High order asymptotic-preserving schemes for the Boltzmann equation

In this note we discuss the construction of high order asymptotic preserving numerical schemes for the Boltzmann equation. The methods are based on the use of Implicit-Explicit (IMEX) Runge-Kutta methods combined with a penalization technique recently introduced in [F. Filbet, S. Jin: A class of asymptotic preserving schemes for kinetic equations and related problems with stiff sources,J. Comp. Phys. 229, (2010), pp. 7625-7648.]

A class of asymptotic preserving schemes for kinetic equations and related problems with stiff sources

In this paper, we propose a general framework to design asymptotic preserving schemes for the Boltzmann kinetic kinetic and related equations. Numerically solving these equations are challenging due to the nonlinear stiff collision (source) terms induced by small mean free or relaxation time. We propose to penalize the nonlinear collision term by a BGK-type relaxation term, which can be solved explicitly even if discretized implicitly in time. Moreover, the BGK-type relaxation operator helps to drive the density distribution toward the local Maxwellian, thus natually imposes an asymptotic-preserving scheme in the Euler limit. The scheme so designed does not need any nonlinear iterative solver or the use of Wild Sum. It is uniformly stable in terms of the (possibly small) Knudsen number, and can capture the macroscopic fluid dynamic (Euler) limit even if the small scale determined by the Knudsen number is not numerically resolved. It is also consistent to the compressible Navier-Stokes equations if the viscosity and heat conductivity are numerically resolved. The method is applicable to many other related problems, such as hyperbolic systems with stiff relaxation, and high order parabilic equations

Exponential Runge-Kutta methods for stiff kinetic equations

We introduce a class of exponential Runge-Kutta integration methods for kinetic equations. The methods are based on a decomposition of the collision operator into an equilibrium and a non equilibrium part and are exact for relaxation operators of BGK type. For Boltzmann type kinetic equations they work uniformly for a wide range of relaxation times and avoid the solution of nonlinear systems of equations even in stiff regimes. We give sufficient conditions in order that such methods are unconditionally asymptotically stable and asymptotic preserving. Such stability properties are essential to guarantee the correct asymptotic behavior for small relaxation times. The methods also offer favorable properties such as nonnegativity of the solution and entropy inequality. For this reason, as we will show, the methods are suitable both for deterministic as well as probabilistic numerical techniques

A unified IMEX Runge-Kutta approach for hyperbolic systems with multiscale relaxation

In this paper we consider the development of Implicit-Explicit (IMEX) Runge-Kutta schemes for hyperbolic systems with multiscale relaxation. In such systems the scaling depends on an additional parameter which modifies the nature of the asymptotic behavior which can be either hyperbolic or parabolic. Because of the multiple scalings, standard IMEX Runge-Kutta methods for hyperbolic systems with relaxation loose their efficiency and a different approach should be adopted to guarantee asymptotic preservation in stiff regimes. We show that the proposed approach is capable to capture the correct asymptotic limit of the system independently of the scaling used. Several numerical examples confirm our theoretical analysis

Implicit-Explicit Runge-Kutta schemes for hyperbolic systems and kinetic equations in the diffusion limit

We consider Implicit-Explicit (IMEX) Runge-Kutta (R-K) schemes for hyperbolic systems with stiff relaxation in the so-called diffusion limit. In such regime the system relaxes towards a convection-diffusion equation. The first objective of the paper is to show that traditional partitioned IMEX R-K schemes will relax to an explicit scheme for the limit equation with no need of modification of the original system. Of course the explicit scheme obtained in the limit suffers from the classical parabolic stability restriction on the time step. The main goal of the paper is to present an approach, based on IMEX R-K schemes, that in the diffusion limit relaxes to an IMEX R-K scheme for the convection-diffusion equation, in which the diffusion is treated implicitly. This is achieved by an original reformulation of the problem, and subsequent application of IMEX R-K schemes to it. An analysis on such schemes to the reformulated problem shows that the schemes reduce to IMEX R-K schemes for the limit equation, under the same conditions derived for hyperbolic relaxation. Several numerical examples including neutron transport equations confirm the theoretical analysis

Asymptotic preserving Implicit-Explicit Runge-Kutta methods for non linear kinetic equations

We discuss Implicit-Explicit (IMEX) Runge Kutta methods which are particularly adapted to stiff kinetic equations of Boltzmann type. We consider both the case of easy invertible collision operators and the challenging case of Boltzmann collision operators. We give sufficient conditions in order that such methods are asymptotic preserving and asymptotically accurate. Their monotonicity properties are also studied. In the case of the Boltzmann operator, the methods are based on the introduction of a penalization technique for the collision integral. This reformulation of the collision operator permits to construct penalized IMEX schemes which work uniformly for a wide range of relaxation times avoiding the expensive implicit resolution of the collision operator. Finally we show some numerical results which confirm the theoretical analysis

Implicit-Explicit multistep methods for hyperbolic systems with multiscale relaxation

We consider the development of high order space and time numerical methods based on Implicit-Explicit (IMEX) multistep time integrators for hyperbolic systems with relaxation. More specifically, we consider hyperbolic balance laws in which the convection and the source term may have very different time and space scales. As a consequence the nature of the asymptotic limit changes completely, passing from a hyperbolic to a parabolic system. From the computational point of view, standard numerical methods designed for the fluid-dynamic scaling of hyperbolic systems with relaxation present several drawbacks and typically lose efficiency in describing the parabolic limit regime. In this work, in the context of Implicit-Explicit linear multistep methods we construct high order space-time discretizations which are able to handle all the different scales and to capture the correct asymptotic behavior, independently from its nature, without time step restrictions imposed by the fast scales. Several numerical examples confirm the theoretical analysis

Asymptotic-preserving exponential methods for the quantum Boltzmann equation with high-order accuracy

In this paper we develop high-order asymptotic-preserving methods for the spatially inhomogeneous quantum Boltzmann equation. We follow the work in Li and Pareschi, where asymptotic preserving exponential Runge-Kutta methods for the classical inhomogeneous Boltzmann equation were constructed. A major difficulty here is related to the non Gaussian steady states characterizing the quantum kinetic behavior. We show that the proposed schemes work with high-order accuracy uniformly in time for all Planck constants ranging from classical regime to quantum regime, and all Knudsen numbers ranging from kinetic regime to fluid regime. Computational results are presented for both Bose gas and Fermi gas