Modified equation for adaptive monotone difference schemes and its convergent analysis

Abstract

A modified parabolic equation for adaptive monotone difference schemes based on equal-arclength mesh, applied to the linear convection equation, is derived and its convergence analysis shows that solutions of the modified equation approach a discontinuous (piecewise smooth) solution of the linear convection equation at order one rate in the L 1 -norm. It is well known that solutions of the monotone schemes with uniform meshes and their modified equation approach the same discontinuous solution at a half-order rate in the L 1 -norm. Therefore, the convergence analysis for the modified equation provided in this work demonstrates theoretically that the monotone schemes with adaptive grids can improve the solution accuracy. Numerical experiments also confirm the theoretical conclusions.