Algebraic Domain Decomposition Methods for Highly Heterogeneous Problems

International audienceWe consider the solving of linear systems arising from porous media flow simulations with high heterogeneities. Using a Newton algorithm to handle the non-linearity leads to the solving of a sequence of linear systems with different but similar matrices and right hand sides. The parallel solver is a Schwarz domain decomposition method. The unknowns are partitioned with a criterion based on the entries of the input matrix. This leads to substantial gains compared to a partition based only on the adjacency graph of the matrix. From the information generated during the solving of the first linear system, it is possible to build a coarse space for a two-level domain decomposition algorithm that leads to an acceleration of the convergence of the subsequent linear systems. We compare two coarse spaces: a classical approach and a new one adapted to parallel implementation

A fully algebraic and robust two-level Schwarz method based on optimal local approximation spaces

Two-level domain decomposition preconditioners lead to fast convergence and scalability of iterative solvers. However, for highly heterogeneous problems, where the coefficient function is varying rapidly on several possibly non-separated scales, the condition number of the preconditioned system generally depends on the contrast of the coefficient function leading to a deterioration of convergence. Enhancing the methods by coarse spaces constructed from suitable local eigenvalue problems, also denoted as adaptive or spectral coarse spaces, restores robust, contrast-independent convergence. However, these eigenvalue problems typically rely on non-algebraic information, such that the adaptive coarse spaces cannot be constructed from the fully assembled system matrix. In this paper, a novel algebraic adaptive coarse space, which relies on the a-orthogonal decomposition of (local) finite element (FE) spaces into functions that solve the partial differential equation (PDE) with some trace and FE functions that are zero on the boundary, is proposed. In particular, the basis is constructed from eigenmodes of two types of local eigenvalue problems associated with the edges of the domain decomposition. To approximate functions that solve the PDE locally, we employ a transfer eigenvalue problem, which has originally been proposed for the construction of optimal local approximation spaces for multiscale methods. In addition, we make use of a Dirichlet eigenvalue problem that is a slight modification of the Neumann eigenvalue problem used in the adaptive generalized Dryja-Smith-Widlund (AGDSW) coarse space. Both eigenvalue problems rely solely on local Dirichlet matrices, which can be extracted from the fully assembled system matrix. By combining arguments from multiscale and domain decomposition methods we derive a contrast-independent upper bound for the condition number

Preconditioning of weighted H(div)-norm and applications to numerical simulation of highly heterogeneous media

In this paper we propose and analyze a preconditioner for a system arising from a finite element approximation of second order elliptic problems describing processes in highly het- erogeneous media. Our approach uses the technique of multilevel methods and the recently proposed preconditioner based on additive Schur complement approximation by J. Kraus (see [8]). The main results are the design and a theoretical and numerical justification of an iterative method for such problems that is robust with respect to the contrast of the media, defined as the ratio between the maximum and minimum values of the coefficient (related to the permeability/conductivity).Comment: 28 page

A course space construction based on local Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps

Coarse-grid correction is a key ingredient of scalable domain decomposition methods. In this work we construct coarse-grid space using the low-frequency modes of the subdomain Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps and apply the obtained two-level preconditioners to the extended or the original linear system arising from an overlapping domain decomposition. Our method is suitable for parallel implementation, and its efficiency is demonstrated by numerical examples on problems with large heterogeneities for both manual and automatic partitionings

Nonlinear multigrid based on local spectral coarsening for heterogeneous diffusion problems

This work develops a nonlinear multigrid method for diffusion problems discretized by cell-centered finite volume methods on general unstructured grids. The multigrid hierarchy is constructed algebraically using aggregation of degrees of freedom and spectral decomposition of reference linear operators associated with the aggregates. For rapid convergence, it is important that the resulting coarse spaces have good approximation properties. In our approach, the approximation quality can be directly improved by including more spectral degrees of freedom in the coarsening process. Further, by exploiting local coarsening and a piecewise-constant approximation when evaluating the nonlinear component, the coarse level problems are assembled and solved without ever re-visiting the fine level, an essential element for multigrid algorithms to achieve optimal scalability. Numerical examples comparing relative performance of the proposed nonlinear multigrid solvers with standard single-level approaches -- Picard's and Newton's methods -- are presented. Results show that the proposed solver consistently outperforms the single-level methods, both in efficiency and robustness