Space-time Discontinuous Galerkin Research Articles

A space-time discontinuous Galerkin discretization for the linear transport equation

We consider a full-upwind DG approximation in space and time for the linear transport equation. Based on our results for linear symmetric Friedrichs systems we establish inf-sup stability and convergence in a mesh-dependent DG norm, and we construct an error indicator with respect to this norm. Numerical results of test problems with known solution demonstrate the efficiency of the a priori and a posteriori results as well for smooth and for non-smooth solutions. Then, we show that by introducing suitable degrees of freedom on the space-time element boundaries the corresponding hybrid formulation yields a reduction to a considerably smaller linear system.

Numerical analysis of a space-time continuous Galerkin method for the nonlinear Sobolev equation

In this work, we shall use space-time continuous Galerkin (STCG) method to analyze the nonlinear Sobolev equation. This method is different from the conventional finite element methods, that is, it not only uses finite element to discrete spatial variables but also uses finite element to discrete temporal variable. Therefore it is easier to obtain high order accuracy in time and space than the conventional finite element methods and has the good stability. Also, it does not need time step size and space mesh parameter to satisfy the stability conditions. In this paper, we show a detailed analysis including the proof of the existence and uniqueness of the numerical solution and the a priori error estimate. Especially, the analysis method given here can be similarly applied to the more general nonlinear problems. At last, the numerical examples reveal that the iterative method is more efficient than the linearized method for the nonlinear problems with STCG method. Also, the numerical experiments show that the STCG method is more efficient than the space-time discontinuous Galerkin (STDG) method in the practical calculations.

Tent-pitcher spacetime discontinuous Galerkin method for one-dimensional linear hyperbolic and parabolic PDEs

Tent-pitcher spacetime discontinuous Galerkin method for one-dimensional linear hyperbolic and parabolic PDEs

A posteriorierror analysis of space-time discontinuous Galerkin methods for the ε-stochastic Allen–Cahn equation

AbstractIn this work, we apply an a posteriori error analysis for the space-time, discontinuous in time, Galerkin scheme, which has been proposed in Antonopoulou (2020, Space-time discontinuous Galerkin methods for the $\varepsilon $-dependent stochastic Allen–Cahn equation with mild noise. IMA J. Num. Analysis, 40, 2076–2105) for the $\varepsilon $-dependent stochastic Allen–Cahn equation with mild noise $\dot{W}^\varepsilon $ tending to rough as $\varepsilon \rightarrow 0$. Our results are derived under low regularity since the noise even smooth in space is assumed only one-time continuously differentiable in time, according to the minimum regularity properties of Funaki (1999, Singular limit for stochastic reaction–diffusion equation and generation of random interfaces. Acta Math. Sinica, 15, 407–438). We prove a posteriori error estimates for the $m$-dimensional problem, $m\leq 4$ for a general class of space-time finite element spaces. The a posteriori bound is growing only polynomially in $\varepsilon ^{-1}$ if the step length $h$ is bounded by a positive power of $\varepsilon $. This agrees with the restriction posed so far in the a priori error analysis of continuous finite element schemes for the $\varepsilon $-dependent deterministic Allen–Cahn or deterministic and stochastic Cahn–Hilliard equation. As an application, we examine tensorial elements where the discrete solution is approximated by polynomial functions of separated space and time variables; the a posteriori estimates there involve dimensions, and the space, time discretization parameters. We then consider the special case of the mild noise $\dot{W}^\varepsilon $ as defined in Weber (2010, On the short time asymptotic of the stochastic Allen–Cahn equation. Ann. Inst. Henri Poincare Probab. Stat., 46, 965–975) through the convolution of a Gaussian process with a proper mollifying kernel, which is then numerically constructed. Finally, we provide some useful insights for the numerical algorithm, and present for the first time some numerical experiments of the scheme for both one- and two-dimensional problems in various cases of interest, and compare with the deterministic ones.

Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Space-Time DG-SEM Implementations

We discuss two approaches for the formulation and implementation of space-time discontinuous Galerkin spectral element methods (DG-SEM). In one, time is treated as an additional coordinate direction and a Galerkin procedure is applied to the entire problem. In the other, the method of lines is used with DG-SEM in space and the fully implicit Runge–Kutta method Lobatto IIIC in time. The two approaches are mathematically equivalent in the sense that they lead to the same discrete solution. However, in practice they differ in several important respects, including the terminology used to describe them, the structure of the resulting software, and the interaction with nonlinear solvers. Challenges and merits of the two approaches are discussed with the goal of providing the practitioner with sufficient consideration to choose which path to follow. Additionally, implementations of the two methods are provided as a starting point for further development. Numerical experiments validate the theoretical accuracy of these codes and demonstrate their utility, even for 4D problems.

