Fast and spectrally accurate summation of 2-periodic Stokes potentials

We derive a Ewald decomposition for the Stokeslet in planar periodicity and a novel PME-type O(N log N) method for the fast evaluation of the resulting sums. The decomposition is the natural 2P counterpart to the classical 3P decomposition by Hasimoto, and is given in an explicit form not found in the literature. Truncation error estimates are provided to aid in selecting parameters. The fast, PME-type, method appears to be the first fast method for computing Stokeslet Ewald sums in planar periodicity, and has three attractive properties: it is spectrally accurate; it uses the minimal amount of memory that a gridded Ewald method can use; and provides clarity regarding numerical errors and how to choose parameters. Analytical and numerical results are give to support this. We explore the practicalities of the proposed method, and survey the computational issues involved in applying it to 2-periodic boundary integral Stokes problems

Fast integral equation methods for the modified Helmholtz equation

We present a collection of integral equation methods for the solution to the two-dimensional, modified Helmholtz equation, u(\x) - \alpha^2 \Delta u(\x) = 0, in bounded or unbounded multiply-connected domains. We consider both Dirichlet and Neumann problems. We derive well-conditioned Fredholm integral equations of the second kind, which are discretized using high-order, hybrid Gauss-trapezoid rules. Our fast multipole-based iterative solution procedure requires only O(N) or $O(N\log N)$ operations, where N is the number of nodes in the discretization of the boundary. We demonstrate the performance of the methods on several numerical examples.Comment: Published in Computers & Mathematics with Application

Numerical methods for computing Casimir interactions

We review several different approaches for computing Casimir forces and related fluctuation-induced interactions between bodies of arbitrary shapes and materials. The relationships between this problem and well known computational techniques from classical electromagnetism are emphasized. We also review the basic principles of standard computational methods, categorizing them according to three criteria---choice of problem, basis, and solution technique---that can be used to classify proposals for the Casimir problem as well. In this way, mature classical methods can be exploited to model Casimir physics, with a few important modifications.Comment: 46 pages, 142 references, 5 figures. To appear in upcoming Lecture Notes in Physics book on Casimir Physic

Fast Numerical Methods for Non-local Operators

[no abstract available

A finite element approach to self-consistent field theory calculations of multiblock polymers

Self-consistent field theory (SCFT) has proven to be a powerful tool for modeling equilibrium microstructures of soft materials, particularly for multiblock polymers. A very successful approach to numerically solving the SCFT set of equations is based on using a spectral approach. While widely successful, this approach has limitations especially in the context of current technologically relevant applications. These limitations include non-trivial approaches for modeling complex geometries, difficulties in extending to non-periodic domains, as well as non-trivial extensions for spatial adaptivity. As a viable alternative to spectral schemes, we develop a finite element formulation of the SCFT paradigm for calculating equilibrium polymer morphologies. We discuss the formulation and address implementation challenges that ensure accuracy and efficiency. We explore higher order chain contour steppers that are efficiently implemented with Richardson Extrapolation. This approach is highly scalable and suitable for systems with arbitrary shapes. We show spatial and temporal convergence and illustrate scaling on up to 2048 cores. Finally, we illustrate confinement effects for selected complex geometries. This has implications for materials design for nanoscale applications where dimensions are such that equilibrium morphologies dramatically differ from the bulk phases