one‐dimensional advection‐diffusion problems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2007     

Numerical solutions of Burgers–Huxley equation by exact finite difference and NSFD schemes

In this paper, numerical solution of the Burgers–Huxley (BH) equation is presented based on the nonstandard finite difference (NSFD) scheme. At first, two exact finite difference schemes for BH equation obtained. Moreover an NSFD scheme is presented for this equation. The positivity, boundedness and local truncation error of the scheme are discussed. Finally, the numerical results of the proposed method with those of some available methods compared.     

A new stabilized finite element method for advection‐diffusion‐reaction equations

In this article, a new stabilized finite element method is proposed and analyzed for advection‐diffusion‐reaction equations. The key feature is that both the mesh‐dependent Péclet number and the mesh‐dependent Damköhler number are reasonably incorporated into the newly designed stabilization parameter. The error estimates are established, where, up to the regularity‐norm of the exact solution, the explicit‐dependence of the diffusivity, advection, reaction, and mesh size (or the dependence of the mesh‐dependent Péclet number and the mesh‐dependent Damköhler number) is revealed. Such dependence in the error bounds provides a mathematical justification on the effectiveness of the proposed method for any values of diffusivity, advection, dissipative reaction, and mesh size. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the performance of the method. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 616–645, 2016     

A note on second‐order finite‐difference schemes on uniform meshes for advection‐‐diffusion equations

An artificial‐viscosity finite‐difference scheme is introduced for stabilizing the solutions of advection‐diffusion equations. Although only the linear one‐dimensional case is discussed, the method is easily susceptible to generalization. Some theory and comparisons with other well‐known schemes are carried out. The aim is, however, to explain the construction of the method, rather than considering sophisticated applications. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 15: 581–588, 1999     

Exact finite-difference schemes for first order differential equations having three distinct fixed-points

We construct nonstandard finite-difference (NSFD) schemes that provide exact numerical methods for a first-order differential equation having three distinct fixed-points. An explicit, but also nonexact, NSFD scheme is also constructed. It has the feature of preserving the critical properties of the original differential equation such as the positivity of the solutions and the stability behavior of the three fixed-points.     

Nonconforming finite element methods with subgrid viscosity applied to advection‐diffusion‐reaction equations

A nonconforming (Crouzeix–Raviart) finite element method with subgrid viscosity is analyzed to approximate advection‐diffusion‐reaction equations. The error estimates are quasi‐optimal in the sense that keeping the Péclet number fixed, the estimates are suboptimal of order in the mesh size for the L²‐norm and optimal for the advective derivative on quasi‐uniform meshes. The method is also reformulated as a finite volume box scheme providing a reconstruction formula for the diffusive flux with local conservation properties. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the error analysis. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2006     

Two‐grid methods for mixed finite‐element solution of coupled reaction‐diffusion systems

We develop 2‐grid schemes for solving nonlinear reaction‐diffusion systems: where p = (p, q) is an unknown vector‐valued function. The schemes use discretizations based on a mixed finite‐element method. The 2‐grid approach yields iterative procedures for solving the nonlinear discrete equations. The idea is to relegate all the Newton‐like iterations to grids much coarser than the final one, with no loss in order of accuracy. The iterative algorithms examined here extend a method developed earlier for single reaction‐diffusion equations. An application to prepattern formation in mathematical biology illustrates the method's effectiveness. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 15: 589–604, 1999     

Optimized composite finite difference schemes for atmospheric flow modeling

In this paper, we use some finite difference methods in order to solve an atmospheric flow problem described by an advection–diffusion equation. This flow problem was solved by Clancy using forward‐time central space (FTCS) scheme and is challenging to simulate due to large errors in phase and amplitude which are generated especially over long propagation times. Clancy also derived stability limits for FTCS scheme. We use Von Neumann stability analysis and the approach of Hindmarsch et al. which is an improved technique over that of Clancy in order to obtain the region of stability of some methods such as FTCS, Lax–Wendroff (LW), Crank–Nicolson. We also construct a nonstandard finite difference (NSFD) scheme. Properties like stability and consistency are studied. To improve the results due to significant numerical dispersion or numerical dissipation, we derive a new composite scheme consisting of three applications of LW followed by one application of NSFD. The latter acts like a filter to remove the dispersive oscillations from LW. We further improve the composite scheme by computing the optimal temporal step size at a given spatial step size using two techniques namely; by minimizing the square of dispersion error and by minimizing the sum of squares of dispersion and dissipation errors.     