An Anisotropic hp-mesh Adaptation Method for Time-Dependent Problems Based on Interpolation Error Control

We propose an efficient mesh adaptive method for the numerical solution of time-dependent partial differential equations considered in the fixed space-time cylinder varOmega times (0,T). We employ the space-time discontinuous Galerkin method which enables us to use different meshes at different time levels in a natural way. The mesh adaptive algorithm is based on control of the interpolation error in the L^infty (0,T; L^q(varOmega ))-norm. The goal is to construct a sequence of conforming triangular meshes in such a way that the interpolation error bound is under a given tolerance and the number of degrees of freedom is minimal. The resulting grids consist of anisotropic mesh elements with varying polynomial approximation degrees with respect to space. We present a theoretical framework of this approach as well as several numerical examples demonstrating the accuracy, efficiency, and applicability of the method.

Positivity-Preserving Lax–Wendroff Discontinuous Galerkin Schemes for Quadrature-Based Moment-Closure Approximations of Kinetic Models

The quadrature-based method of moments (QMOM) offers a promising class of approximation techniques for reducing kinetic equations to fluid equations that are valid beyond thermodynamic equilibrium. In this work, we study a particular five-moment variant of QMOM known as HyQMOM and establish that this system is moment-invertible over a convex region in solution space. We then develop a high-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) scheme for solving the resulting fluid system. The scheme is based on a predictor–corrector approach, where the prediction is a localized space-time DG scheme. The nonlinear algebraic system in this prediction is solved using a Picard iteration. The correction is a straightforward explicit update based on the time-integral of the evolution equation, where the space-time prediction replaces all instances of the exact solution. In the absence of limiters, the high-order scheme does not guarantee that solutions remain in the convex set over which HyQMOM is moment-realizable. To overcome this, we introduce novel limiters that rigorously guarantee that the computed solution does not leave the convex set of realizable solutions, thus guaranteeing the hyperbolicity of the system. We develop positivity-preserving limiters in both the prediction and correction steps and an oscillation limiter that damps unphysical oscillations near shocks. We also develop a novel extension of this scheme to include a BGK collision operator; the proposed method is shown to be asymptotic-preserving in the high-collision limit. The HyQMOM and the HyQMOM-BGK solvers are verified on several test cases, demonstrating high-order accuracy on smooth problems and shock-capturing capability on problems with shocks. The asymptotic-preserving property of the HyQMOM-BGK solver is also numerically verified.

Commutative properties for conservative space-time DG discretizations of optimal control problems involving the viscous Burgers equation

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>We consider one-dimensional distributed optimal control problems with the state equation being given by the viscous Burgers equation. We discretize using a space-time discontinuous Galerkin approach. We use upwind flux in time and the symmetric interior penalty approach for discretizing the viscous term. Our focus is on the discretization of the convection terms. We aim for using conservative discretizations for the convection terms in both the state and the adjoint equation, while ensuring that the approaches of discretize-then-optimize and optimize-then-discretize commute. We show that this is possible if the arising source term in the adjoint equation is discretized properly, following the ideas of well-balanced discretizations for balance laws. We support our findings by numerical results.</p>

Space-Time Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for Weak Solutions of Hyperbolic Linear Symmetric Friedrichs Systems

We study weak solutions and its approximation of hyperbolic linear symmetric Friedrichs systems describing acoustic, elastic, or electro-magnetic waves. For the corresponding first-order systems we construct discontinuous Galerkin discretizations in space and time with full upwind, and we show primal and dual consistency. Stability and convergence estimates are provided with respect to a mesh-dependent DG norm which includes the {textrm{L}}_2 norm at final time. Numerical experiments confirm that the a priori results are of optimal order also for solutions with low regularity, and we show that the error in the DG norm can be closely approximated with a residual-type error indicator.

Regularity results and numerical solution by the discontinuous Galerkin method to semilinear parabolic initial boundary value problems with nonlinear Newton boundary conditions in a polygonal space-time cylinder

Abstract In this note we consider a parabolic evolution equation in a polygonal space-time cylinder. We show, that the elliptic part is given by a m-accretive mapping from L q (Ω) → L q (Ω). Therefore we can apply the theory of nonlinear semigroups in Banach spaces in order to get regularity results in time and space. The second part of the paper deals with the numerical solution of the problem. It is dedicated to the application of the space-time discontinuous Galerkin method (STDGM). It means that both in space as well as in time discontinuous piecewise polynomial approximations of the solution are used. We concentrate to the theoretical analysis of the error estimation.

