Convergence analysis of two-grid methods for elliptic Toeplitz and PDEs Matrix-sequences

Summary. The solution of large Toeplitz systems with nonnegative generating functions by multigrid methods was proposed in previous papers [13,14,22]. The technique was modified in [6,36] and a rigorous proof of convergence of the TGM (two-grid method) was given in the special case where the generating function has only a zero at of order at most two. Here, by extending the latter approach, we perform a complete analysis of convergence of the TGM under the sole assumption that f is nonnegative and with a zero at of finite order. An extension of the same analysis in the multilevel case and in the case of finite difference matrix sequences discretizing elliptic PDEs with nonconstant coefficients and of any order is then discussed. Received May 28, 1999 / Revised version received January 26, 2001 / Published online November 15, 2001     

Direct and iterative solution of the generalized Dirichlet–Neumann map for elliptic PDEs on square domains

In this work we derive the structural properties of the Collocation coefficient matrix associated with the Dirichlet–Neumann map for Laplace’s equation on a square domain. The analysis is independent of the choice of basis functions and includes the case involving the same type of boundary conditions on all sides, as well as the case where different boundary conditions are used on each side of the square domain. Taking advantage of said properties, we present efficient implementations of direct factorization and iterative methods, including classical SOR-type and Krylov subspace (Bi-CGSTAB and GMRES) methods appropriately preconditioned, for both Sine and Chebyshev basis functions. Numerical experimentation, to verify our results, is also included.     

A domain decomposition algorithm for elliptic problems in three dimensions

Summary Most domain decomposition algorithms have been developed for problems in two dimensions. One reason for this is the difficulty in devising a satisfactory, easy-to-implement, robust method of providing global communication of information for problems in three dimensions. Several methods that work well in two dimension do not perform satisfactorily in three dimensions.A new iterative substructuring algorithm for three dimensions is proposed. It is shown that the condition number of the resulting preconditioned problem is bounded independently of the number of subdomains and that the growth is quadratic in the logarithm of the number of degrees of freedom associated with a subdomain. The condition number is also bounded independently of the jumps in the coefficients of the differential equation between subdomains. The new algorithm also has more potential parallelism than the iterative substructuring methods previously proposed for problems in three dimensions.This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant NSF-CCR-8903003 and by the Applied Mathematical Sciences subprogram of the Office of Energy Research, U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract W-31-109-Eng-38.     

Multilevel Schwarz methods for elliptic problems with discontinuous coefficients in three dimensions

Summary. Multilevel Schwarz methods are developed for a conforming finite element approximation of second order elliptic problems. We focus on problems in three dimensions with possibly large jumps in the coefficients across the interface separating the subregions. We establish a condition number estimate for the iterative operator, which is independent of the coefficients, and grows at most as the square of the number of levels. We also characterize a class of distributions of the coefficients, called quasi-monotone, for which the weighted -projection is stable and for which we can use the standard piecewise linear functions as a coarse space. In this case, we obtain optimal methods, i.e. bounds which are independent of the number of levels and subregions. We also design and analyze multilevel methods with new coarse spaces given by simple explicit formulas. We consider nonuniform meshes and conclude by an analysis of multilevel iterative substructuring methods. Received April 6, 1994 / Revised version received December 7, 1994     

Parallel iterative methods using factorized preconditioning matrices for solving elliptic equations on triangular grids

Parallel analogs of the variants of the incomplete Cholesky-conjugate gradient method and the modified incomplete Cholesky-conjugate gradient method for solving elliptic equations on uniform triangular and unstructured triangular grids on parallel computer systems with the MIMD architecture are considered. The construction of parallel methods is based on the use of various variants of ordering the grid points depending on the decomposition of the computation domain. Results of the theoretic and experimental studies of the convergence rate of these methods are presented. The solution of model problems on a moderate number processors is used to examine the efficiency of the proposed parallel methods.     

