Multigrid methods for boundary integral equations

Summary Multigrid methods are applied for solving algebraic systems of equations that occur to the numerical treatment of boundary integral equations of the first and second kind. These methods, originally formulated for partial differential equations of elliptic type, combine relaxation schemes and coarse grid corrections. The choice of the relaxation scheme is found to be essential to attain a fast convergent iterative process. Theoretical investigations show that the presented relaxation scheme provides a multigrid algorithm of which the rate of convergence increases with the dimension of the finest grid. This is illustrated for the calculation of potential flow around an aerofoil.