Nonstandard finite difference schemes for reaction‐‐diffusion equations having linear advection

We extend previous work on nonstandard finite difference schemes for one‐space dimension, nonlinear reaction–diffusion PDEs to the case where linear advection is included. The use of a positivity condition allows the determination of a functional relation between the time and space step‐sizes, and provides schemes that are explicit. The Fisher equation is used to illustrate the method. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 16: 361–364, 2000     

Polynomial spectral collocation method for space fractional advection–diffusion equation

This article discusses the spectral collocation method for numerically solving nonlocal problems: one‐dimensional space fractional advection–diffusion equation; and two‐dimensional linear/nonlinear space fractional advection–diffusion equation. The differentiation matrixes of the left and right Riemann–Liouville and Caputo fractional derivatives are derived for any collocation points within any given bounded interval. Several numerical examples with different boundary conditions are computed to verify the efficiency of the numerical schemes and confirm the exponential convergence; the physical simulations for Lévy–Feller advection–diffusion equation and space fractional Fokker–Planck equation with initial δ‐peak and reflecting boundary conditions are performed; and the eigenvalue distributions of the iterative matrix for a variety of systems are displayed to illustrate the stabilities of the numerical schemes in more general cases. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 514–535, 2014     

A preliminary investigation on an ELLAM scheme for linear transport equations

We present an Eulerian‐Lagrangian localized adjoint method (ELLAM) for linear advection‐reaction partial differential equations in multiple space dimensions. We carry out numerical experiments to investigate the performance of the ELLAM scheme with a range of well‐perceived and widely used methods in fluid dynamics including the monotonic upstream‐centered scheme for conservation laws (MUSCL), the minmod method, the flux‐corrected transport method (FCT), and the essentially non‐oscillatory (ENO) schemes and weighted essentially non‐oscillatory (WENO) schemes. These experiments show that the ELLAM scheme is very competitive with these methods in the context of linear transport PDEs, and suggest/justify the development of ELLAM‐based simulators for subsurface porous medium flows and other applications. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 19: 22–43, 2003     

An optimal‐order error estimate for MMOC and MMOCAA schemes for multidimensional advection‐reaction equations

In this article, we analyze the modified method of characteristics (MMOC) and an improved version of the MMOC, named the modified method of characteristics with adjusted advection (MMOCAA), for multidimensional advection‐reaction transport equations in a uniform manner. We derive an optimal‐order error estimate for these schemes. Numerical results are presented to verify the theoretical estimates. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 18: 69–84, 2002     

High‐order characteristic‐tracking strategy for simulation of a nonlinear advection–diffusion equation

In this study, new high‐order backward semi‐Lagrangian methods are developed to solve nonlinear advection–diffusion type problems, which are realized using high‐order characteristic‐tracking strategies. The proposed characteristic‐tracking strategies are second‐order L‐stable and third‐order L(α)‐stable methods, which are based on a classical implicit multistep method combined with a error‐correction method. We also use backward differentiation formulas and the fourth‐order finite‐difference scheme for diffusion problem discretization in the temporal and spatial domains, respectively. To demonstrate the adaptability and efficiency of these time‐discretization strategies, we apply these methods to nonlinear advection–diffusion type problems such as the viscous Burgers' equation. Through simulations, not only the temporal and spatial accuracies are numerically evaluated but also the proposed methods are shown to be superior to the compared existing characteristic‐tracking methods under the same rates of convergence in terms of accuracy and efficiency. Finally, we have shown that the proposed method well preserves the energy and mass when the viscosity coefficient becomes zero.     

Averaging principle for multiscale stochastic reaction‐diffusion‐advection equations

Stochastic averaging principle is a powerful tool for studying qualitative analysis of multiscale stochastic dynamical systems. In this paper, we will establish an averaging principle for stochastic reaction‐diffusion‐advection equations with slow and fast time scales. Under suitable conditions, we show that the slow component strongly converges to the solution of the corresponding averaged equation.     

Taylor‐Galerkin B‐spline finite element method for the one‐dimensional advection‐diffusion equation

The advection‐diffusion equation has a long history as a benchmark for numerical methods. Taylor‐Galerkin methods are used together with the type of splines known as B‐splines to construct the approximation functions over the finite elements for the solution of time‐dependent advection‐diffusion problems. If advection dominates over diffusion, the numerical solution is difficult especially if boundary layers are to be resolved. Known test problems have been studied to demonstrate the accuracy of the method. Numerical results show the behavior of the method with emphasis on treatment of boundary conditions. Taylor‐Galerkin methods have been constructed by using both linear and quadratic B‐spline shape functions. Results shown by the method are found to be in good agreement with the exact solution. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2010