The generalized Dirichlet–Neumann map for linear elliptic PDEs and its numerical implementation

A new approach for analyzing boundary value problems for linear and for integrable nonlinear PDEs was introduced in Fokas [A unified transform method for solving linear and certain nonlinear PDEs, Proc. Roy. Soc. London Ser. A 53 (1997) 1411–1443]. For linear elliptic PDEs, an important aspect of this approach is the characterization of a generalized Dirichlet to Neumann map: given the derivative of the solution along a direction of an arbitrary angle to the boundary, the derivative of the solution perpendicularly to this direction is computed without solving on the interior of the domain. This is based on the analysis of the so-called global relation, an equation which couples known and unknown components of the derivative on the boundary and which is valid for all values of a complex parameter k. A collocation-type numerical method for solving the global relation for the Laplace equation in an arbitrary bounded convex polygon was introduced in Fulton et al. [An analytical method for linear elliptic PDEs and its numerical implementation, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 167 (2004) 465–483]. Here, by choosing a different set of the “collocation points” (values for k), we present a significant improvement of the results in Fulton et al. [An analytical method for linear elliptic PDEs and its numerical implementation, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 167 (2004) 465–483]. The new collocation points lead to well-conditioned collocation methods. Their combination with sine basis functions leads to a collocation matrix whose diagonal blocks are point diagonal matrices yielding efficient implementation of iterative methods; numerical experimentation suggests quadratic convergence. The choice of Chebyshev basis functions leads to higher order convergence, which for regular polygons appear to be exponential.     

Alternate strip-based substructuring algorithms for elliptic PDEs in two dimensions

^** Email: angela.mihai{at}strath.ac.uk^*** Email: alan.craig{at}durham.ac.uk The alternate strip-based substructuring algorithms are efficientpreconditioning techniques for the discrete systems which arisefrom the finite-element approximation of symmetric ellipticboundary-value problems in 2D Euclidean spaces. The new approachis based on alternate decomposition of the given domain intoa finite number of strips. Each strip is a union of non-overlappingsubdomains and the global interface between subdomains is partitionedas a union of edges between strips and edges between subdomainsthat belong to the same strip. Both scalability and efficiencyare achieved by alternating the direction of the strips. Thisapproach generates algorithms in two stages and allows the useof a two-grid V cycle. Numerical estimates illustrate the behaviourof the new domain decomposition techniques.     

Meshless methods for solving Dirichlet boundary optimal control problems governed by elliptic PDEs

In this paper, two meshless schemes are proposed for solving Dirichlet boundary optimal control problems governed by elliptic equations. The first scheme uses radial basis function collocation method (RBF-CM) for both state equation and adjoint state equation, while the second scheme employs the method of fundamental solution (MFS) for the state equation when it has a zero source term, and RBF-CM for the adjoint state equation. Numerical examples are provided to validate the efficiency of the proposed schemes.     

Schwarz alternating and iterative refinement methods for mixed formulations of elliptic problems,part I: Algorithms and numerical results

Summary We describe sequential and parallel algorithms based on the Schwarz alternating method for the solution of mixed finite element discretizations of elliptic problems using the Raviart-Thomas finite element spaces. These lead to symmetric indefinite linear systems and the algorithms have some similarities with the traditional block Gauss-Seidel or block Jacobi methods with overlapping blocks. The indefiniteness requires special treatment. The sub-blocks used in the algorithm correspond to problems on a coarse grid and some overlapping subdomains and is based on a similar partition used in an algorithm of Dryja and Widlund for standard elliptic problems. If there is sufficient overlap between the subdomains, the algorithm converges with a rate independent of the mesh size, the number of subdomains and discontinuities of the coefficients. Extensions of the above algorithms to the case of local grid refinement is also described. Convergence theory for these algorithms will be presented in a subsequent paper.This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant NSF-CCR-8903003, while the author was a graduate student at New York University, and in part by the Army Research Office under Grant DAAL 03-91-G-0150, while the author was a Visiting Assistant Researcher at UCLA     

