Efficient spectral element method for the Euler equations on unbounded domains

Abstract

Mitigating the impact of waves leaving a numerical domain has been a persistent challenge in numerical modeling. Reducing wave reflection at the domain boundary is crucial for accurate simulations. Absorbing layers, while common, often incur significant computational costs. This paper introduces an efficient application of a Legendre-Laguerre basis for absorbing layers for two-dimensional non-linear compressible Euler equations. The method couples a spectral-element bounded domain with a semi-infinite region, employing a tensor product of Lagrange and scaled Laguerre basis functions. Semi-infinite elements are used in the absorbing layer with Rayleigh damping. In comparison to existing methods with similar absorbing layer extensions, this approach, a pioneering application to the Euler equations of compressible and stratified flows, demonstrates substantial computational savings. The study marks the first application of semi-infinite elements to mitigate wave reflection in the solution of the Euler equations, particularly in nonhydrostatic atmospheric modeling. A comprehensive set of tests demonstrates the method's versatility for general systems of conservation laws, with a focus on its effectiveness in damping vertically propagating mountain gravity waves, a benchmark for atmospheric models. Across all tests, the model presented in this paper consistently exhibits notable performance improvements compared to a traditional Rayleigh damping approach.