Fourth-order finite difference method for 2D parabolic partial differential equations with nonlinear first-derivative terms

We attempt to obtain a two-level implicit finite difference scheme using nine spatial grid points of O(k² + kh² + h⁴) for solving the 2D nonlinear parabolic partial differential equation v₁u_xx + v₂u_yy = f(x, y, t, u, u_x, u_y, u₁) where v₁ and v₂ are positive constants, with Dirichlet boundary conditions. The method, when applied to a linear diffusion-convection problem, is shown to be unconditionally stable. Computational efficiency and the results of numerical experiments are discussed.