Multilevel methods for mixed finite elements in three dimensions

In this paper we consider second order scalar elliptic boundary value problems posed over three–dimensional domains and their discretization by means of mixed Raviart–Thomas finite elements [18]. This leads to saddle point problems featuring a discrete flux vector field as additional unknown. Following Ewing and Wang [26], the proposed solution procedure is based on splitting the flux into divergence free components and a remainder. It leads to a variational problem involving solenoidal Raviart–Thomas vector fields. A fast iterative solution method for this problem is presented. It exploits the representation of divergence free vector fields as s of the –conforming finite element functions introduced by Nédélec [43]. We show that a nodal multilevel splitting of these finite element spaces gives rise to an optimal preconditioner for the solenoidal variational problem: Duality techniques in quotient spaces and modern algebraic multigrid theory [50, 10, 31] are the main tools for the proof. Received November 4, 1996 / Revised version received February 2, 1998     

Finite element methods and their convergence for elliptic and parabolic interface problems

In this paper, we consider the finite element methods for solving second order elliptic and parabolic interface problems in two-dimensional convex polygonal domains. Nearly the same optimal -norm and energy-norm error estimates as for regular problems are obtained when the interfaces are of arbitrary shape but are smooth, though the regularities of the solutions are low on the whole domain. The assumptions on the finite element triangulation are reasonable and practical. Received July 7, 1996 / Revised version received March 3, 1997     

Schwarz alternating and iterative refinement methods for mixed formulations of elliptic problems,part II: Convergence theory

Summary In this paper we discuss bounds for the convergence rates of several domain decomposition algorithms to solve symmetric, indefinite linear systems arising from mixed finite element discretizations of elliptic problems. The algorithms include Schwarz methods and iterative refinement methods on locally refined grids. The implementation of Schwarz and iterative refinement algorithms have been discussed in part I. A discussion on the stability of mixed discretizations on locally refined grids is included and quantiative estimates for the convergence rates of some iterative refinement algorithms are also derived.Department of Mathematics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071-3036. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant NSF-CCR-8903003, while the author was a graduate student at New York University, and in part by NSF Grant ASC 9003002, while the author was a Visiting, Assistant Researcher at UCLA.     

A numerical study of the accuracy and stability of symmetric and asymmetric RBF collocation methods for hyperbolic PDEs

Differentiation matrices associated with radial basis function (RBF) collocation methods often have eigenvalues with positive real parts of significant magnitude. This prevents the use of the methods for time‐dependent problems, particulary if explicit time integration schemes are employed. In this work, accuracy and eigenvalue stability of symmetric and asymmetric RBF collocation methods are numerically explored for some model hyperbolic initial boundary value problems in one and two dimensions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2008     

Efficient numerical solution of the generalized Dirichlet-Neumann map for linear elliptic PDEs in regular polygon domains

A new and novel approach for analyzing boundary value problems for linear and for integrable nonlinear PDEs was recently introduced. For linear elliptic PDEs, an important aspect of this approach is the characterization of a generalized Dirichlet-Neumann map: given the derivative of the solution along a direction of an arbitrary angle to the boundary, the derivative of the solution perpendicularly to this direction is computed without solving on the interior of the domain. For this computation, a collocation-type numerical method has been recently developed. Here, we study the collocation’s coefficient matrix properties. We prove that, for the Laplace’s equation on regular polygon domains with the same type of boundary conditions on each side, the collocation matrix is block circulant, independently of the choice of basis functions. This leads to the deployment of the FFT for the solution of the associated collocation linear system, yielding significant computational savings. Numerical experiments are included to demonstrate the efficiency of the whole computation.     

