On the equivalence of dynamically orthogonal and bi-orthogonal methods: Theory and numerical simulations

The Karhunen–Lòeve (KL) decomposition provides a low-dimensional representation for random fields as it is optimal in the mean square sense. Although for many stochastic systems of practical interest, described by stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs), solutions possess this low-dimensional character, they also have a strongly time-dependent form and to this end a fixed-in-time basis may not describe the solution in an efficient way. Motivated by this limitation of standard KL expansion, Sapsis and Lermusiaux (2009) [26] developed the dynamically orthogonal (DO) field equations which allow for the simultaneous evolution of both the spatial basis where uncertainty ‘lives’ but also the stochastic characteristics of uncertainty. Recently, Cheng et al. (2013) [28] introduced an alternative approach, the bi-orthogonal (BO) method, which performs the exact same tasks, i.e. it evolves the spatial basis and the stochastic characteristics of uncertainty. In the current work we examine the relation of the two approaches and we prove theoretically and illustrate numerically their equivalence, in the sense that one method is an exact reformulation of the other. We show this by deriving a linear and invertible transformation matrix described by a matrix differential equation that connects the BO and the DO solutions. We also examine a pathology of the BO equations that occurs when two eigenvalues of the solution cross, resulting in an instantaneous, infinite-speed, internal rotation of the computed spatial basis. We demonstrate that despite the instantaneous duration of the singularity this has important implications on the numerical performance of the BO approach. On the other hand, it is observed that the BO is more stable in nonlinear problems involving a relatively large number of modes. Several examples, linear and nonlinear, are presented to illustrate the DO and BO methods as well as their equivalence.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF/DMS (DMS-1216437))Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (U.S.). Collaboratory on Mathematics for Mesoscopic Modeling of Materials (CM4) (DOE (DE-SC0009247))United States. Dept. of Defense (OSD/MURI (FA9550-09-1-0613)

Flow-driven spectral chaos (FSC) method for simulating long-time dynamics of arbitrary-order non-linear stochastic dynamical systems

Uncertainty quantification techniques such as the time-dependent generalized polynomial chaos (TD-gPC) use an adaptive orthogonal basis to better represent the stochastic part of the solution space (aka random function space) in time. However, because the random function space is constructed using tensor products, TD-gPC-based methods are known to suffer from the curse of dimensionality. In this paper, we introduce a new numerical method called the 'flow-driven spectral chaos' (FSC) which overcomes this curse of dimensionality at the random-function-space level. The proposed method is not only computationally more efficient than existing TD-gPC-based methods but is also far more accurate. The FSC method uses the concept of 'enriched stochastic flow maps' to track the evolution of a finite-dimensional random function space efficiently in time. To transfer the probability information from one random function space to another, two approaches are developed and studied herein. In the first approach, the probability information is transferred in the mean-square sense, whereas in the second approach the transfer is done exactly using a new theorem that was developed for this purpose. The FSC method can quantify uncertainties with high fidelity, especially for the long-time response of stochastic dynamical systems governed by ODEs of arbitrary order. Six representative numerical examples, including a nonlinear problem (the Van-der-Pol oscillator), are presented to demonstrate the performance of the FSC method and corroborate the claims of its superior numerical properties. Finally, a parametric, high-dimensional stochastic problem is used to demonstrate that when the FSC method is used in conjunction with Monte Carlo integration, the curse of dimensionality can be overcome altogether.Comment: Preprint submitted to Journal of Computational Physics (Elsevier). This update fixes two typos found in the article (for details, please see Errata sheet included at the end of the article

MATHICSE Technical Report : On the dynamically orthogonal approximation of time dependent random PDEs

In this work we discuss the Dynamically Orthogonal (DO) approximation of time dependent partial differential equations with random data. The approximate solution is expanded at each time instant on a time dependent orthonormal basis in the physical domain with fixed and small number of terms. Dynamic equations are written for the evolution of the basis as well as the evolution of the stochastic coefficients of the expansion. We analyze the case of a linear parabolic equation with random data and derive a theoretical bound for the approximation error of the S-terms DO solution by the corresponding S-terms best approximation, i.e. the truncated S-terms Karhunen-Loève expansion at each time instant, under the assumption that the latter is continuously differentiable in time. Properties of the DO approximations are analyzed on simple cases of deterministic equations with random initial data. Numerical tests are presented that confirm the theoretical bound and show potentials and limitations of the proposed approach

Dynamically orthogonal field equations for stochastic fluid flows and particle dynamics