Entropy bounds for the space–time discontinuous Galerkin finite element moment method applied to the BGK–Boltzmann equation

This paper presents a numerical analysis for the time-implicit numerical approximation of the Boltzmann equation based on a moment system approximation in velocity dependence and a discontinuous Galerkin finite-element (DGFE) approximation in time and position dependence. The implicit nature of the DGFE moment method in position and time dependence provides a robust numerical algorithm for the approximation of solutions of the Boltzmann equation. The closure relation for the moment systems derives from minimization of a suitable φ-divergence. We present sufficient conditions such that this divergence-based closure yields a hierarchy of tractable symmetric hyperbolic moment systems that retain the fundamental structural properties of the Boltzmann equation. The resulting combined space-time DGFE moment method corresponds to a Galerkin approximation of the Boltzmann equation in renormalized form. We propose a renormalization map that facilitates the approximation of multidimensional problems in an implicit manner. Moreover, upper and lower entropy bounds are derived for the proposed DGFE moment scheme. Numerical results for benchmark problems governed by the BGK-Boltzmann equation are presented to illustrate the approximation properties of the new DGFE moment method, and it is shown that the proposed velocity-space-time DGFE moment method is entropy bounded.

A Space-Time Interior Penalty Discontinuous Galerkin Method for the Wave Equation

A new higher-order accurate space-time discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method using the interior penalty flux and discontinuous basis functions, both in space and in time, is presented and fully analyzed for the second-order scalar wave equation. Special attention is given to the definition of the numerical fluxes since they are crucial for the stability and accuracy of the space-time DG method. The theoretical analysis shows that the DG discretization is stable and converges in a DG-norm on general unstructured and locally refined meshes, including local refinement in time. The space-time interior penalty DG discretization does not have a CFL-type restriction for stability. Optimal order of accuracy is obtained in the DG-norm if the mesh size h and the time step Delta t satisfy hcong CDelta t, with C a positive constant. The optimal order of accuracy of the space-time DG discretization in the DG-norm is confirmed by calculations on several model problems. These calculations also show that for pth-order tensor product basis functions the convergence rate in the L^infty and L^2-norms is order p+1 for polynomial orders p=1 and p=3 and order p for polynomial order p=2.

Vibrations of Nonlinear Elastic Structure Excited by Compressible Flow

This study deals with the development of an accurate, efficient and robust method for the numerical solution of the interaction of compressible flow and nonlinear dynamic elasticity. This problem requires the reliable solution of flow in time-dependent domains and the solution of deformations of elastic bodies formed by several materials with complicated geometry depending on time. In this paper, the fluid–structure interaction (FSI) problem is solved numerically by the space-time discontinuous Galerkin method (STDGM). In the case of compressible flow, we use the compressible Navier–Stokes equations formulated by the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. The elasticity problem uses the non-stationary formulation of the dynamic system using the St. Venant–Kirchhoff and neo-Hookean models. The STDGM for the nonlinear elasticity is tested on the Hron–Turek benchmark. The main novelty of the study is the numerical simulation of the nonlinear vocal fold vibrations excited by the compressible airflow coming from the trachea to the simplified model of the vocal tract. The computations show that the nonlinear elasticity model of the vocal folds is needed in order to obtain substantially higher accuracy of the computed vocal folds deformation than for the linear elasticity model. Moreover, the numerical simulations showed that the differences between the two considered nonlinear material models are very small.

Superconvergence of the space-time discontinuous Galerkin method for linear nonhomogeneous hyperbolic equations

In this study, we discuss the superconvergence of the space-time discontinuous Galerkin method for the first-order linear nonhomogeneous hyperbolic equation. By using the local differential projection method to construct comparison function, we prove that the numerical solution is $$(2n+1)$$ -th order superconvergent at the downwind-biased Radau points in the discrete $$L^2$$ -norm. As a by-product, we obtain a point-wise superconvergence with order $$2n+\frac{1}{2}$$ in vertices. We also find that, in order to obtain these superconvergence results, the source integral term has to be approximated by $$(n+1)$$ -point Radau-quadrature rule. Numerical results are presented to verify our theoretical findings.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF A SINGLE RING INFILTRATION EXPERIMENT WITH hp-ADAPTIVE SPACE-TIME DISCONTINUOUS GALERKIN METHOD

We present a novel hp-adaptive space-time discontinuous Galerkin (hp-STDG) method for the numerical solution of the nonstationary Richards equation equipped with Dirichlet, Neumann and seepage face boundary conditions. The hp-STDG method presented in this paper is a generalization of a hp-STDG method which was developed for time dependent non-linear convective-diffusive problems. We describe the method and the single ring experiment, and then we present a numerical experiment which clearly demonstrates the superiority of the hp-STDG method over a discontinuous Galerkin method based on a static fine mesh.