Weighted FOM and GMRES for solving nonsymmetric linear systems

This paper presents two new methods called WFOM and WGMRES, which are variants of FOM and GMRES, for solving large and sparse nonsymmetric linear systems. To accelerate the convergence, these new methods use a different inner product instead of the Euclidean one. Furthermore, at each restart, a different inner product is chosen. The weighted Arnoldi process is introduced for implementing these methods. After describing the weighted methods, we give the relations that link them to FOM and GMRES. Experimental results are presented to show the good performances of the new methods compared to FOM(m) and GMRES(m). This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Robust iterative methods for elliptic problems with highly varying coefficients in thin substructures

Summary. In this paper we introduce a class of robust multilevel interface solvers for two-dimensional finite element discrete elliptic problems with highly varying coefficients corresponding to geometric decompositions by a tensor product of strongly non-uniform meshes. The global iterations convergence rate is shown to be of the order with respect to the number of degrees of freedom on the single subdomain boundaries, uniformly upon the coarse and fine mesh sizes, jumps in the coefficients and aspect ratios of substructures. As the first approach, we adapt the frequency filtering techniques [28] to construct robust smoothers on the highly non-uniform coarse grid. As an alternative, a multilevel averaging procedure for successive coarse grid correction is proposed and analyzed. The resultant multilevel coarse grid preconditioner is shown to have (in a two level case) the condition number independent of the coarse mesh grading and jumps in the coefficients related to the coarsest refinement level. The proposed technique exhibited high serial and parallel performance in the skin diffusion processes modelling [20] where the high dimensional coarse mesh problem inherits a strong geometrical and coefficients anisotropy. The approach may be also applied to magnetostatics problems as well as in some composite materials simulation. Received December 27, 1994     

Multiscale asymptotic expansion and finite element methods for the mixed boundary value problems of second order elliptic equation in perforated domains

In this paper, we will discuss the mixed boundary value problems for the second order elliptic equation with rapidly oscillating coefficients in perforated domains, and will present the higher-order multiscale asymptotic expansion of the solution for the problem, which will play an important role in the numerical computation . The convergence theorems and their rigorous proofs will be given. Finally a multiscale finite element method and some numerical results will be presented. This work is Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant # 10372108, # 90405016), and Special Funds for Major State Basic Research Projects( grant # TG2000067102)     

Experimental comparison of three-dimensional point and line modified incomplete factorizations

We examine how the variations of the coefficients of 3-dimensional (3D) partial differential equations (PDEs) influence the convergence of the conjugate gradient method, preconditioned by standard pointwise and linewise modified incomplete factorizations. General analytical spectral bounds obtained previously are applied, which displays the conditions under which good performances could be expected. The arguments also reveal that, if the total number of unknowns is very large or the number of unknowns in one direction is much larger than in both other ones, or if there are strong jumps in the variation of the PDE coefficients or fewer Dirichlet boundary conditions, then linewise preconditionings could be significantly more efficient than the corresponding pointwise ones. We also discuss reasons to explain why in the case of constant PDE coefficients, the advantage of preferring linewise methods to pointwise ones is not as pronounced as in 2D problems. Results of numerical experiments are reported. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Blow-up and stability of semilinear PDEs with gamma generators

We investigate finite-time blow-up and stability of semilinear partial differential equations of the form , w₀(x)=φ(x)?0, x∈R₊, where Γ is the generator of the standard gamma process and ν>0, σ∈R, β>0 are constants. We show that any initial value satisfying c₁x−a₁?φ(x), x>x₀, for some positive constants x₀, c₁, a₁, yields a non-global solution if a₁β<1+σ. If , where x₀,c₂,a₂>0, and a₂β>1+σ, then the solution wt is global and satisfies , for some constant C>0. This complements the results previously obtained in [M. Birkner et al., Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 130 (2002) 2431; M. Guedda, M. Kirane, Bull. Belg. Math. Soc. Simon Stevin 6 (1999) 491; S. Sugitani, Osaka J. Math. 12 (1975) 45] for symmetric α-stable generators. Systems of semilinear PDEs with gamma generators are also considered.     

Propagation of round-off errors and the role of stability in numerical methods for linear and nonlinear PDEs

It is shown that the customary assumption on the propagation of round-off errors in numerical methods for PDEs is unrealistic, as it yields a convergence result which is better than the best possible similar convergence result for ODEs. A solution is suggested by which round-off errors can be modelled by smooth functions, with consequent weakening of overall stability conditions and improvement of convergence conditions.