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-252).In the past decades an increasing number of problems in continuum theory have been treated using stochastic dynamical theories. This is because dynamical systems governing real processes always contain some elements characterized by uncertainty or stochasticity. Uncertainties may arise in the system parameters, the boundary and initial conditions, and also in the external forcing processes. Also, many problems are treated through the stochastic framework due to the incomplete or partial understanding of the governing physical laws. In all of the above cases the existence of random perturbations, combined with the complex dynamical mechanisms of the system often leads to their rapid growth which causes distribution of energy to a broadband spectrum of scales both in space and time, making the system state particularly complex. Such problems are mainly described by Stochastic Partial Differential Equations and they arise in a number of areas including fluid mechanics, elasticity, and wave theory, describing phenomena such as turbulence, random vibrations, flow through porous media, and wave propagation through random media. This is but a partial listing of applications and it is clear that almost any phenomenon described by a field equation has an important subclass of problems that may profitably be treated from a stochastic point of view. In this work, we develop a new methodology for the representation and evolution of the complete probabilistic response of infinite-dimensional, random, dynamical systems. More specifically, we derive an exact, closed set of evolution equations for general nonlinear continuous stochastic fields described by a Stochastic Partial Differential Equation. The derivation is based on a novel condition, the Dynamical Orthogonality (DO), on the representation of the solution. This condition is the 'key' to overcome the redundancy issues of the full representation used while it does not restrict its generic features. Based on the DO condition we derive a system of field equations consisting of a Partial Differential Equation (PDE) for the mean field, a family of PDEs for the orthonormal basis that describe the stochastic subspace where uncertainty 'lives' as well as a system of Stochastic Differential Equations that defines how the uncertainty evolves in the time varying stochastic subspace. If additional restrictions are assumed on the form of the representation, we recover both the Proper-Orthogonal-Decomposition (POD) equations and the generalized Polynomial-Chaos (PC) equations; thus the new methodology generalizes these two approaches. For the efficient treatment of the strongly transient character on the systems described above we derive adaptive criteria for the variation of the stochastic dimensionality that characterizes the system response. Those criteria follow directly from the dynamical equations describing the system. We illustrate and validate this novel technique by solving the 2D stochastic Navier- Stokes equations in various geometries and compare with direct Monte Carlo simulations. We also apply the derived framework for the study of the statistical responses of an idealized 'double gyre' model, which has elements of ocean, atmospheric and climate instability behaviors. Finally, we use our new stochastic description for flow fields to study the motion of inertial particles in flows with uncertainties. Inertial or finite-size particles in fluid flows are commonly encountered in nature (e.g., contaminant dispersion in the ocean and atmosphere) as well as in technological applications (e.g., chemical systems involving particulate reactant mixing). As it has been observed both numerically and experimentally, their dynamics can differ markedly from infinitesimal particle dynamics. Here we use recent results from stochastic singular perturbation theory in combination with the DO representation of the random flow, in order to derive a reduced order inertial equation that will describe efficiently the stochastic dynamics of inertial particles in arbitrary random flows.by Themistoklis P. Sapsis.Ph.D

Uncertainty quantification and prediction for non-autonomous linear and nonlinear systems

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-197).The science of uncertainty quantification has gained a lot of attention over recent years. This is because models of real processes always contain some elements of uncertainty, and also because real systems can be better described using stochastic components. Stochastic models can therefore be utilized to provide a most informative prediction of possible future states of the system. In light of the multiple scales, nonlinearities and uncertainties in ocean dynamics, stochastic models can be most useful to describe ocean systems. Uncertainty quantification schemes developed in recent years include order reduction methods (e.g. proper orthogonal decomposition (POD)), error subspace statistical estimation (ESSE), polynomial chaos (PC) schemes and dynamically orthogonal (DO) field equations. In this thesis, we focus our attention on DO and various PC schemes for quantifying and predicting uncertainty in systems with external stochastic forcing. We develop and implement these schemes in a generic stochastic solver for a class of non-autonomous linear and nonlinear dynamical systems. This class of systems encapsulates most systems encountered in classic nonlinear dynamics and ocean modeling, including flows modeled by Navier-Stokes equations. We first study systems with uncertainty in input parameters (e.g. stochastic decay models and Kraichnan-Orszag system) and then with external stochastic forcing (autonomous and non-autonomous self-engineered nonlinear systems). For time-integration of system dynamics, stochastic numerical schemes of varied order are employed and compared. Using our generic stochastic solver, the Monte Carlo, DO and polynomial chaos schemes are inter-compared in terms of accuracy of solution and computational cost. To allow accurate time-integration of uncertainty due to external stochastic forcing, we also derive two novel PC schemes, namely, the reduced space KLgPC scheme and the modified TDgPC (MTDgPC) scheme. We utilize a set of numerical examples to show that the two new PC schemes and the DO scheme can integrate both additive and multiplicative stochastic forcing over significant time intervals. For the final example, we consider shallow water ocean surface waves and the modeling of these waves by deterministic dynamics and stochastic forcing components. Specifically, we time-integrate the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation with external stochastic forcing, comparing the performance of the DO and Monte Carlo schemes. We find that the DO scheme is computationally efficient to integrate uncertainty in such systems with external stochastic forcing.by Akash Phadnis.S.M