Space–time discontinuous Galerkin approximation of acoustic waves with point singularities

AbstractWe develop a convergence theory of space–time discretizations for the linear, second-order wave equation in polygonal domains $\varOmega \subset{\mathbb R}^2$, possibly occupied by piecewise homogeneous media with different propagation speeds. Building on an unconditionally stable space–time DG formulation developed in Moiola & Perugia (2018, A space–time Trefftz discontinuous Galerkin method for the acoustic wave equation in first-order formulation. Numer. Math., 138, 389–435), we (a) prove optimal convergence rates for the space–time scheme with local isotropic corner mesh refinement on the spatial domain, and (b) demonstrate numerically optimal convergence rates of a suitable sparse space–time version of the DG scheme. The latter scheme is based on the so-called combination formula, in conjunction with a family of anisotropic space–time DG discretizations. It results in optimal-order convergent schemes, also in domains with corners, with a number of degrees of freedom that scales essentially like the DG solution of one stationary elliptic problem in $\varOmega $ on the finest spatial grid. Numerical experiments for both smooth and singular solutions support convergence rate optimality on spatially refined meshes of the full and sparse space–time DG schemes.

A Novel Staggered Semi-implicit Space-Time Discontinuous Galerkin Method for the Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations

A new high order accurate staggered semi-implicit space-time discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is presented for the simulation of viscous incompressible flows on unstructured triangular grids in two space dimensions. The staggered DG scheme defines the discrete pressure on the primal triangular mesh, while the discrete velocity is defined on a staggered edge-based dual quadrilateral mesh. In this paper, a new pair of equal-order-interpolation velocity-pressure finite elements is proposed. On the primary triangular mesh (the pressure elements) the basis functions are piecewise polynomials of degree $N$ and are allowed to jump on the boundaries of each triangle. On the dual mesh instead (the velocity elements), the basis functions consist in the union of piecewise polynomials of degree $N$ on the two subtriangles that compose each quadrilateral and are allowed to jump only on the dual element boundaries, while they are continuous inside. In other words, the basis functions on the dual mesh are built by continuous finite elements on the subtriangles. This choice allows the construction of an efficient, quadrature-free and memory saving algorithm. In our coupled space-time pressure correction formulation for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, arbitrary high order of accuracy in time is achieved through the use of time-dependent test and basis functions, in combination with simple and efficient Picard iterations. Several numerical tests on classical benchmarks confirm that the proposed method outperforms existing staggered semi-implicit space-time DG schemes, not only from a computer memory point of view, but also concerning the computational time.

A space-time discontinuous Galerkin method for the elastic wave equation

In this work we present a new high order space-time discretization method based on a discontinuous Galerkin paradigm for the second order visco-elastodynamics equation. After introducing the method, we show that the resulting space-time discontinuous Galerkin formulation is well-posed, stable and retains optimal rate of convergence with respect to the discretization parameters, namely the mesh size and the polynomial approximation degree. A set of two and three-dimensional numerical experiments confirms the theoretical bounds.

Statistical Volume Elements for the Characterization of Angle-Dependent Fracture Strengths in Anisotropic Microcracked Materials

Abstract Statistical volume elements (SVEs) are used to homogenize fracture strength of rock, based on the microcrack statistics of a real-world Yuen-Long marble sample. The small size of SVEs enables maintaining inhomogeneities in fracture properties with lower computational cost compared to methods that explicitly model microcracks at macroscale. Maintaining inhomogeneity is important to capture realistic fracture patterns in rock as a quasi-brittle material. Uniaxial tensile, uniaxial compressive, and shear strengths are derived for arbitrary angle for loading and orientation of a single crack by using the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) method and incorporating frictional effects. Mesoscopic fracture strength fields are generated for different strengths and angle of loading by traversing the spatial domain with circular SVEs. Increasing the SVE size smoothens the spatial inhomogeneity and angular anisotropy of homogenized strengths. Spatial and angular covariance functions of the random fields are obtained to demonstrate how fracture strength varies in space and by changing the angle of loading. Two isotropic and anisotropic rock domains are studied and shown to have very different single- and two-point statistics. Macroscopic fracture simulations by an asynchronous spacetime discontinuous Galerkin (aSDG) method demonstrate that most macroscopic cracks for the anisotropic domain are aligned with the weakest strength planes.

A space-time discontinuous Galerkin method for linear hyperbolic PDE's with high frequencies

The main purpose of this paper is to describe a space-time discontinuous Galerin (DG) method based on an extended space-time approximation space for the linear first order hyperbolic equation that contains a high frequency component. We extend the space-time DG spaces of tensor-product of polynomials by adding trigonometric functions in space and time that capture the oscillatory behavior of the solution. We construct the method by combining the basic framework of the space-time DG method with the extended finite element method. The basic principle of the method is integrating the features of the partial differential equation with the standard space-time spaces in the approximation. We present error analysis of the space-time DG method for the linear first order hyperbolic problems. We show that the new space-time DG approximation has an improvement in the convergence compared to the space-time DG schemes with tensor-product polynomials. Numerical examples verify the theoretical findings and demonstrate the effects of the proposed method.